Donald Teskey

Donald Teskey was born in Co. Limerick and graduated from Limerick College of Art and Design with a Diploma in Fine Art in 1978. He came to prominence as an artist through his skill as a draughtsman during the 1980s with several significant solo exhibitions and for nearly thirty years has produced an important and extensive body of works chiefly inspired by the Irish landscape. He is a member of the RHA and an elected member of its Council. He is also a member of Aosdána. The Arts Council established Aosdána in 1981 to honour artists whose work has made an outstanding contribution to the arts in Ireland, and to encourage and assist members in devoting their energies fully to their art. Membership, which is by invitation from current members, is limited to 250 individuals. Teskey has been the recipient of numerous awards, fellowships and residencies both nationally and internationally and his work has been exhibited in the UK, USA, Canada, China, Germany, France, Finland and South Africa. Collections include the Irish Museum of Modern Art, Arts Council of Ireland, corporate and private collections worldwide. He is represented by Oliver Sears Gallery, Dublin, Dolan/Maxwell Gallery, Pennsylvania, USA and Art First Contemporary Art, London.

Donald Teskey is one of Ireland’s leading contemporary painters, even though he began painting belatedly, having been long established as a graphic artist. His earliest works are virtuoso drawings of desolate city streets, and the fabric of the city, mostly Dublin, remained his central subject matter when he began to apply himself to painting. He is a hard-working perfectionist and the technical flair characteristic of his drawings is also fully evident in his handling of oil paint, which is exceptional and innovative. Never content to settle into a predictable pattern, he has consistently embraced fresh artistic challenges.

Just when it seemed that he could safely be classified as an urban artist he ventured out into the wide open spaces, visiting Cape Clear Island off the coast of West Cork and Ballycastle in North Mayo, where he stayed during a fellowship at the Ballinglen Arts Foundation. His urban landscapes had relished the drama of architectonic spaces, the intricate sculptural patterns created by jumbles of buildings, roads, bridges, canals and railways, all defined by the play of light and shadow. As it happened, he found that this pictorial language worked exceptionally well in a completely different, natural environment.

(excerpt from catalogue essay)
Aidan Dunne
April 2008

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Found 64 item(s) / Showing 1-28

