ONLINE MATERIAL

INE MAT L ER N I O A L Appreciation: Art Galleries

O N L L IA I R NE MATE and Arts Centres in Ireland

* Over 3,800 works of art were moved about Art Galleries in the gallery (in most cases, several times) in preparation for the refurbishment project of Ireland 2011–17. * Over 650 works are on display as part of the new presentation of the collection. Re-opening: The launch 2017 The National Gallery of In June 2017, the National Gallery in Dublin Ireland reopened its historic Dargan and Miltown wings to the public, following an extensive period of The National Gallery of Ireland was established refurbishment and modernisation. The gallery had in 1854 by an Act of Parliament. It is one been closed for almost six years. of Europe’s earliest public art galleries and occupies a series of historic buildings on Merrion The grand scale of the Shaw Room at entry level, Square that were constructed over a period of and the monumental galleries in the Dargan and 150 years. Milltown wings create a renewed sense of space and grandeur, and the reopening presented The Millenium Wing opened in January 2002. an opportunity for the director and curators to This was designed by the London-based practice, reimagine the permanent display of the collection. Benson & Forsyth, who were awarded the These beautifully transformed exhibition spaces commission following an international competition. opened with an entirely new presentation of The Portland stone clad façade of this building the gallery’s celebrated permanent collection of gives directly onto Clare Street, a busy European paintings by Rembrandt, Caravaggio, thoroughfare directly opposite Trinity College, Ruisdael, Vermeer, Gainsborough, Goya, Monet, and contrasts with the reserved elegance of the Gris and Picasso. original entrance on Merrion Square. The gallery’s major collection of Irish art is on Collection the ground floor, with works by Daniel Maclise, Roderic O’Conor, John Lavery, William Orpen, * The gallery houses over 16,300 works of Seán Keating, Gerard Dillon, Evie Hone, Norah art, comprising paintings, works on paper, McGuinness, Jack B. Yeats, Louis le Brocquy and sculpture, frames and objets d’art. William Scott.

ART GALLERIES AND ARTS CENTRES IN IRELAND 1 The reopening also saw the launch of a new National Portrait Collection brand across all platforms, with a new website and expansive publications on the new collection An important part of the National Gallery is the display. National Portrait Collection, which shows works of eminent Irishmen (Seamus Heaney, T.K. Whitaker, www.nationalgallery.ie Brian Friel) and Irishwomen (Mary Robinson, Sr (Adapted from the National Gallery of Ireland press Stanislaus Kennedy) who have contributed to release, 12 June 2017) the social, historic, cultural and political life of the country. The Yeats Collection Most recent acquisitions include portraits of Tony Award-winning theatre director, Garry Hynes by Jack Yeats is considered the greatest Irish artist of Vera Klute, a portrait of Graham Norton by Gareth the first half of the 20th century; the National Gallery Reid, commissioned as part of Sky Arts’ Portrait has a large number of works and material relating to Artist of the Year 2016, and a portrait of Henry him. In addition, the collection holds material relating Shefflin by Gerry Davis, commissioned as part of to members of the artist’s family: his father, John the Hennessy Portrait Prize 2016. Butler Yeats; sisters, Elizabeth Corbet Yeats and Susan Mary Yeats; niece, Anne Yeats; and cousin, Ruth Pollexfen. Exhibitions The gallery opened with an exhibition by the Dutch Louis le Brocquy artist Vermeer but it continues to host exhibitions Louis le Brocquy was a towering figure in Irish by national and international artists. art. His work is a testament to his openness www.nationalgallery.ie/visit-us/exhibitions to international modernism and Irish influence, while also being a record of a singular vision. He Refurbishment of the National is perhaps best known for his unique series of compositions, featuring celebrated literary figures Gallery of Ireland and fellow artists. The 2011–17 multimillion-euro refurbishment Among le Brocquy’s works in the collection of the project involved the construction of a state-of- National Gallery of Ireland are: A Family (1951), the-art underground energy centre, housing Image of Bono (2003), and the large tapestry vital services for the entire gallery. Original Triumph of Cúchulainn (2001). 19th-century architectural features and spaces were revealed, and majestic windows now open European Art onto a spacious light-filled courtyard created by Heneghan Peng. This new courtyard dramatically The works of art in the gallery date from the early enhances visitors’ orientation between the historic 13th century through to the mid-20th century, and Dargan and Milltown wings. It is also the site for include an impressive range of masterpieces by a dramatic sculpture, Magnus Modus, by Joseph artists from the major European schools. Walsh, commissioned by the Office of Public Works on behalf of the National Gallery of Ireland The Taking of Christ by Caravaggio today hangs under the Per Cent for Art Scheme. proudly in the National Gallery of Ireland after it was given on permanent loan to the gallery. It was found The period of refurbishment also allowed for in a Jesuit House in Dublin almost two centuries an extensive survey of the gallery’s permanent after it had gone missing in Europe. collection. More than 450 works have undergone

