David Crone

Life
1937- ; b. Belfast, entered Belfast College of Art, 1956; taught at Larkfield Secondary Sch., Belfast, 1961-63, then Annadale, 1963-75; and later New Ulster University [University of Ulster] at Jordanstown; received NI Arts Council travel award to the continent, 1964; Crone began as a sculptor and gradually moved to painting with work that show Expressionist and Cubist influences; commissioned mural for Ulster University, 1971; retrospective exhibition, Ulster Museum, Belfast, in 1995; elected MRHA (Dublin) in 2005; works held by Tom Caldwell Gallery, Belfast; Arts Council of Northern Ireland, Arts Council (Dublin), and Ulster Museum; his “Horse and Rider” is in the Queen’s University, Belfast (QUB) is thought his only extant sculpture.

Catalogues
  • Paintings by David Crone at the Arts Council Gallery, Belfast April-May 1965 [exhibition catalogue] (Belfast: Arts Council 1965), 6pp.
  • Sean McCrum & Arts Council of Northern Ireland, Exhibition of paintings 1975-1984, at the Arts Council Gallery, Belfast, 12 January-4 February 1984 [exhibition catalogue] (Belfast: Arts Council 1984), 26p.
  • S. B. Kennedy, David Crone Paintings, 1964-1991 (Dublin: Four Courts 1999), 80pp., ill.; [catalogue of exhibition at the University of Ulster]
  • S. B. Kennedy, David Crone Paintings, 1963-1999 (Dublin: Four Courts 1999), 72pp., ill.; [catalogue of exhibition held 26 Nov. 1999 - 5 Mar. 2000 at Ulster Museum, Belfast, includes a piece by Slavka Serakova, catalogue of exhibitions and works, bibliography and index].
 
[ See also num. works at Artnet - online. ]

Commentary
[q.a.], review of S. B. Kennedy , David Crone Paintings, 1963-1999 in Books Ireland (Feb. 2000), pp. 32-33; ‘so integral is colour to Crone's work, that we find these [monochrome reproductions], interesting only in terms of technical analysis of tone, draughtmanship and brushwork.’ (p.33)

Michael Longley: ‘Nowadays much of the landscape (and townscape) painting produced in this country celebrates an Ireland that never really existed. It consoles too easily and stops us thinking. In his energetic engagement with the world, Crone defies such complacency. A thundery disquietude hangs over even his brightest creations. His watchful, edgy, ambiguous work suggests that everything – from wild flower to boulder, from graffito to stone cross – is provisional. David Crone’s wonderful paintings commemorate the interim.’ (Quoted at Hillsboro Gallery page with photos of paintings, a photo port. and a list of exhibitions - online; accessed 03.12.2023).

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