Lot 257: JAMES RIELLY

JAMES RIELLY B.1956 PROFILE signed, titled, dated 2002 and inscribed made in East London by James on the overlap oil on canvas 183 by 152.5cm.; 72 by 60in.

Timothy Taylor Gallery, London, where acquired by the present owner in November 2003

Included in the acclaimed exhibition Sensation: Young British Artists from the Saatchi Collection, held at the Royal Academy in 1997, Rielly paints deliberately ambiguous works which draw on the artist's dark humour. Composed of images from books and magazines, greatly enlarged, Rielly's paintings often deal with the theme of childhood, blending the amusing, sinister and provocative (see also The Robert Devereux Collection, Sale 3, lot 411).

Born in Wales, Rielly has worked in both Belfast and London and now lives and works in Toulouse, France. He is represented in several major collections, including the Arts Council of England, UK, the Musée des Beaux-Arts de Nantes, France, the Saatchi Collection, London, and the Tate Gallery, London. He was appointed Professor of Painting at the Ecole Nationale Supérieure des Beaux-Arts, Paris, in 2006.