2 APPRECIATING ART: SECTION 3 – ONLINE MATERIAL ONLINE MATERIAL ONLINE conservation and research. The most spectacular The building of these is Daniel Maclise’s The Marriage of Strongbow and Aoife (1854), which has been The 17th-century building was founded in 1684 returned to the elegant surrounds of the Shaw as a hospital or home for retired soldiers, and Room in the Dargan Wing. was used for this purpose for over 250 years. With its formal façade and a large elegant Future plans for the gallery courtyard, it is similar in style to Les Invalides in Paris. The permanent and temporary exhibitions The National Gallery of Ireland continues to work are displayed in a series of interlocking rooms with its Master Development Plan. The Beit Wing, on the long corridors that flank the sides of the at the end of its design life, will be remodelled courtyard. and extended to create a full-height public route through the buildings, new galleries and new Exhibitions public amenities. It will provide public access to education, library and archives facilities at the The museum’s permanent collection of over heart of the institution, as well as a purpose-built 1,650 works is shown in a series of temporary conservation block to assist in the care of the exhibitions. These sometimes feature the work of gallery’s collection. This new wing will add a great individual artists or they may be group exhibitions. deal to the existing gallery spaces. The work is frequently that of leading, well- established international artists, but new work (Adapted from the National Gallery of Ireland press by younger-generation artists is often shown as release, 12 June 2017) well. The range and styles also vary greatly from To watch an RTÉ documentary on the painting and sculpture to installation, photography, refurbishment of the National Gallery, go to video and performance. www.rte.ie/player/ie/show/portrait-of-a- For more information, visit the IMMA website. gallery-30004744/10744104/ or search for RTÉs ‘Portrait of a Gallery’. Dublin City Gallery The Irish Museum of The Hugh Lane

Modern Art (IMMA) The houses one of Ireland’s foremost collections of modern and contemporary The Royal Hospital Kilmainham in Dublin is the art. The original collection has grown to include beautiful setting for Ireland’s leading national almost 2,000 artworks, ranging from the institution for the collection and presentation of Impressionist masterpieces of Manet, Monet, modern and contemporary art. This building was Renoir and Degas, to works by leading national restored by the Irish government in 1984, and the and international contemporary artists. Irish Museum of Modern Art opened in May 1991. Over those years, IMMA has built up a collection The gallery has a programme of dynamic temporary of over 4,500 works, acquired through purchase, exhibitions, which are often linked to work from the donations and long-term loans, as well as through permanent collection and promote new ways of the commissioning of new works. The museum expressing art, for example through multimedia. has regular exhibitions that present a wide variety An online catalogue is a new feature of the of art, sometimes from its own collection or from gallery’s website. It is hoped that art lovers, the other institutions or private sources. general public and students can enjoy highlights

