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Rolling Stones guitarist Ronnie Wood had a double exposure in Ireland last weekend when the group's sell-out concert coincided with an exhibition of his other work as an artist.
The ageing rocker's paintings - which can command prices of 70,000euro ($136,000) or more - were placed on show at a Dublin exhibition as he, Mick Jagger and the other Stones performed at Slane in County Meath.
The concert was described as exhilarating though wet, as the excessive rainfall of the Irish summer continued. But Wood's artwork meanwhile attracted much attention at the Project Office in Dublin's Temple Bar.
Wood, who in his early days indulged himself in the traditional rock star pastimes of sex, drugs and rock 'n' roll, has settled down in recent years. Now aged 60, he leads a more sedate lifestyle near Dublin in County Kildare.
He was thus already in the country as the rest of the band flew in for the Slane event. He said in a radio interview: "I said to Mick, 'What time do you get in on Friday, about five? Right, you are coming to my exhibition'. "They take a genuine interest. Charlie is kind of, 'I like that one, I don't like that one', and Keith's a bit critical. But they know I can paint and they say, go ahead."
He has previously said of the band: "They don't talk much about it, but they secretly like what I do, they respect what I do."
Wood, who comes from an artistic family, trained at the Ealing College of Art in London before concentrating on his guitar-playing. He has previously been featured in exhibitions all over the world, including the United States and Paris, making millions from his paintings.
They include many portraits of Jagger and the Stones as well as other performers such as Jimi Hendrix, Elvis Presley and John Lennon. He has now expanded his repertoire to include paintings of landscapes and abstracts, and has taken to depicting ballet dancers.
His Dublin exhibition includes depictions of the Stones, his wife, his Kildare home and some of the racehorses he owns.
Curator Olivia Evans said of the works: "They depict a much softer, more sensitive family side of him." The 60 works on show range in price from 750euro to 75,000euro. According to Wood he started as a portrait painter, producing material from small pencil sketches to large-scale oil paintings.
His own collection of artworks includes works by Picasso, Rembrandt, Matisse and Toulouse-Lautrec. He also owns many works by William Orpen, one of Ireland's most sought-after painters.
- Independent
