Artwork considered one of Gerard Dillon’s best set to go under the hammer next week

A SEMINAL piece of art by Belfast-born artist Gerard Dillon will go under the hammer in Sussex next week.

The Irishman, who died in Dublin in 1971 at the age of 55, is thought to have completed the work in 1949.

Considered one of the artist’s most important pieces, High Cross Panel is inspired by Celtic relief sculptures that Dillon had sketched during his visits to Monasterboice and Mellifont Abbey in Co. Louth, with his friend, fellow artist Nano Reid.

Gerard Dillon’s High Cross Panel is expected to fetch up to £50k at auction next week

It is expected to fetch up to £50k when it goes up for auction at Toovey’s Fine Art Auctioneers & Valuers in Washington, West Sussex on September 4.

“We are thrilled to have this major work by one of the most important modern artists to come out of Ireland,” Tim Williams, Toovey’s fine art consultant, said this week.

“This painting was the only work by Dillon to feature as a full double page colour illustration in James White’s important biography on the artist published in 1994,” he added.

Although the artist became disenchanted with the Catholic Church of his upbringing, his incorporation of Celtic Christian iconography can be seen as an “attempt to connect with a distinctly Irish tradition” the auction house claims.

“By referencing Celtic art, Dillon sought to position his work within the broader context of Irish artistic heritage,” they add.

The painting was first owned by P.J. Carroll & Co. Ltd, whose art collection was widely regarded as one of the pre-eminent collections of 20th century Irish art, and was originally hung in their factory in Dundalk, Co. Louth.

The P.J. Carroll factory in Co. Louth

A large portion of the P.J. Carroll collection is now to be found in the Irish Museum of Modern Art in Dublin.

High Cross Panel was lent by the Carroll collection to the Gerard Dillon Retrospective exhibition held at the Municipal Gallery of Modern Art (now the Hugh Lane Gallery) in 1973.

It was then purchased from the collection by the Australian millionaire Sir John Galvin and has remained in the Galvin family until now.

The artwork will go under the hammer at Tooveys on September 4. It is open for previews form August 31 until the morning of the sale.

Live online and telephone bidding will also be available to Irish and international collectors.