'CASTLETOWNSHEND, 1999'
- Price Realised: €50,000
- Sale: 25 April 2006
- signed and dated lower right; inscribed and signed again on reverse
- 109 by 127cm., 43 by 50in.
'DOCKLANDS VII, 2002'
- Price Realised: €46,000
- Sale: 06 March 2023
- oil on canvas
- 32 x 40in. (81.28 x 101.60cm)
'PLATEAU I, 2005'
- Price Realised: €44,000
- Sale: 28 April 2008
- oil on canvas
- 213 by 244cm., 84 by 96in.
'COASTAL REPORT II - ERRIS, 2016'
- Price Realised: €36,000
- Sale: 07 December 2020
- acrylic on paper
- 29¾ x 41in. (75.57 x 104.14cm)
'FOOTBRIDGE AT SEAPOINT, 2001'
- Price Realised: €32,000
- Sale: 25 February 2008
- oil on canvas
- 61 by 76cm., 24 by 30in.
'COASTAL REPORT IV - DOWNPATRICK HEAD, COUNTY MAYO, 2016'
- Price Realised: €30,000
- Sale: 22 March 2021
- acrylic on paper
- 29½ x 39in. (74.93 x 99.06cm)
'ISLAND CROSSING VII, 2000'
- Price Realised: €30,000
- Sale: 30 November 2015
- oil on canvas
- 43 x 48in. (109.22 x 121.92cm)
'COMPOSITION WITH STEPS, DÚN LAOGHAIRE AND MONKSTOWN, COUNTY DUBLIN, 2003'
- Price Realised: €29,000
- Sale: 26 September 2022
- oil on canvas; (unframed)
- 48 x 52in. (121.92 x 132.08cm)
'EVENING SHORELINE'
- Price Realised: €29,000
- Sale: 06 June 2022
- oil on canvas
- 31½ x 39½in. (80.01 x 100.33cm)
'POOLS AND SHADOWS, 2006'
- Price Realised: €27,000
- Sale: 18 May 2009
- oil on canvas
- 124 by 157cm., 49 by 62in.
'BREADTH I, 2004'
- Price Realised: €26,000
- Sale: 28 November 2006
- oil on canvas
- 114 by 127cm., 45 by 50in.
'SHORELINE II, 2001'
- Price Realised: €25,000
- Sale: 26 September 2022
- oil on canvas
- 24 x 30in. (60.96 x 76.20cm)
'AN EVENING WALK IN MARYLAND, AFTER A POEM BY GERARD SMYTH, 2005'
- Price Realised: €25,000
- Sale: 26 November 2007
- oil on canvas
- 46 by 53cm., 18 by 21in.
'COASTAL REPORT'
- Price Realised: €23,000
- Sale: 28 September 2020
- oil on paper
- 30 x 41in. (76.20 x 104.14cm)
'SCHOOLHOUSE LANE EAST I'
- Price Realised: €22,000
- Sale: 30 November 2004
- oil on canvas
- 109 by 122cm., 43 by 48in.
'FIGURE AND YELLOW BUSH, 1999'
- Price Realised: €21,000
- Sale: 21 February 2006
- oil on paper
- 59 by 79cm., 23.2 by 31.25in.
'COASTAL REPORT II'
- Price Realised: €20,000
- Sale: 09 March 2020
- acrylic on paper
- 30 x 40in. (76.20 x 101.60cm)
'STREET IN SAFED, 1999'
- Price Realised: €20,000
- Sale: 25 February 2008
- oil on paper
- 50 by 41cm., 19.5 by 16in.
'WATEREDGE XIV, 2006'
- Price Realised: €19,000
- Sale: 27 September 2021
- acrylic on paper
- 28 x 36in. (71.12 x 91.44cm)
'CHURCH STREET, FR MATHEW BRIDGE, 1999'
- Price Realised: €19,000
- Sale: 07 December 2020
- oil on canvas
- 30 x 39½in. (76.20 x 100.33cm)
'FIGURE AND YELLOW BUSH, 1999'
- Price Realised: €17,000
- Sale: 31 May 2021
- oil on paper
- 23¼ x 31¼in. (59.06 x 79.38cm)
'PORTACLOY, 2000'
- Price Realised: €17,000
- Sale: 24 November 2008
- oil on canvas
- 61 by 76cm., 24 by 30in.
'WATERSEDGE XVII, 2007'
- Price Realised: €16,000
- Sale: 25 May 2015
- acrylic on canvas
- 39 x 39in. (99.06 x 99.06cm)
'WOMEN ON SYNGE STREET'
- Price Realised: €15,000
- Sale: 18 February 2003
- oil on paper
- 75 by 104cm., 29.5 by 41in.
'DOWNPATRICK HEAD II, 1997'
- Price Realised: €14,000
- Sale: 06 March 2023
- oil on paper
- 23 x 30in. (58.42 x 76.20cm)
'LIGHTHOUSE, GALLEY HEAD, WEST CORK, 2005'
- Price Realised: €12,000
- Sale: 12 March 2012
- oil on canvas
- 56.515 by 78.105cm., 22.25 by 30.75in.
'STREET CORNER AT PALMERSTON ROAD'
- Price Realised: €10,500
- Sale: 17 September 2007
- oil on paper
- 36 by 46cm., 14 by 18in.
'WILD WOODLANDS, 1999'
- Price Realised: €9,000
- Sale: 27 September 2021
- oil on paper
- 23 x 31in. (58.42 x 78.74cm)

'CASTLETOWNSHEND, 1999'

'DOCKLANDS VII, 2002'

'PLATEAU I, 2005'

'COASTAL REPORT II - ERRIS, 2016'

'FOOTBRIDGE AT SEAPOINT, 2001'

'COASTAL REPORT IV - DOWNPATRICK HEAD, COUNTY MAYO, 2016'

'ISLAND CROSSING VII, 2000'

'COMPOSITION WITH STEPS, DÚN LAOGHAIRE AND MONKSTOWN, COUNTY DUBLIN, 2003'

'EVENING SHORELINE'

'POOLS AND SHADOWS, 2006'

'BREADTH I, 2004'

'SHORELINE II, 2001'

'AN EVENING WALK IN MARYLAND, AFTER A POEM BY GERARD SMYTH, 2005'

'COASTAL REPORT'

'SCHOOLHOUSE LANE EAST I'

'FIGURE AND YELLOW BUSH, 1999'

'COASTAL REPORT II'

'STREET IN SAFED, 1999'

'WATEREDGE XIV, 2006'

'CHURCH STREET, FR MATHEW BRIDGE, 1999'

'FIGURE AND YELLOW BUSH, 1999'

'PORTACLOY, 2000'

'WATERSEDGE XVII, 2007'

'WOMEN ON SYNGE STREET'

'DOWNPATRICK HEAD II, 1997'

'LIGHTHOUSE, GALLEY HEAD, WEST CORK, 2005'

'STREET CORNER AT PALMERSTON ROAD'

'WILD WOODLANDS, 1999'