Minister’s artwork among 200 lots on offer at charity sale

A LARGE bogland scene from the artistic eye of Minister Jimmy Deenihan is among more than 200 anonymous paintings to be offered for sale in aid of the South Cill Rialaig artists’ retreat centre this weekend.

The arts, heritage and gaeltacht minister’s unsigned oil painting, in a pop-up gallery at Cornmarket Centre in Cork, will be surrounded by other anonymous works by sport stars including Cork’s dual GAA star Seán Óg Ó hAilpín and former Kerry football great Maurice Fitzgerald.

The group are described as “Sunday painters” by Noelle Campbell-Sharpe, director of the Cill Rialaig artists’ centre in Ballinskelligs.

After agreeing to the charity offering for the gallery, they were steered by professional artists.

Paintings by international and Irish artists such as Mick Mulcahy and West Cork artist John Kingerlee will be among the paintings to be sold on Friday at 6pm in Cork, all unidentified and all at just €250.

It follows a similar successful fundraiser last year in which a modern landscape of the Skellig Rock by former ceann comhairle, John O’Donoghue, was one of the first to sell.

Minister Deenihan’s 60cm by 60cm more conventional bogland landscape is also of a scene near his home in Finuge near Listowel in north Kerry.

Bogs are one of his favourite landscapes and he has joined in efforts with Environment Minister Phil Hogan in a compensation package to assuage the anger of turf cutters banned from taking turf from raised bogs in the midlands.

Ms Campbell-Sharpe said hurling star Seán Óg went quite “wild” and painted four abstracts, only one of which is being offered for this auction.

“He shows talent with the brush, as well as the hurley,” she said.

“The ‘bainisteoir’ himself Gerald Kean chose a restrained palette under the guidance of artist Geraldine MacDonald and in the hope the Cork pop-up exhibition raises enough money to keep Cill Rialaig going during the economic recession.”