Lot 41: PATRICK SWIFT

PATRICK SWIFT 1927 - 1983 APPLE TREE signed l.r: SWIFT ; also signed PATRICK SWIFT and indistinctly inscribed on the stretcher bar oil on canvas 50.5 by 61cm.; 20 by 24in. Executed in the late 1950s.

The Artist, and thence by descent to the present owner

During his lifetime Swift chose to exhibit his work very rarely and he only had three solo exhibitions of his work in 1952, 1965 and 1974. As a result, his work was largely unknown until a major retrospective at the Irish Museum of Modern Art in Dublin in 1993 which finally allowed a wider audience to experience his prodigious talent and unique vision.

Born in Dublin, he attended night classses at the NCAD from 1948 – 49 and subsequently became friends with Lucian Freud who shared his Dublin studio in Hatch Street in the early 1950s. His friendship with the older artist was important in his development of a highly stylized and detailed handling exemplied by the quirky precision of the present work.

He subsequently moved to London in 1955 and was quickly associated with the group of artists who frequented Muriel Belcher's infamous Colony Club including Francis Bacon, Frank Auerbach and Leon Kossoff. Swift went on to found the literary and arts review X with David Wright however, in 1962, he decided to leave the hectic London art world for a more peaceful lifestyle in the Algarve, Portugal. He founded a traditional pottery workshop with the Portuguese artist Lima de Freitas championing local techniques and designs which is still successful today.