Camille Souter returned from Italy and settled in Achill in early 1959. Historically, the island has been popular with artists and writers. Major figures such as Paul and Grace Henry, Robert Henri, Letitia Hamilton, Derek Hill, Evie Hone, Mainie Jellett, Doreen Vanston, Dorothy Blackham, Barbara Warren, J. M. Synge, Graham Greene and Nobel prize-winner Heinrich Boll have all been attracted to the island. Unintentionally, Souter might be said to have followed in the footsteps of an earlier generation of painters, who learnt a considerable amount about modern painting on the continent and applied that knowledge to the Achill landscape. Her approach was, however, far more radical than any of her predecessors.

Throughout the 1950s Souter had used a myriad of unconventional materials and techniques, but in Achill this trend became much more pronounced. It was there that she first began to use fluid aluminium and enamel paints to supplement her limited, less easily obtainable supplies of oil paint. Fortuitously the colours that were available in the local hardware corresponded closely to some of those prevalent in the landscape.

The early work from Achill has such a high degree of painterly expressiveness that it may often appear to verge on abstraction and, without reference to a title, one might be at a loss to discover its content or subject. This is undoubtedly true of Achill Rocks and Reflections I. As the artist herself once remarked of her early work ‘None of those pictures were abstract. All the Achill paintings dealt with bog, rocks and pools more or less’. The materials used in the painting (black enamel and aluminium paint on brown kraft wrapping paper) and the manner in which they are used, is strikingly experimental for the period both in an Irish and an international context. While influenced by movements such as abstract expressionism and tachisme, Souter’s work is distinguished by being firmly rooted in its subject.
The top half of the Achill Rocks and Reflections I roughly mirrors the lower half. The left half of the painting roughly reflects the right half. It seems that Souter probably began by painting one side of the work. Then in an almost childlike fashion, she folded the work in two, to print both sides of the painting with a similar motif. Alternatively, this may have been done on a separate sheet which was then pressed onto the surface. It is as though her subject matter –rocks and reflections – literally dictated the manner in which the paint was applied. It is also true that the reflective nature of aluminium paint provides a peculiarly appropriate substitute for the reflective qualities of water. This work seems to unite all the unconscious automatist energy of an action painting, with the cool precision and minimalism of a Japanese print.

When the late Sir Basil Goulding exhibited his collection of modern art at the Dublin City Gallery, the Hugh Lane, in 1960 under the title ‘One Man’s Meat’, Achill Rocks and Reflections I was chosen to grace the cover of the exhibition catalogue. It was an interesting choice, considering his enormous collection included works by Oskar Kokoshka, Jean Lurcat, Pablo Picasso, Louis le Brocquy and Barrie Cooke to name but a few. Reputations and style appear to have been of less significance to him. Goulding trusted the judgment of his own eyes, placing the greatest emphasis on quality. He wrote: ‘It is not the idiom that counts; it is the performance within one,’ and ‘Quality is by far the senior ingredient over idiom.’ When comparing the works of artists such as le Brocquy, Cooke and Souter in terms of their ‘quality’ ‘authority’ and ‘penetration’ he noted, ‘Perhaps by the way we should keep all these alternative words available because we must have the noun “Quality” for Camille Souter – the others aren’t quite right for the art which is gentle but complex and unique.’ Achill Rocks and Reflections was sold in 1982 following Sir Basil Goulding’s death and has not to my knowledge been seen in public since. While I have lusted after countless paintings by Camille Souter, in my opinion this is one of the very best, one of the very highest ‘Quality’ to have come up for auction since I began following sales of her work 10 years ago. Collectors are understandably reluctant to let them go.

Garrett Cormican