John Shinnors Paintings & Artwork for Sale | John Shinnors Art Value Price Guide

Sep. 30, 2024
John Shinnors (b.1950) BEACH SCENE WITH PARASOLS, 1977
Est: €4,000 - €6,000
John Shinnors (b.1950) BEACH SCENE WITH PARASOLS, 1977 oil on board signed and dated lower right h:16 w:20 in.
Whyte's
May. 29, 2024
John Shinnors (B.1950) Road to Carraroe (2004) Oil on canvas laid on board, 89.5 x 109.5cm (35¼ x 43) Signed Provenance: With Taylor Galleries, Dublin, label verso John Shinnors matter-of-fact directness is an important part of his a
Est: €15,000 - €20,000
John Shinnors (B.1950) Road to Carraroe (2004) Oil on canvas laid on board, 89.5 x 109.5cm (35¼ x 43) Signed Provenance: With Taylor Galleries, Dublin, label verso John Shinnors matter-of-fact directness is an important part of his appeal to viewers. Like the illusionist Derren Brown, who tells his audience that theres nothing paranormal about what he does before going on to astound them with apparent magic, Shinnors marshals the most ordinary things from everyday life, such as road markings, washing on a clothes line, Friesian cows, cats, and transforms them so that its as if weve never seen them before. The epiphanic moment for him as a painter was typically mundane: a double-take glimpse through the fishmongers window of sparkling fresh mackerel laid out on a steel tray. The familiar made strange. Ever since, hes been creating paintings about seeing and not seeing, what we allow ourselves to see, and also the optics of transgression, intimations of what is ignored or forbidden or troubling. This latter imbues his work with a spooky, incalculable note, a slight edginess. He does all this with what many an artist would consider very limited means. Paintings incorporate simmering accents of earth hues, reds, yellows and chilly blues, but really he is sparing with colour, and variations of blacks, whites and greys dominate. Motifs are stylised and abstracted or, one could say, translated into Shinnorese, as in this work, which is appropriately full of a sense of movement. The artists habitual terrain extends as far as the Tarbert ferry and Loop Head, but in 2004 he ventured to Carraroe. It was a productive trip that included a visit to Edward Delaneys sculpture park and much else. One strong Limerick connection if that the area was also much loved by the plein air painter Walter Verling, who painted there with Charles Lamb and lived and taught there for a time. Shinnors offers a dynamic montage of fragmentary details in a composition bisected by a purposeful vertical division. Intimations of warmth filter through and, especially to the upper left, there is a sense of a destination. Limericks best-known artist, Shinnors was born in 1950, studied at LSAD under the guidance of the painter Jack Donovan and travelled for a time in England, where among other things he tried busking and other musical forays. Back in Ireland, he established himself as a painter in Limerick in a city-centre studio. He did not go into teaching himself, but has been a real benefactor to younger artists and his home town. Excursions apart (mostly to the coast), Limerick remained his base. There has always been a magic-realist touch to his vision. His work is included in numerous private and public collections. Aidan Dunne, April 2024
Adam's
May. 27, 2024
John Shinnors (b.1950) A WOMAN WATCHING, 1976
Est: €8,000 - €12,000
John Shinnors (b.1950) A WOMAN WATCHING, 1976 oil on board signed and dated lower left h:24 w:29 in. Provenance: de Veres, 7 April 2008, lot 88; Private collection
Whyte's
Mar. 27, 2024
John Shinnors (b.1950) * The Red Baron Oil on board, 43 x 56cm (17 x 22) Signed *May be subject to EU importation charges. Please see pg. 151 of catalogue.
Est: €4,000 - €6,000
John Shinnors (b.1950) * The Red Baron Oil on board, 43 x 56cm (17 x 22) Signed *May be subject to EU importation charges. Please see pg. 151 of catalogue.