ART GALLERIES AND ARTS CENTRES IN IRELAND 3 from the gallery’s renowned permanent collection Dublin and London over possession of his valuable of modern and contemporary art. collection of pictures. The importance of The Hugh Lane’s cultural Dublin Corporation and its business leaders did position in contemporary Ireland gained wide not agree to Lane’s request for a new gallery for recognition after it acquired all the contents of modern art, and he became highly irritated at this. the artist Francis Bacon’s studio from London. He took his collection of French paintings out of In 2001, it was reconstructed as a permanent Ireland and gave them to London’s National Gallery. exhibit in the gallery. Francis Bacon, who was A codicil to his will born in Ireland but worked all his life in England, produced often quite controversial works. The The National Gallery in London, however, did not studio offers an invaluable insight into the artist’s consider all the paintings good enough to show life, inspirations, unusual techniques and working and left them in the basement. Insulted by this, methods. Lane withdrew his gift but did not repossess the paintings. The gallery also recently received a gift of some paintings from contemporary artist Sean Scully, In a famous codicil (addition) to his will, he who was also born in Dublin. These seven superb changed his mind and willed the whole collection abstract paintings form the second permanent to Ireland, provided a suitable building was found installation in a dedicated gallery in the new wing, within five years of his death. Unfortunately, his acting as a mainstay for the collection of non- signature was never witnessed and after his death figurative painting in the gallery. the National Gallery London refused to recognise this codicil and kept the paintings. For more information, visit the Dublin City Gallery The Hugh Lane website. Friends of the National Collections In an effort to get the paintings back in 1932, The first public gallery of the government gave over Charlemont House for modern art use as the municipal gallery. This was originally The story of this first public gallery of modern art the townhouse of James Caulfeild, 1st Earl of in the world and its collection is a most interesting Charlemont, a well-known collector of art and one. It was established in Dublin in 1908 as the antiques to the city of Dublin. The corporation then Municipal Gallery of Modern Art in Harcourt Street. commissioned a bust of Hugh Lane and placed It was later renamed Dublin City Gallery The Hugh it in the last of the rooms of the new gallery. The Lane and relocated in Charlemont House on room itself remained empty, awaiting the return of Parnell Street. However, it is still is often called the paintings. The Hugh Lane, after its founder. A shared arrangement Sir Hugh Lane In 1959, an agreement was reached to share the One of the foremost collectors of Impressionist paintings. In 1961, 20 works of art were officially paintings in England and Ireland, Sir Hugh Lane, received on permanent loan from the trustees of unfortunately did not live to see his gallery the Tate. The two institutions also agreed to share permanently located in Dublin. He died in 1915 eight of the most important Impressionist paintings when the luxury ocean liner Lusitania sank during in a rotating arrangement. the early years of the First World War, having been Every six years, four of the eight pictures exchange torpedoed off the west coast of Cork. His death between London’s National Gallery and Dublin marked the beginning of a long dispute between City Gallery The Hugh Lane, but they continue

4 ONLINE MATERIAL ONLINE to be labelled as property of the National Gallery London. The eight paintings are: Limerick * Edouard Manet, Music at the Tuileries * Edgar Degas, Beach Scene Limerick City Gallery of Art Auguste Renoir, The Umbrellas * This gallery, in the centre of Limerick city, is one * Edouard Manet, Eva Gonzalès painting of the leading contemporary art galleries in * Claude Monet, Lavacourt under Snow Ireland. It houses a small but important collection * Édouard Vuillard, The Fireplace of Irish art works in all media from the 18th to * Berthe Morisot, A Summer’s Day 21st centuries. * Camille Pissarro, View from Louveciennes Seán Keating (1889–1977) Cork Seán Keating was born in Limerick and helped to establish a permanent collection of visual art in this city. He studied in the Metropolitan School of Art in The Crawford Municipal Dublin and was highly influenced by his teacher, Gallery Cork Sir William Orpen. He spent some time working on the Aran Islands, before moving to London to serve The in the centre of Cork as Orpen’s assistant. is a small but important art museum. It has a His work is more rugged than Orpen’s, but has a very impressive permanent collection, which is power and a strength than can affect the viewer particularly strong in Irish art. The collection is on a deeply emotional level. Keating became shown on a rotating basis, but one or two are passionately involved in the cause of promoting permanently on display. Irish consciousness, and many of his earlier works The gallery’s permanent collection comprises show a support of nationalist politics and themes. over 2,000 works, ranging from 18th-century Several of his later paintings in this collection refer Irish and European painting and sculpture, to the lives of common rural folk conducting their through to contemporary works that include video daily business. installations. For more information on Seán Keating, visit the At the heart of the collection is a very special set Limerick Gallery of Art website. of Greek and Roman sculpture. This collection was brought to Cork in 1818 from the Vatican Museum in Rome and presented to the Cork Sligo Society of Arts. They are white plaster casts of the original marble sculptures and include such The Model Arts Gallery Sligo well-known pieces as The Laocoön, Greek figures like Venus de Milo (Aphrodite), and athletes like The Model Arts and Niland Gallery in Sligo the Discobolus. On display in a large gallery on is one of Ireland’s leading and most vibrant the ground floor, the figures are all the more contemporary arts centres. Built in 1862 as impressive against walls painted in deep red. a Model School, the present building was For more information, visit the Crawford Art completely refurbished, extended and reopened Gallery website. to wide acclaim in 2000.

