Pádraig MacMiàdhachain (1929-2017) The Dark Bird 1999

Painter in oil, gouache and watercolour, born in Downpatrick, Northern Ireland, whose wives included the artists Anna Macmiadhacháin and Bonnie Brown. Macmiadhacháin (pronounced Macmeeahon) studied at Belfast College of Art, 1949–52; National Art College in Dublin, 1952–3; won a travelling scholarship to Moscow in 1957 and Poland in 1960; then studied at Academy of Art, Cracow, 1960–1. He early settled on the Isle of Purbeck, Dorset, and he and Bonnie Brown opened their White Yard Studios in Swanage to the public. He painted widely in Ireland, Cuba, Mexico, North America, North Africa, the Middle East, Central Asia and elsewhere. Macmiadhacháin’s work varied widely in style, and he often employed a richly coloured palette. He took part in numerous mixed shows, including RA, RUA, RWA, Royal Glasgow Institute of the Fine Arts, elsewhere in the provinces and abroad. New Academy Gallery showed his work solo from 1990, with a retrospective at Molesworth Gallery, Dublin, 1999. Irish Arts Council, Sussex University and HM King Juan Carlos, of Spain, hold examples. Read less Text source: ‘Artists in Britain Since 1945’ by David Buckman (Art Dictionaries Ltd, part of Sansom & Company)