Lot 54: Hughie O'Donoghue , b.1953 The Wreck oil and mixed media on canvas, unframed

signed twice oil and mixed media on canvas, unframed

104 by 155cm.; 41 by 61in.

The Wreck is one of a series of paintings which focus on the wrecked hulk of the SS Plassy. The ship was grounded in 1960 on the eastern shores of Inis Oirr, the smallest of the Aran Islands, off the coast of Galway. O'Donoghue first visited the island as a child in 1962 and was instantly fascinated by the wreck.

On many occasions since, he has revisited the site of the wreck, photographing its changing appearance as it slowly disintegrates and is reclaimed by the sea. Its original dark colour has disappeared and been replaced by the glowing red of rusting metal. The motif has appeared regularly in his work during the last decade and the wreck has been used as a model both for the doomed troop ship The Lancastria and the French frigate The Medusa, also less specifically '...to evoke images of the spectral ghost or phantom ships of maritime myth, The Flying Dutchman or the crewless Demeter of Bram Stoker's Dracula' (O'Donoghue, 2007).

The journey through life is a central theme within O'Donoghue's work and The Wreck is one of a distinctive group of paintings which set this journey within the context of a storm at sea. The ship stands in place of the solitary individual and in its various manifestations is evocative of departure and longing for return.