Desmond Carrick:THE PAINTER Desmond Carrick was a former secretary of the Royal Hibernian Academy. A mainstay of the academy's annual exhibition for many years, he also showed work at the Living Art, Independent Artists and Oireachtas exhibitions.
Carrick had a wide range of visual interests, from sculpture to ceramics, but he first established himself as a watercolourist before concentrating on painting in oils.
Described as a “true poet of the outdoors”, he was a figurative artist whose work reflected the influence of Monet, Renoir and Pissarro and was inspired by the landscape of Ireland as well as that of France and Spain.
Born in Dublin in 1928, he was the son of Harry Carrick and Kathleen Carrick (née Smith).
He grew up in Crumlin, and was educated by the Christian Brothers. Not “a happy student”, in the words of a friend, he was, however, happy to follow in his father’s footsteps to take up employment at Guinness’s brewery. There, in 1945, he began working in the laboratory.
The following year, Carrick enrolled for night classes at the National College of Art. His teachers included Seán Keating and Maurice MacGonigal, and he absorbed the academic outlook that prevailed. Fellow students included Edward Delaney, Owen Walsh and Patricia Jorgensen. In later years he returned to teach part time at the college.
His work was first selected to be shown at the RHA annual exhibition in 1951, and he rarely missed an exhibition thereafter. In 1956 he was awarded the Taylor scholarship by the Royal Dublin Society, and was also commissioned by Guinness to paint a mural at the brewery’s visitors’ centre.
Carrick’s first solo exhibition, in March 1953, was reviewed in this newspaper by “GHG”, who acclaimed him as one of Ireland’s leading watercolourists: “His drawing is crisp and competent, his washes are clean and sparkling, his colours are clear but never weak, and his compositions are bold and striking.”
In the 1960s, following his Bull series of paintings, Carrick undertook the King series. It was an exciting period of great creativity, and he devoted as much time as possible to realising his vision. Also in the 1960s he further developed his interest in the human figure by making a number of sculptural forms.
Carrick once remarked that he worked with, rather than in, watercolours, and using this medium he created vibrant images that transcend mere description.
A section of the Grand Canal in Co Kildare was the subject of many paintings, and his 1972 painting of the canal near Hazelhatch is one of his finest.
In the 1980s, after he had retired from Guinness, Carrick painted the small villages around Vernon and close to Giverny, where Monet lived and painted. It pleased him to know that some of the sites had previously been painted by Monet.
Carrick painted scenes of the coastline and beaches around Nerja, but his Spanish works were mainly painted inland and are much hotter in tone than his Irish or French landscapes. The clearness of the light in New Zealand also caught his attention, and he completed a series of watercolours there during a visit in 2000.
Elected to full membership of the RHA in 1968, he served as secretary from 1970 until 1981.
His work is held in public collections including the Bank of Ireland, Office of Public Works and University of Limerick, and in private collections in Ireland, France, Germany, Spain, the UK, the US, Australia and New Zealand.
A retrospective exhibition, Lie of the Land, was held at the RHA gallery in 2009. Fellow academician James Nolan wrote in the catalogue: “He is a maestro, a true artist, unswerving in his commitment, loyal to his muse. His output is prodigious and his studio is an el dorado of paintings, drawings and watercolours, all distinguished by their originality.”
Carrick was predeceased by his wife Deirdre (née Mellett). His sister Valerie and brothers Aidan and Hank survive him.
Desmond Carrick: born 1928; died September 30th, 2012