ART GALLERIES AND ARTS CENTRES IN IRELAND 5 The impressive Niland Collection is housed here. It was named after Nora Niland who was Castlebar instrumental in establishing the Sligo Municipal Art The Linenhall Arts Centre was originally set up as Collection in the 1950s. As county librarian, her a pilot project to take temporary exhibitions from awareness of the important connection between the important collections in the National Museum, Sligo and the Yeats family led her to organise the the National Gallery and the National Library. borrowing of five works by Jack B. Yeats to exhibit for the duration of the first Yeats Summer School. www.thelinenhall.com These paintings were later purchased and remain in Sligo as part of the Niland Collection. Drogheda Jack B. Yeats (1871–1957) Highlanes Municipal Art Gallery is a gallery and visual arts centre for Drogheda and the North Jack B. Yeats’s paintings record the experiences East. Known locally as the ‘High Lane Church’, and memories of his time living in Sligo. His father, the gallery is in the former Drogheda Franciscan John Butler Yeats, is also represented in the Church. The main exhibition spaces are open plan gallery with a self-portrait, as well as many fine to include the old church, which preserves the portrait drawings. character of the building. Works by Paul Henry, Estella Solomons and Seán www.highlanes.ie Keating also form part of the collection. For more information on the Niland Collection, visit the Model Arts Gallery’s website. Dundalk

An Táin Arts Centre is an independent arts space. www.antain.ie/gallery/ Arts Centres in Galway

Ireland The Galway Arts Centre is a vibrant centre for the contemporary arts. www.galwayartscentre.ie/en

The Luan Gallery hosts national and international visual art projects. Kilkenny

www.athloneartsandtourism.ie/luan-gallery Located in the medieval setting of Kilkenny Castle, the Butler Gallery is one of Ireland’s most vibrant contemporary art spaces outside of Dublin. It Carlow shows the work of Irish and emerging artists, and The Carlow Arts Centre hosts exhibitions and highlights major international artists. The gallery performances in the contemporary arts. also has an important collection of Irish and international art dating from the 1800s. www.visualcarlow.ie www.butlergallery.com

6 ONLINE MATERIAL ONLINE Waterford Public Sculpture Lismore Castle has a programme of exhibitions throughout the year and a collection of sculptures in the gardens. It also has a dynamic and in Ireland progressive education programme for both young people and adults. Public art in Ireland www.lismorecastlearts.ie Public art website Garter Lane Arts Centre Ireland’s first online public art resource, offering The Garter Lane Arts Centre has a vibrant and information from the practical to the critical, exciting year-round programme of theatre, dance, includes a directory of over 100 public artworks, comedy, music, film, literature, visual art and news and opportunities and video interviews with children’s art. It hosts regular contemporary art artists and commissioners. exhibitions from local and international artists. www.publicart.ie www.garterlane.ie Try searching for information on your town or county public art at: www.publicart.ie/en/main/directory/ Wexford The Wexford Art Gallery offers a range of art and Documentaries on public art entertainment events. www.wexfordartscentre.ie ‘Whose Art Is It Anyway?’ ‘Whose Art Is It Anyway?’ is an excellent and Roscommon interesting documentary in which Joe Duffy explores the colourful and controversial area of Roscommon Arts Centre is a vibrant, purpose- public art. Because it is shown on RTÉ from time built arts space supported by Roscommon County to time, it may still be available on the RTÉ player. Council and the Arts Council. www.rte.ie/player/ie/show/whose-art-is-it- http://roscommonartscentre.ie anyway-2202/10617510/ It would also be worth trying Wildfire Films to see if it can be shown in school. www.wildfirefilms.net/projectpublicart. htm?item=3719540

