Melita Denaro (Irish b.1950) "Storm Over Pollen 1", c.1996, Mixed Media on Paper. Signed and titled on reverse of frame. 8.75in x 12in (22cm x 31cm) sight (visible painting). Mounted in the original glazed, wood frame 15.5in x 18.75in (39cm x 48cm) frame size.

CONDITION: Excellent original condition.

BIOGRAPHY: Melita Denaro (Irish b.1950) was born in Burt, Co. Donegal in Ireland. She has lived in a cottage amongst the dramatic landscape on the Isle of Doagh off Donegal’s Inishowen Peninsular in Clonmay since the 1970s, and has painted for much of this time from one field, capturing scenes in a space she knows personally and intimately, as they change with the seasons and the light.

Denaro continues to work between Donegal and London, despite a diagnosis of MS in 1996. Her larger paintings are usually produced in her London studio from smaller studies painted on the Isle of Doagh. Her paintings have been described as ‘Turneresque’ in their semi-abstraction and capture of ethereal light; as redolent of John ‘Jack’ Butler Yeats; and as Constable-like in their portraiture of a local landscape to which the artist is closely attached.

She studied Ceramics at The Central School of Art in London between 1975-78, and between 1992-95 studied for her Postgraduate Diploma in Painting at the Royal Academy School. She has been exhibited and collected widely, including in: the public collections of the Irish State, Dublin; Donegal County Council; Guinness, Dublin; Guinness, London; Hambros Bank, London – and in the private collections of HRH the Prince of Wales, and Oprah Winfrey. Galleries to exhibit her work include Taylor & Solomon Galleries in Dublin; and the John Martin Gallery in London.

Denaro has been described as “dynamic” and “inspirational” by those who have met her. The prizes she has been awarded include: The Armitage Prize, and The David Murray Travelling Scholarship, both 1994; and, in 1995: The Creswick Prize, and The Royal Academy Silver Medal.