Pangolin London
Skip to main content
  • Menu
  • Artists
  • Exhibitions
  • Publications
  • Video
  • Blog
  • About Us
  • Contact
  • SHOP
Facebook, opens in a new tab.
Twitter, opens in a new tab.
Youtube, opens in a new tab.
Instagram, opens in a new tab.
Join the mailing list
Send an email
View on Google Maps
Vimeo, opens in a new tab.
Cart
0 items £
Checkout

Item added to cart

View cart & checkout
Continue shopping
Facebook, opens in a new tab.
Twitter, opens in a new tab.
Youtube, opens in a new tab.
Instagram, opens in a new tab.
Join the mailing list
Send an email
View on Google Maps
Vimeo, opens in a new tab.
Menu
  • Current
  • Forthcoming
  • Past

Breon O'Casey: Painting is Another Language

Past exhibition
30 March - 27 August 2022
  • Works
  • Overview
  • Installation Views
  • Publications
Breon O'Casey, Painting is Another Language
View works

It is very difficult to talk about painting: it is after all another language...

- Breon O’Casey

Please note: Access will be restricted to the B-1 space on Saturday 23rd July. We apologise for any inconvenience caused.

Pangolin London are delighted to present a new exhibition of paintings and prints - many never seen before - by prominent St Ives artist Breon O’Casey. Bringing together the greatest number of paintings ever presented to the public, Painting is Another Language will also display some of the painter’s early works. 

 

As the son of Irish playwright Sean O’Casey whose passion for visual art almost led him to become a painter himself, Breon O’Casey grew up surrounded by art in an environment which gave him the impression that he ‘[shared] a house with Matisse’. Consequently, Breon began to paint at a young age and often used his family as models, as shown in the photograph below, taken by famous photographer Gjon Mili, of a young O’Casey painting his sister Shivaun reading in the early 1950s.

 

Known for his wide-reaching style that encompassed both the figurative and the abstract, Breon O’Casey’s work is founded on a series of repetitive motifs; from simple, bold images of birds and hills reminiscent of Braque and Matisse, to his use of colourful triangles, spirals and polka dots in constructing landscapes rich with emotion. Occasionally, O’Casey drew inspiration from literature or mythology – for example, his Leda and the Swan paintings or his Three Graces, which are shown here together for first time. 

 

Breon O’Casey studied at Dartington Art School, where he was taught by the influential artist Naum Slutzky, a Russian-Jewish refugee and former head of metalwork at the Bauhaus. Between 1948 and 1950, he attended the Anglo-French Art Centre in St John’s Wood, London, and studied under tutors including Fernand Léger, André Lhote and  Germaine Richier. In 1959, he moved to St Ives after watching a television programme about Alfred Wallis’ life in Cornwall. 

 

Soon after he arrived at St Ives, he became a part-time assistant to Denis Mitchell and then to Dame Barbara Hepworth, before rising to prominence as an influential member of the School of St Ives. O’Casey became accomplished at working in a wide range of media: painting, weaving, jewellery, printmaking - and later in life, sculpture.

 

Painting is Another Language will present an original selection of paintings, prints and jewellery from the artist’s estate which is now represented by Pangolin London. 

 

Digital catalogue: 

 

Download Press Release

Related artist

  • Breon O'Casey

    Breon O'Casey

Share
  • Facebook
  • X
  • Pinterest
  • Tumblr
  • Email
Back to Past exhibitions
Gallery OPENING TIMES

Mon - Tue: Open by appointment only
Wed - Sat: 10:00am - 6:00pm

 

OTHER EXHIBITIONS

Friday - Monday 8am - 8pm. Exhibitions on B-1 Mezzanine Level at Kings Place can be subject to events and have restricted access. Please check before you travel.

 

Please note that the gallery is closed on Bank Holidays and between exhibitions.

Kings Place

90 York Way

N1 9AG

gallery@pangolinlondon.com

020 7520 1480

 

Join our mailing list

 

 

Instagram, opens in a new tab.
Facebook, opens in a new tab.
Twitter, opens in a new tab.
Join the mailing list
Accessibility Policy
Manage cookies
Copyright © 2025 Pangolin London
Site by Artlogic

This website uses cookies
This site uses cookies to help make it more useful to you. Please contact us to find out more about our Cookie Policy.

Manage cookies
Accept

Cookie preferences

Check the boxes for the cookie categories you allow our site to use

Cookie options
Required for the website to function and cannot be disabled.
Improve your experience on the website by storing choices you make about how it should function.
Allow us to collect anonymous usage data in order to improve the experience on our website.
Allow us to identify our visitors so that we can offer personalised, targeted marketing.
Save preferences
Close

Join our mailing list

Signup

* denotes required fields

We will process the personal data you have supplied in accordance with our privacy policy (available on request). You can unsubscribe or change your preferences at any time by clicking the link in our emails.