A Surrealist influence is evident in With Tomorrow, where the use of the Rückenfigur – a person seen from behind – dominates and where the surrounding space creates a tense and intriguing setting, writes Róisín Kennedy
The Dublin-based artist Francis O’Toole has been awarded this year’s Ireland–U.S. Council/Irish Arts Review Portraiture Award at the Royal Hibernian Academy’s Annual Exhibition for his portrait With Tomorrow. In the work, a woman stands with her back to the viewer. She is barefoot, wearing a crumpled dress of pale, blue-green, silky material, which is painted using titanium white and cobalt green to create cool, bright tones. It is a vintage 1950s garment from Eastern Europe, creating a feeling of nostalgia or ambiguity regarding time. Although we cannot see the figure’s face, her stance suggests vulnerability and captivates our attention. This large, imposing painting goes beyond conventional portraiture to build up several avenues of exploration. It is a consummately executed work of art, with textures and surfaces meticulously painted, such as the roughness of the woman’s heels and the reddened creases of her elbows. We do not know who the sitter is, but we know that she is close to the artist. Her evident humanity is used in the work to express the fragility of existence and to encourage empathy with her predicament, which we also share.
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