Adam's
Mar. 27, 2024
John Shinnors (b.1950) Untitled (Diptych) Oil on board, 25 x 50cm (9¾ x 19¾)
Est: €4,000 - €6,000
John Shinnors (b.1950) Untitled (Diptych) Oil on board, 25 x 50cm (9¾ x 19¾)
Adam's
Dec. 06, 2023
John Shinnors (b.1950) Black and Green Scarecrow, Maidstone Bridge Oil on linen, 60 x 80cm (23½ x 31½) Signed and inscribed with title verso Green is not quite one of the core colours in John Shinnors exceptionally spare palette, but
Est: €15,000 - €25,000
John Shinnors (b.1950) Black and Green Scarecrow, Maidstone Bridge Oil on linen, 60 x 80cm (23½ x 31½) Signed and inscribed with title verso Green is not quite one of the core colours in John Shinnors exceptionally spare palette, but when he turns to it, he uses it to great effect. This parsimony with green is quite an achievement, given that he lives on an island celebrated for its forty shades. Shades and nuances, but of blacks, greys and whites, dominate his paintings - he habitually uses five different hues of black, he noted once - with red, yellow and subtle blues in support. Shinnors delights in moments of visual ambiguity and confusion, something he traces back to a moment when, having established himself as a virtuoso painter of magic realist compositions, he became dissatisfied. One morning at a fishmongers he was transfixed by the sight of mackerel laid out on a tray, translated into an abstract arrangement of pattern, light and contrast. It was as though he was really seeing them for the first time. The idea of the familiar, tangible world transformed into a complex pictorial abstraction, while retaining the power of the source image, stayed with him. In his work since, as well as adhering to a tight colour palette, he has been drawn to an eclectic repertoire of motifs: those fish, swallows and other birds, Frisian cows, cats, zebra crossings, Loop Head lighthouse, kites and scarecrows. He has written of how he grew up in a sexually repressive environment, created not just by conservative, Catholic Ireland but by his forbidding, puritanical father. Still a child, he happened upon a fetishistically arranged mannequin in a remote haggard on a farmers land, something that haunted him later as a symbol of a society that banished expression of sexuality and the body. Scarecrows in various forms recur in his paintings. After just one year at art school in Limerick he set off for England, taking whatever employment he could - including being a postman - and busking at weekends. In all his time in England he made just one drawing, he later noted, but when he arrived back in Limerick began painting, without any great ambition of being an artist. This painting combines two motifs in a striking, abstracted arrangement. The vertical green of the almost cruciform scarecrow form on the left is echoed in the red bridge or crane-like form on the right and along the top, with a black-white rhythm running across the composition and opening up depth. Characteristically, Shinnors offsets the potential symmetries: the green band is skewed, but its drift to the left is anchored by the firm red structure, its diagonal bands recalling steel bracing - of the rail bridge mentioned in the title. Its notable that green, rather than the more forceful red, provides the dynamism in the composition. Aidan Dunne, November 2023
Adam's
Nov. 22, 2023
The Lighthouseman's Washing and Cat in Snow
Est: £7,000 - £10,000
John Shinnors b. 1950 The Lighthouseman's Washing and Cat in Snow signed SHINNORS (lower right edge) oil on linen on panel unframed: 33 by 34.5cm.; 13 by 13½in. framed: 76 by 77cm.; 30 by 30¼in. Executed in 2020.
Sotheby's
Nov. 07, 2023
JOHN SHINNORS (B.1950) Road to Carraroe (2004) Oil on canvas laid on board 126.5 x 144.5cm, signed Provenance: With Taylor Galleries label verso
Est: €15,000 - €20,000
JOHN SHINNORS (B.1950) Road to Carraroe (2004) Oil on canvas laid on board 126.5 x 144.5cm, signed Provenance: With Taylor Galleries label verso
Adam's
Oct. 02, 2023
John Shinnors (b.1950) THE REFUSAL, 1972
Est: €3,000 - €4,000
John Shinnors (b.1950) THE REFUSAL, 1972 oil on board signed [Shinners] and dated lower left; signed and titled on reverse h:21.50 w:37.50 in. Provenance: Gifted by the artist to the previous owner; Thence by descent We are grateful to the artist for his assistance in cataloguing this lot.
Whyte's
Oct. 02, 2023
John Shinnors (b.1950) PICTURE OF CHRISTINE KEELER, 1980
Est: €15,000 - €20,000
John Shinnors (b.1950) PICTURE OF CHRISTINE KEELER, 1980 oil on panel signed lower right (now obscured); signed, dated and inscribed with title on artist's label on reverse h:35 w:32 in. Provenance: Commissioned by a friend of the artist and Christine Keeler, 1980; Private collection This early work by John Shinnors has a fascinating provenance. It was commissioned in 1980 by a friend and patron of the young artist who, during this period, was struggling to make a living from his work. It was prior to his major breakthrough following his GPA Award in 1984. The friend, though from Limerick, had lived and worked in London during the sixties and seventies. He was a jazz aficionado and got to know Christine Keeler through their mutual involvement in the vibrant London jazz scene of that period. A time when the Flamingo, Ronnie Scott's and The 100 Club were all thriving and Tubby Hayes was in his all too brief prime. After he settled back in Limerick he gave Shinnors a personal photograph of Keeler in this provocative pose complete with the leopard skin jacket (so apt for the Shinnors treatment) and asked him to produce a painting based on it. He required the photograph, which he clearly treasured, to be returned with the completed commission. The friend in question died recently and the painting has been consigned by his long-term partner. This work has never been seen in public before. It is a striking example of Shinnors early style which shows the influence of his great friend and mentor Jack Donovan. The eye is drawn to the red belt buckle, that distinctive deep cadmium red that the artist has favoured through the years. The frank, even brazen image is juxtaposed piquantly by the ghostly painting within the painting that was by a Scandavian artist whose name Shinnors could not recall when I asked him about it recently. John P. O'Sullivan, July 2023 Christine Margaret Keeler (22 February 1942 - 4 December 2017) was an English model and showgirl. Her meeting at a dance club with society osteopath Stephen Ward drew her into fashionable circles. At the height of the Cold War, she became sexually involved with a married Cabinet minister, John Profumo, as well as with a Soviet naval attaché, Yevgeny Ivanov. A shooting incident involving a third lover caused the press to investigate her, revealing that her affairs could be threatening national security. In the House of Commons, Profumo denied any improper conduct but later admitted that he had lied. This incident discredited the Conservative government of Harold Macmillan in 1963, in what became known as the Profumo affair. Keeler was alleged to have been a prostitute, which was not a criminal offence. Ward was, however, found guilty of being her pimp; a trial was instigated after the embarrassment caused to the government. The trial has since been considered a miscarriage of justice and a charade by the establishment to protect itself. Stephen Ward committed suicide before the jury in his trial returned a verdict.
