Portrait by T.A. McKenna

"I initially met Markey Robinson in 1953, when I bought my first painting from him, in his attic studio/flat, in Lyle Street, Belfast. I was struck by his cryptographic manner of verbal communication, and was therefore not surprised that such a one would naturally develop a singular method of graphic presentation. When applied to Markey's art, such indeed is the case. he is the greatest phenomenon amongst contemporary Irish artists. I encountered his again when he called to the Oriel seeding directions to the American Embassy. Disillusioned and disenchanted by the apathy which his paintings seemed to generate he had decided to emigrate. Luckily, he was carrying one of those works under his arm, unframed and unvarnished. I bought it instantly and dissuaded him from emigrating, promising to promote, sell and export his paintings instead."

Uncertain though the issue was, given that expressionism did not comfortably sit side by side with the then progeny of the Oriel Gallery, the liaison proved to be a success. Markey outsells all other artists combined. Gregarious though Markey may be as he perambulates through the inner cities of Dublin, Belfast or whatever city he may find himself, he will speak to anyone but ill of none; he remains an enigma. Though fulsome in his praise of most other artists, silence is the only discernible mark of his rare disapproval.

Reaction to Markey's paintings is more passionate and vociferous. It can, in the main, be divided into two four-letter word impulses: love or hate. It is invariably true that those whose first reaction is the latter, convert to the former when exposed to his work. As Paul Henry, who in 'Art in Paris' recorded shock at the first sight of a Van Gogh, considering it crude and meaningless, yet in a few months he stated that he would traverse Paris to glimpse a new Van Gogh. Likewise serious collectors from abroad, new converts, apparently marinated in Markeyolatry have been known to eschew J B Yeats en route to the Markey Room at the Oriel.

Markey, a much travelled man, has been influenced in his work by the Incas and the Aztecs as portrayed in his authentic style of bold brush paintwork. But the greatest power he affects is our own genre. Heart-tugging scenes of deserted white-washed cottages, peopled by cone-like natives, dressed in sombre hues as they go about their rural terrestrial tasks, in small allotments and peat-bogs, to the backdrop of the mountains, lakes and inlets of the unmistakable Western seaboard. These are the hallmarks of Markey's artistic authority.

At the Oriel we have mounted exhibitions of his work almost annually since 1970. I have held further exhibitions in important centres of international art. London, Washington DC, Montreal, Geneva and Tokyo. I take an avuncular pride in being involved for so long with such a powerful, individualistic, successful and enigmatic artist as Markey. In defiance of the press, which in general ignore him, with the exception of Patrick Gallagher and the late Paddy Glendon, a stanza from GrayÕs 'Elegy' comes to mind:

Full many a gem of purest ray serene,
The dark unfathomed caves of ocean bear
Full many a flower was born to blush unseen
And waste its sweetness on the desert air.

The stained glass panels on the front of the gallery testify to Markey's versatility and can be viewed over the window - that silent salesman that still works while the City sleeps.

{Oliver Nulty's account of his long relationship with the late Markey Robinson, taken from '100 Years of Irish Art - The Oriel Gallery Silver Jubilee'}.