The Mark O'Neill Collection

His clients included Harrods, Guinness, Southern Comfort and Royal Mail. He also designed several movie posters for Warner Brothers. Mark’s illustration work has also appeared on many book jacket covers for Catherine Cookson. His work has also featured on the cover of books by such notable authors as James Herriot, Frederick Raphael and Noel Virtue.

He moved to Ireland in the late eighties and has had many sell-out shows around the country. He won many awards at prominent exhibitions including the Arnotts National Portrait Exhibition, Dublin and as far back as 1991 his talent was recognised by the Auctioneers, James Adam and Sons when he won their “Artist for Future Appreciation Award” at the annual Royal Hibernian Academy Exhibition. Six of Mark’s pictures were included in an exhibition of Irish art in New York, “Ireland: Crossing Borders” at Gallery Revel (Sept/Oct 1998) where he was very well received and all his paintings sold.

The great demand for Mark O’Neill continues to grow despite the fact that his price levels took a surge in June ‘06 and June ‘07 when James Adams held an auction of a large body of his works. During the’06 auction the majority sold for considerably more than the top end of the guide price. About one third of the collection sold in excess of €10,000 each and two crossed the €20,000 barrier. The same high success rate was maintained in ’07. Mark is probably the fastest selling exhibition artist in Ireland and the top of most art collector’s want-list.

He has the confidence to paint and execute with precision any subject matter one can contemplate. Noted for his versatility, the range of his subject matter can be quite staggering - still lifes, animals, interiors, sporting occasions, architectural facades, nudes, gardens, derelict ruins - the list is endless. His pictures often portray a message and can be very evocative- nature fighting back (a crumbling building) or a depiction of old Ireland (a pair of old boots beside a chair in a country cottage). A Mark O’Neill becomes an interior designer’s focal point, a centrepiece to embellish the furnishings and décor of the room. The texture of his brush strokes, the rich diversity of his colours and the overall arrangement of his layout are a talent to behold and cherish.