Whyte's
May. 31, 2023
John Shinnors (b. 1950) Morning Interior Oil on board, 82 x 85cm (32 x 33½ ) Signed In this outstanding painting, it is early morning, apparently, as dawn light blooms with a flush of pink over what could well be the profile of King John
Est: €15,000 - €25,000
John Shinnors (b. 1950) Morning Interior Oil on board, 82 x 85cm (32 x 33½ ) Signed In this outstanding painting, it is early morning, apparently, as dawn light blooms with a flush of pink over what could well be the profile of King Johns Castle. On the right, a white-garbed female figure looks calmly out on the awakening day. The red and white on the chequered bedspread to the left picks up the light, though the source of the light on the figures nightdress, or perhaps sheet, is not at all obvious. The warming glow might well come from within. John Shinnors likes to pose questions for viewers, and often the first question is to make them wonder just what they are looking at. He is adept at taking staple elements of his pictorial vocabulary and presenting them in a way that recasts them as arrangements of abstract pattern. To some extent he does that here, but it as if he is feeling mellow, and the mood infuses the picture and extends to his being easy on the viewer. The various elements, including figure, bed, wall, curtain, window, the sleepy sprawl of the intervening cityscape and the distant, castle-like profile, are readily apparent and adroitly managed in a very clever composition. Its energy radiates from a vertical division just off the centre, as the line of the base of the bed picks up and adds spin to the the line of the windows glazing bar above, opening out the space and encouraging us to accommodate the elements to either side, the rooms interior. Generally in his work the artist favours innumerable shades of black, white and grey. They are in evidence here, as is his penchant for lively injections of red. He also uses muted blues to tremendous effect, plus characteristic tinges of ochre, and of course the generous colouring of that beautiful, radiant glimpse of sky. Colour temperature play a vital role. Limericks best-known artist, Shinnors was born in 1950, studied at LSAD under the guidance of the remarkable Jack Donovan, and spent time travelling in England as a musician before returning home to commit himself to life as a painter. Early magic-realism gave way to his mature style which is, in its way, equally magical. Widely sought after, his work is in all the major collections. Aiden Dunne, April 2023
Adam's
May. 29, 2023
John Shinnors (b.1950) BACK TO THE LIGHTHOUSE, LIGHTHOUSE NO. 5, 2008
Est: €8,000 - €12,000
John Shinnors (b.1950) BACK TO THE LIGHTHOUSE, LIGHTHOUSE NO. 5, 2008 oil on linen h:10 w:21 in. Exhibited: 'Back to the Lighthouse', John Shinnors, Wexford Arts Centre, 11 October to 2 November 2008, catalogue no. 5 (illustrated in catalogue) Back to the Lighthouse, Lighthouse No. 5 was exhibited in the year it was executed, 2008, at an exhibition entitled 'Back to the Lighthouse' at the Wexford Arts Centre. Lighthouses are among a number of recurring motifs in the oeuvre of John Shinnors, others include scarecrows and kites and animals like cats, magpies, and Frisian cows. These are usually depicted abstracted, flattened and from unusual or disorientating perspectives. His palette is restrained, at first glance appearing monochromatic but on closer examination revealing a depth of colour. In the present example shades of green, red, ochre and blue appear to glow from behind the blurred lines that divide light and shade. Shinnors' career began and continues in his native Limerick. He studied at the Limerick School of Art under Jack Donovan and in 1977 debuted at the Oireachtas exhibition. Almost a quarter of a century before Back to the Lighthouse, Lighthouse No. 5 was painted, John Shinnors was awarded the prestigious Guinness Peat Aviation Emerging Artists Award. This accolade led to important patronage and in 1987 he was inducted into the National Self-Portrait Collection of Ireland. His work is included in many prestigious private and public collections including An Chomhairle Ealaíon, Bank of Ireland, Ulster Museum, Irish Museum of Modern Art and the Royal Hibernian Academy. He was elected Aosdána in 1997. His art has been the source of inspiration for many poets including John Montague, John Liddy, Pat Boran and fellow Aosdána Theo Dorgan who wrote the catalogue essay and a set of three poems to accompany the 'Back to the Lighthouse' exhibition. Adelle Hughes, April 2023
Whyte's
Apr. 18, 2023
John Shinnors (b.1950) Sculpture Scarecrow II (2016)
Est: €400 - €600
John Shinnors (b.1950) Sculpture Scarecrow II (2016) watercolour on paper signed 'SHINNORS' lower right, titled and dated 2016 verso h:15.30 w:15.30 cm. Provenance: Private Collection
Morgan O'Driscoll
Apr. 18, 2023
John Shinnors (b.1950) Three Cats
Est: €15,000 - €25,000
