Tony O'Malley HRHA, 1913 - 2003

Tony O’Malley was born in Callan, Co Kilkenny in 1913. He worked for many years as a clerk with the Munster & Leinster Bank, retiring from the bank in his forties to become a full time artist and moving to St Ives in Cornwall in 1961, where he came into contact with many of the leading artists of his day, including Patrick Heron, Peter Lanyon and Brian Wynter. In 1973, he married Canadian artist Jane Harris and together they made regular visits to the Isles of Scilly, the Bahamas, Lanzarote and Clare Island, Co Mayo, where his father was born, before returning to live in County Kilkenny in 1990, where he lived until his death in 2003. One of the most important contemporary artists of his day, he exhibited widely and was bestowed with numerous honours including an Honorary Doctorate by Trinity College, Dublin. During his lifetime he had numerous one man shows at home and abroad and in 2005 a retrospective exhibition of his work was held at the Irish Museum of Modern Art in Dublin. A major contemporary artist, of international standing, his work is to be found in many important collections worldwide.