Alicia Boyle RBA, RHA (1908-1997), The Arch Bar, Derry

Although born in Thailand, Alicia Boyle grew up Co Derry, Northern Ireland, where she lived until until moving to London in her late teens. Revisiting her childhood home in what must have been the late 1960s or early 1970s, political violence there was at its peak. If you look closely you see a soldier partially behind a concrete bunker, with barricades on the far side of the arch. In a beautiful, distinctive pallette of reds and greys, the buildings are reflected on wet pavements and road. The painting is somewhat a visual equivalent to Phil Coulter's song The Town I Loved So Well, written around the same time:

With their tanks and guns
Oh my god, what have they done
To the town I loved so well

It appears to be one of her most overtly personal works, carefully and lovingly composed.

Alicia Boyle exhibited widely in her lifetime. After leaving Northern Ireland, she ived in England for much of her life, moving back to Ireland in 1971. She exhibited widely in the UK and Ireland, including at the Royal Academy in London, at the Irish Exhibition of Living Art in the 1950 and at the Royal Hibernian Academy (RHA). Her work was shown in numerous solo and group exhibitions in Dublin, Edinburgh, New York and London. She exhibited regularly with the Society of British Artists and the Waddington Galery in Dublin.

Her work is now in numerous collections, including the National Gallery of Ireland, the Crawford Art Gallery, the Ulster Museum, as well as many institutions in the UK.

Oil on canvas. In original Dawson Gallery-stye frame with hessian and wood. Dimensions (excluding frame) 60 x 50cm. Signed with initials, bottom right and also on reverse.

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