John Shinnors (b.1950) Three Cats oil on canvas signed 'SHINNORS' lower right and titled verso h:81 w:112 cm. Provenance: Taylor Galleries, Dublin; These Auction Rooms, 26th May 2008 Lot 192; Private Collection In this enigmatic painting, it is not immediately evident if the title 3 Cats is an accurate description, or a puzzle, challenging the viewer to identify feline forms within the abstract composition. Certainly, on the left, there is a hint of a cat's head, while on the lower right, perhaps also cat's eyes can be discerned. Whatever about these playful allusions, as with much of the artist's best work, the canvas is characterised by expanses of deep black, contrasting with white and off-white paint, applied with fluid, sensitive brushstrokes. The black can be ‘read' as shadow, and the white can equally be taken to suggest fur, but the real point of this work of art is allowing the viewer to appreciate the tactile and chromatic possibilities of paint itself. 3 Cats is first and foremost a painting, with representation playing a subordinate role. Although abstract, Shinnors art has been inspired variously by animals, everyday scenes and religious symbols, the smaller paintings sometimes rooted in a fantastical or humorous reaction to his surroundings. There are references to kites, scarecrows, lighthouses, circus tents, fences, magpies and cows—animals and objects the artist has seen on his travels around the countryside, and he often makes art-historical references through creating a painting within a painting. His work is distinguished by a confident and bold use of patterning, stripes and shapes, generally applied to the canvas in cool, almost monochrome, tones. He often uses a three-tone colour scheme in his work. Peter Murray, March 2023
Morgan O'Driscoll
Apr. 18, 2023
John Shinnors (b.1950) Female Still Life Calendar, February
Est: €7,000 - €10,000
John Shinnors (b.1950) Female Still Life Calendar, February oil on canvas signed 'SHINNORS' lower centre right h:60.20 w:60.20 cm. Provenance: Taylor Galleries, Dublin (label verso) where purchased by the present owner
Morgan O'Driscoll
Dec. 07, 2022
John Shinnors (b.1950) 'Line', the Artists response to Frank Bramley's 'Domino' Triptych, oil on canvas on panel, 110.4 x 110.4cm each panel (44½ x 44½) Each Signed and inscribed verso
Est: €60,000 - €80,000
John Shinnors (b.1950) 'Line', the Artists response to Frank Bramley's 'Domino' Triptych, oil on canvas on panel, 110.4 x 110.4cm each panel (44½ x 44½) Each Signed and inscribed verso
Adam's
Dec. 07, 2022
John Shinnors (b.1950) Lighthouse, Man's Twin Cats and Washing Oil on canvas, 149 x 151cm (58¾ x 59½) Signed Provenance: With Taylor Galleries, Dublin, label verso
Est: €30,000 - €50,000
John Shinnors (b.1950) Lighthouse, Man's Twin Cats and Washing Oil on canvas, 149 x 151cm (58¾ x 59½) Signed Provenance: With Taylor Galleries, Dublin, label verso
Adam's
Nov. 28, 2022
John Shinnors (b.1950) KITE OVER THE ISLAND (DIPTYCH)
Est: €20,000 - €30,000
John Shinnors (b.1950) KITE OVER THE ISLAND (DIPTYCH) oil on canvas laid on panel signed lower right h:28.50 w:51 in. Provenance: Taylor Galleries, Dublin; Private collection Speaking about his painting some years ago, John Shinnors mentioned that he was attracted to painting swallows largely because of their movement and their speed. The same could be said of the appeal of kites, another recurrent motif for him. Look at one of his paintings and, as he put it: "There's always movement in relation to something else." The darting shape and pattern of a bird, or a kite, draws the eye and transforms a scene. This fine diptych adopts a dizzying, disorientating aerial perspective, leaving the viewer suspended high above the estuarine landscape, laid out below as though on a map. While the picture's various components are straightforward, the composition is infused with a great sense of drama. Probably Limerick's most famous artist, John Shinnors was born in the city in 1950 and studied at the Limerick School of Art under the guidance of the renowned Jack Donovan. Under Donovan, the academic regime at the art school was apparently casual, but in fact underpinned by a real work ethic, and instilled great independence of spirit in the students. After a spell as a musician in England - a piano and a guitar remain fixtures in his studio - Shinnors set about becoming a painter in earnest. Initially known for making some hyper-realist works, always with a tinge of magic about them, he had a moment of revelation when he glanced in the window of his local fishmonger and was taken with the glitter, pattern and form of the mackerel displayed there. From that point on he developed a distinctive mode of picture-making based on a repertoire of highly personal motifs (including mackerel, cats, Frisian cows, magpies, washing hanging on the line, scarecrows, kites, lighthouses, road markings and more) always presented in dynamic arrangements of flattened forms, striking, abstracted patterns and a distinctive palette. That palette is dominated by an array of blacks, whites and greys, with careful, electric touches of vivid primaries and, as here, muted earth tones. Aidan Dunne, November 2022
Whyte's
Nov. 16, 2022
