Born of Irish parents in 1918, Tom W. Quinn has quite simply dedicated his life to art.A life dedicated to art? Yes, and a heart and soul, too. As this exhibition opens he will have just reached the grand age of 93, but in his rambling, light-filled studio in the Dordogne, Tom Quinn continues to paint every day, “while the light lasts” – depicting in beautifully soft, chalky hues the world around him – busy cafés, bustling markets, intimate interiors, a game of boules, dappled sunlight in a summer garden and colour-splashed picnics by the river. Impressionist, personal observations of la France profonde, executed with his brushes but painted with his heart and soul.

In the late 1940s Tom attended the Camberwell School of Art, London and was fortunate to study under such tutors as Lawrence Gowing, as well as Victor Pasmore and William Coldstream, founders of the celebrated Euston Road School.

Given his special talent and with the benefit of such teaching, it is hardly surprising that Tom has worked all his life as a painter. Both he and his fellow artist and friend, Roy Petley, have certainly come a long way, though, since the days in the early ’70s when they used to hang their work, while the daylight lasted, on the railings at Green Park. They have remained the closest of friends since those heady times: a wonderful testament to the enduring power of art.

How wonderful, too, that Roy, who has given Tom so much quiet support in so many ways and over so many years, should now wish to host this fine exhibition – not on the railings of a London park, but proudly on the walls of his beautiful Mayfair gallery. The collecting of enough of Tom’s paintings to represent fully the range and quality of his work did not come easily, however, or quickly. This show is the long-term culmination of determined efforts by several parties, but principally by Roy, to gather together the work for this exhibition.

The paintings in the exhibition have been assembled from Ireland, England and France as well as from the artist’s studio and we have been rewarded with something very precious – not just the fine show we now see presented but also a privileged chance today, to applaud the man, and an extraordinary life of artistic endeavour and dedication.

Most of all, however, it is our fleeting, fragile opportunity to marvel and enjoy – while the light lasts.

Stewart Moore of Stables Gallery, Northern Ireland