These works reveal O'Malley's evolving abstract language in relation to the artist's experience of the Cornish, Bahamian, Italian and ultimately Irish landscapes.

He remarked 'Once I discovered the essential in abstraction, I moved more towards essences, and tried to fuse the elements of place and people...'

O'Malley's approach to painting as a craft, indulges the viewer in the physical nature of his mark-making and gestural use of paint as well as his emotive often symbolic use of reduced or heightened colour.

The 1966 work Ripe Cornfield in the Wind offers a vibrant contrast to the winter landscapes of first part of the decade. Its warm colour harmonies and expressive mark-making seem to celebrate the abundance of nature.

O'Malley married painter Jane Harris in 1973 and the couple lived and worked side by side for the remaining thirty years of his life. Although considered an important contributor to the Modernist story in St Ives, O'Malley is considered by many as quintessentially an Irish painter. He maintained a close connection with his native country and made a permanent return to Ireland in 1990. Supported by Jane, Tony O'Malley continued working almost until his death in January 2003. Undeterred by failing eyesight, he found new modes of expression and was invigorated by painting on a large scale such works as Spring - Pond and Sky 1997.