John Shinnors (b.1950) c. 1991 “Patrick Sarsfield Signing the Treaty of Limerick,” oils on canvas,
Est: €8,000 - €10,000
John Shinnors (b.1950) c. 1991 “Patrick Sarsfield Signing the Treaty of Limerick,” oils on canvas, Signed lower left ‘John Shinnors’, 109cms x 84cms (43” x 33”). (1) Provenance: A relatively early work in Shinnors’ oeuvre, painted in or around 1991— the two hundredth anniversary of the Treaty of Limerick—this painting depicts a scene in the chequered history of both Ireland and the city of Limerick. Against a backdrop of King John’s Castle, with crowds assembled, banners flying, and lances piercing dark smoke-filled skies, Patrick Sarsfield, 1st Earl of Lucan, and leader of the Irish forces, is about to sign the Treaty of Limerick. Surrounded by a circle of grim-faced victors, he is seated at a table. The signing took place in October 1691. Ostensibly designed to grant to Irish Catholics such rights as they had had prior to the conflict, the wording of the Treaty was in fact vague enough to allow a host of misinterpretations and heralded a century of repression of Catholics in Ireland. It did however permit followers of King James, known as ‘Jacobites’, to flee to the Continent; an exodus which has become known at the ‘Flight of the Wild Geese’. Holding a quill pen, Sarsfield, his head bent, is about to sign the document. With skilled use of paint, using strong contrasts of light and shade, and muted colours, Shinnors conveys a dramatic impression of the historic event. Sarsfield, the table, and the Treaty are highlighted, while the men around are depicted as dark, shadowy figures. Shinnors has even included some of the text, although the words visible are snippets, rather than an actual transcription from the text. Also, on the Treaty document he includes a little cartouche, with portraits of King James II and William of Orange. Born in 1950 in Limerick, John Shinnors attended a Christian Brothers school in the city. In the late 1960’s, after a spell in London, he became a student at the Limerick School of Art, where he studied under Jack Donovan. Leaving the School in 1972, he forged his own individual style, and career, and over the ensuing years has achieved considerable success with his bold and confident paintings that combine elements of realism with abstraction.
Fonsie Mealy Auctioneers
Sep. 26, 2022
John Shinnors (b.1950) SWALLOW OVER LOOP HEAD
Est: €5,000 - €7,000
John Shinnors (b.1950) SWALLOW OVER LOOP HEAD oil on canvas signed lower right; signed and titled on reverse h:14.50 w:15 in.
Whyte's
Sep. 26, 2022
John Shinnors (b.1950) BLACK AND WHITE SHE SCARECROW
Est: €25,000 - €35,000
John Shinnors (b.1950) BLACK AND WHITE SHE SCARECROW oil on canvas signed and titled on reverse h:40.25 w:30 in. Provenance: Gallery 44, Cork, 2000; Private collection
Whyte's
Apr. 26, 2022
John Shinnors (b.1950) Puss
Est: €3,000 - €5,000
John Shinnors (b.1950) Puss oil on canvas signed lower right and titled verso h:24.50 w:21.50 cm. Provenance: Whyte's, Dublin, 18th May 2009, lot 32; Private Collection John Shinnors is a master of ambiguity, and of 40 shades of black and white with startling accents of colour. His Puss is, as the fairy tale has it, a Puss in Boots, a theatrical character, an anthropomorphic, cunning, and mischievous trickster. Elements of the artist's recurrent motifs - lighthouse and estuary - are enlisted in the composition.
Morgan O'Driscoll
Apr. 26, 2022
John Shinnors (b.1950) The Grey Madonna (1981)
Est: €12,000 - €18,000
John Shinnors (b.1950) The Grey Madonna (1981) oil on board signed lower right and dated '81, titled verso h:91.60 w:72.50 cm. Provenance: Collection of late James O'Driscoll SC; These rooms, 19th April 2021, lot 62; Private Collection Although most of John Shinnors' work can be described as abstract-albeit based on recognizable everyday objects-he is also a skilled figurative painter. One series by him represents cyclists; other works are inspired by musicians, while this painting, Grey Madonna, references the religious devotion that is a strong element in the cultural history of his home city, Limerick. In this image of a woman holding a child, Shinnors creates a painting that brings a time honoured theme up to date. Although the background is an almost uniform grey, and the form of the woman is indicated with tones of dark grey and blue, a penumbra of bright light surrounds the child in her arms. In spite of the painting not being an overtly religious image, it has an other-worldly dimension. After studying at the Limerick School of Art in 1971-72, where his inclination towards the surreal was encouraged by tutor Jack Donovan, Shinnors worked for a time in London before returning home and establishing himself as a painter, showing initially at the Goodwin Gallery. In 1984 he won the GPA Emerging Artist award, an accolade that led, three years later, to an exhibition at the Taylor Galleries-the first of over ten successful shows there. As the 1990's progressed Shinnors became recognised as one of Ireland's most successful abstract painters, exhibiting regularly and being included in many prestigious corporate, public and private collections. He was also elected a member of Aosdana. However, in spite of this success, Shinnors has continued to live and work in his home city, and to maintain a position as something of an outsider in Irish art. His views on the democratisation and demystification of contemporary art, have led him to reach out to wider audiences, with his work being exhibited outdoors and in workplaces and factories; his triptych The Siege of Limerick was displayed for a time in the Limerick General Post Office. Whether abstract or representational, Shinnors' paintings are intended to be appreciated first and foremost as works of art with their own material and aesthetic qualities, rather than as pictures of something recognizable. Among the motifs that appear in his art are scarecrows, kites, lighthouses, fish and magpies; all painted using a technique of limited tones developed over the years. An artist with a strong sense of civic commitment, Shinnors also supports an MA scholarship at the Limerick School of Art, and sponsors an annual drawing award at the Limerick City Gallery. Peter Murray, March 2022
Morgan O'Driscoll
Mar. 30, 2022
John Shinnors (b.1950) Her Place, Drying Skirt Oil on canvas, 38.5 x 41cm (15¼ x 16'') Signed; inscribed on label verso
Est: €6,000 - €10,000
John Shinnors (b.1950) Her Place, Drying Skirt Oil on canvas, 38.5 x 41cm (15¼ x 16'') Signed; inscribed on label verso
Adam's
Mar. 07, 2022
John Shinnors (b.1950) THE LINE
Est: €3,000 - €4,000
John Shinnors (b.1950) THE LINE oil on board signed lower right; inscribed and with Iontas catalogue page affixed to reverse h:10 w:12 in. Exhibited: Iontas, 1992, catalogue no. 14
Whyte's
Mar. 07, 2022
John Shinnors (b.1950) THE BABY, 1980
Est: €20,000 - €30,000
John Shinnors (b.1950) THE BABY, 1980 oil on panel signed and dated lower left; signed and titled on reverse h:43 w:32 in. Provenance: Dolan's, 20 November 2007, lot 76; Private collection John Shinnors (born 1950) studied at the Limerick School of Art and Design from 1970 to 1972. He has exhibited extensively in both solo and group shows since the 1980s including exhibitions in the Vangard Gallery, The Hunt Museum, and the RHA annual exhibitions. He promotes the arts through his Shinnors Scholarship and Shinnors Drawing Award. Shinnors is a member of Aosdána and is the visual artist on the EV+A committee. He lives and works in Limerick and his work can be found in many collections including The Arts Council; The National Self-Portrait Collection of Ireland; Banks Trust, IFSC, Dublin; and the Contemporary Irish Art Society.
Whyte's
Dec. 08, 2021
John Shinnors (b.1950) White Field Forms Oil on canvas, 34 x 44.3cm (13¼ x 17½'') Signed; also signed and inscribed on label verso
Est: €8,000 - €12,000
John Shinnors (b.1950) White Field Forms Oil on canvas, 34 x 44.3cm (13¼ x 17½'') Signed; also signed and inscribed on label verso
Adam's
Nov. 29, 2021
John Shinnors (b.1950) TOWEL AND SNOWMAN
Est: €25,000 - €35,000
John Shinnors (b.1950) TOWEL AND SNOWMAN oil on canvas signed and titled on reverse h:37 w:42 in. Provenance: Purchased directly from the artist by the present owner John Shinnors (born 1950) studied at the Limerick School of Art and Design from 1970 to 1972. He has exhibited extensively in both solo and group shows since the 1980s including exhibitions in the Vangard Gallery, The Hunt Museum, and the RHA annual exhibitions. He promotes the arts through his Shinnors Scholarship and Shinnors Drawing Award. Shinnors is a member of Aosdána and is the visual artist on the EV+A committee. He lives and works in Limerick and his work can be found in many collections including The Arts Council; The National Self-Portrait Collection of Ireland; Banks Trust, IFSC, Dublin; and the Contemporary Irish Art Society.
Whyte's
Oct. 26, 2021
John Shinnors (b.1950) Moving South (1979)
Est: €10,000 - €15,000
John Shinnors (b.1950) Moving South (1979) oil on panels signed lower right and dated (19)'79 h:100 w:79 cm. Provenance: The Goodwin Galleries, Limerick (label verso); These Rooms, 2nd December 2013, lot 108; Private Collection
Morgan O'Driscoll
Oct. 26, 2021
John Shinnors (b.1950) Edward Delaney Sculpture, Road to Carraroe (2005)
Est: €5,000 - €7,000
John Shinnors (b.1950) Edward Delaney Sculpture, Road to Carraroe (2005) oil on canvas signed lower right and titled verso h:39.50 w:40.50 cm. Provenance: Private Collection In a work that displays his trademark flair for seeing abstract patterns in the everyday and his preferences for black-and-white, John Shinnors pays tribute to sculptor Edward Delaney, who died in 2009. A major figure in Irish 20th Century art, Delaney was a fiercely independent spirit. Originally from Co. Mayo, latterly he was based in Connemara, and a significant body of his work is installed in a sculpture park there in Carraroe.
Morgan O'Driscoll
Sep. 29, 2021
John Shinnors (b.1950) Fish II, 1989 Watercolour on paper, 35 x 30cm (13¾ x 11¾'') Titled & dated 1989 verso Provenance: With Taylor Galleries, Dublin, label verso.
Est: €2,000 - €3,000
John Shinnors (b.1950) Fish II, 1989 Watercolour on paper, 35 x 30cm (13¾ x 11¾'') Titled & dated 1989 verso Provenance: With Taylor Galleries, Dublin, label verso.
Adam's
Sep. 27, 2021
John Shinnors (b.1950) DANCE FORM IIII
Est: €3,000 - €5,000
John Shinnors (b.1950) DANCE FORM IIII oil on canvas signed lower right; inscribed on label on reverse h:5.75 w:8 in.
Whyte's
Sep. 27, 2021
John Shinnors (b.1950) KITE OVER FOYNES PORT, COUNTY LIMERICK
Est: €5,000 - €7,000
John Shinnors (b.1950) KITE OVER FOYNES PORT, COUNTY LIMERICK oil on canvas signed lower right; signed and titled on reverse h:10 w:12 in. Provenance: Purchased directly from the artist, 2005; Private collection
Whyte's
Sep. 27, 2021
John Shinnors (b.1950) THREE WOMEN
Est: €6,000 - €8,000
John Shinnors (b.1950) THREE WOMEN pastel signed lower right; signed and titled on reverse h:15.50 w:19.75 in.
Whyte's
Sep. 27, 2021
John Shinnors (b.1950) LITTLE HORSE
Est: €6,000 - €8,000
John Shinnors (b.1950) LITTLE HORSE oil on canvas signed lower right; signed and titled on reverse h:16 w:18 in.
Whyte's
Sep. 27, 2021
John Shinnors (b.1950) DANCING FORM III
Est: €3,000 - €5,000
John Shinnors (b.1950) DANCING FORM III oil on canvas signed lower right; inscribed on label on reverse h:5.75 w:8 in.
Whyte's
Jun. 02, 2021
John Shinnors (b.1950) - Over the Estuary Diptych,
Est: €30,000 - €50,000
John Shinnors (b.1950) Over the Estuary Diptych, Oil on canvas on panel, 110 x 152cm (43¼ x 60) Signed; also signed and inscribed verso Provenance: Formerly the Bank of Ireland Collection; Private Collection The expansive estuary of the River Shannon ranks high in the list of subjects habitually revisited by John Shinnors. Why not He is, after all, a Limerick-man through and through, and one of the foremost artists indelibly associated with the city and its surroundings. He is not, though, a landscape painter per se. For him, as he remarked 20 years back, a painting has to do with other things in the landscape. Sometime prior to that, one grey, misty day he was walking on George's Head near Kilkee. Gazing at the rocks below he glimpsed a tiny figure. Drawn upwards, his eye registered a flash of yellow, a kite soaring on the air. ...Something clicked. It had all the elements - the human presence, air, sky and sea, a kind of dynamic interaction, and me, an interpreter. Dynamic interaction is the crux. His paintings zero in on moments when familiar things are caught in configurations that make them disconcertingly unfamiliar. Each individual composition is also a concatenation of different surfaces, juxtaposed, overlapping, captured in conjunction and collision, dependent on a fleeting, transitory combination of elements. It's when things are caught like that, thrown into disarray, when habitual perception is momentarily outflanked, that he sees the chance of a picture, and goes for it. He did not set out with the aim of becoming a professional artist. His attendance at Limerick School of Art could be described as casual - though the school was then overseen by Jack Donovan, an exemplary influence. After time spent wandering in England he returned to Limerick and taught art for a while. His early, highly realist style was usurped by the sudden realization that a painting could be more than a representation as such, that it could enshrine that magical, inexplicable moment of dynamic interaction. A master of a monochromatic palette, endlessly inventive with a distinctive visual wit, he's never looked back since. Aidan Dunne, May 2021 Starting Bid: € 21000
Adam's
Mar. 22, 2021
John Shinnors (b.1950) BACK TO THE LIGHTHOUSE, LIGHTHOUSE NO. 5, 2008
Est: €10,000 - €15,000
John Shinnors (b.1950) BACK TO THE LIGHTHOUSE, LIGHTHOUSE NO. 5, 2008
Whyte's
Mar. 22, 2021
John Shinnors (b.1950) GOOD FRIDAY MORNING BREAKFAST (DIPTYCH)
Est: €40,000 - €60,000
signed and titled on reverse
Whyte's
Dec. 09, 2020
John Shinnors (b.1950) Circus Night- The Trapeze II Oil on canvas, 22 x 22cm (8¾ x 8¾'') Signed; also signed and inscribed verso
Est: €2,000 - €3,000
John Shinnors (b.1950) Circus Night- The Trapeze II Oil on canvas, 22 x 22cm (8¾ x 8¾'') Signed; also signed and inscribed verso
Adam's
Oct. 27, 2020
John Shinnors (b.1950) St. John's Night, Carraroe, Inishmor
Est: €15,000 - €20,000
John Shinnors (b.1950) St. John's Night, Carraroe, Inishmor oil on canvas on panel signed lower right and titled on reverse h:108 w:143 cm. Provenance: These Auction Rooms, 30th April 2018, Lot 56; Private Collection Limerick artist John Shinnors is justly celebrated for his inventive pictorial puzzles based on the most ordinary subject matter: mackerel laid out in the fishmongers counter, washing flapping on the clothes-line, Fresian cattle in a field, scarecrows, badgers, Loop Head lighthouse. Many of his chosen motifs share a monochrome, black-and-white palette. He prefers that colour, when he uses it, makes a point. It certainly does so in St. John's Night, Carraroe, Inishmor, which richly displays his expertise with shades of black and white and volcanic bursts of colour, and another trademark quality: an air of mystery and magic. St John's Eve, usually coincident with the Summer Solstice, is traditionally celebrated by communal bonfires, beacons in the night. Here, John Shinnors counterpoints the intense glow of the flames with a stark, elemental terrain, the bonfire in Carraroe with the forbidding sea-bound fortress of Inish Mór nearby. The dark shelf of the island's formidable cliffs juts out into the Atlantic waters, phosphorescent in the half-light of midsummer darkness. Midsummer mirrors midwinter in a fine example of pictorial drama. Aidan Dunne, October 2020.
Morgan O'Driscoll
Oct. 27, 2020
John Shinnors (b.1950) 4 o'c
Est: €5,000 - €7,000
John Shinnors (b.1950) 4 o'c oil and pastel on linen on panel signed lower right and titled verso h:38.50 w:39.50 cm. Provenance: Taylor Galleries, Dublin (label verso); Private Collection From an arrangement of almost abstract patterning, the image of a nude torso, bathed in light, radiant, materializes. It is a mellow, erotic work that draws on John Shinnors' characteristic skills. The scale suits the imtimacy of the subject.
Morgan O'Driscoll
Jul. 28, 2020
John Shinnors (b.1950) Circus Night- The Trapeze II Oil on canvas, 22 x 22cm Signed; signed and inscribed verso of frame
Est: €3,000 - €5,000
John Shinnors (b.1950) Circus Night- The Trapeze II Oil on canvas, 22 x 22cm Signed; signed and inscribed verso of frame
Adam's
Apr. 14, 2020
John Shinnors (b.1950) Port in Winter
Est: €15,000 - €25,000
John Shinnors (b.1950) Port in Winter oil on canvas signed and titled verso h:86.50 w:87.50 cm. Provenance: Private Collection One of Ireland's most enduringly popular artists, John Shinnors is entirely without affectation or pretension. A master of black-and-white, he uses additional colour sparingly and usually to great effect. He is also a master when it comes to shaping pictorial drama. His habitual motifs, which include farm animals, birds, lighthouses, scarecrows and washing lines, may be unremarkable, even prosaic, but Shinnors excels at rendering them in terms of abstract patterns and textures in compositions charged with energy and tension.
Morgan O'Driscoll
Apr. 14, 2020
John Shinnors (b.1950) Roxboro Road Bus Stop V (2007)
Est: €15,000 - €20,000
John Shinnors (b.1950) Roxboro Road Bus Stop V (2007) oil on canvas signed on stretcher lower right and titled verso h:54.50 w:80 cm. Provenance: Acquired directly from the artist; Private Collection John Shinnors was born in Limerick in 1950 and studied at the Limerick School of Art and Design. He has exhibited nationally and internationally since the 1980's with the Taylor Galleries, Dublin as his principal gallery. He is a member of Aosdána and is involved in the promotion of the arts through the Shinnors Scholarship and the Shinnors Drawing Award. He lives and works in Limerick. Shinnors paints reoccurring themes and this allows him to paint objects with dramatic contrasts of light and dark, these dark and light tones are major elements in his work with shapes taking precedence over line. The shapes can be irregular in format with broad flat strokes. The work is textured with great atmosphere and energy compelling the viewer to be involved. Aidan Dunne, March 2020
Morgan O'Driscoll
Mar. 09, 2020
John Shinnors (b.1950) SCULPTOR'S SCARECROWS
Est: €10,000 - €15,000
signed lower right; signed, titled and with Taylor Galleries label on reverse
Whyte's
Dec. 02, 2019
John Shinnors (b.1950) ESTUARY IN SNOW, SHIPPING II
Est: €4,000 - €6,000
signed lower right; with Solomon Gallery label on reverse
Whyte's
Oct. 21, 2019
John Shinnors (b.1950) Loop Head - Kite I (1998)
Est: €10,000 - €15,000
John Shinnors (b.1950) Loop Head - Kite I (1998) oil on canvas signed lower right h:58 w:58 cm. Provenance: Acquired directly from the artist by the present owner Literature: Profile 18 - John Shinnors - Published by Gandon Editions, page 33 (illustrated) Kites are one of John Shinnors' favourite motifs because they are wild cards, thrown around by the wind and likely to pop in and out of sight. Shinnors loves accidental juxtapositions, chance encounters that transform unlikely partners into visual puzzles. Here he has in play two recurrent subjects, a kite dancing through the sky against Loop Head lighthouse in a lively composition that verges on the abstract.
Morgan O'Driscoll

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