Misneach in Ballymun Dublin The Gough memorial – erected in honour of the Field Marshal in 1840, and which once stood in the Phoenix Park – inspired this work in Ballymun. The sculptor John Byrne picked up on the tradition

ART GALLERIES AND ARTS CENTRES IN IRELAND 7 of historic equestrian monuments but instead of the Environment Per Cent for Art Scheme’ and of a military hero he chose a teenage girl for his was extended to all construction projects. majestic horse. The original statue was designed Recognising the important contribution made by by Irish sculptor John Henry Foley, but it was a public art, it placed a levy on building construction constant target of abuse. The rider’s head and and stipulated that the budgets for all capital sword were lost in 1944, the horse’s rear leg in construction projects should include a sum to 1956, and in another explosion in July 1957, the pay for an Irish visual art project. The scheme entire monument was blown up. has been a huge success in adding to the quality It was finally, painstakingly restored by a new of our immediate environment, but it is also a owner, Humphrey Wakefield, a distant relative of valuable support for artists and certainly creates an Lord Gough, and the sculptor tracked it down in increased public awareness of art. the grounds of his home in Chillingham Castle in England. Toni-Marie Shields was eventually selected as Public art in the city the young rider for Ballymun. Using the latest computer technology, she was scanned in 3-D Dublin software and then her mould and the mould from Statues and monuments have long been a the great horse were combined to create the new prominent feature of Dublin’s cityscape; there is work in bronze. a unique history of witty nicknames associated At one-and-a-half times life size, Misneach with them. Controversy about their subjects and has been sited temporarily at the Trinity designs can also arise very easily, and some Comprehensive School, but on completion of the formerly prominent monuments have been Metro rail project it will be moved to Main Street removed or destroyed due to popular displeasure. Ballymun. Here it will be installed on a new, hand- Many of Dublin’s sculptures, old and new, can be carved, stone plinth. seen on this list. A short documentary on this sculpture can be www.ireland.com/en-us/what-is-available/ found on YouTube. attractions-built-heritage/public-sculptures/ www.youtube.com/ destinations/republic-of-ireland/dublin/dublin- watch?v=SZfFOhAwxK4&t=102s city/all/ The Per Cent for Art Rowan Gillespie One of Ireland’s most eloquent contemporary Scheme artists, Rowan Gillespie, has produced numerous sculptures in Dublin, as well as other parts of the Most publicly funded art has been funded by a country and abroad. He works in bronze, but unlike scheme known as the Per Cent for Art Scheme. other artists he does his own casting and has built www.publicart.ie/main/commissioning/funding/ a one-man workshop and foundry where he carries per-cent-for-art/ out this complicated process entirely alone. Funding for art was introduced in 1978 by the www.rowangillespie.com Office of Public Works. The government later Sculpting Life: A documentary on the extended this when they established the Artistic work of Rowan Gillespie Embellishment Scheme. Changes were made to the scheme in 1997. It was now called ‘The Department www.youtube.com/watch?v=CKfhbMnKTso

8 ONLINE MATERIAL ONLINE Maurice Harron is probably one the best known Cork of these artists, and his Gaelic Chieftain in Co. Roscommon is one of Ireland’s most loved public Two Working Men works. This imposing equestrian statue is made Two Working Men is a bronze sculpture of two of metal pieces and stands two miles north of typical Dublin characters. They are treated in a the town of Boyle on the site of the Battle of the realistic but simplified manner that really suits the Curleius. The battle took place in 1599 between couple. The work was intended to stand outside an English force and a rebel Irish force led by ‘Red’ of Dublin’s Liberty Hall, which at the time was Hugh O’Donnell. The English were ambushed Ireland’s tallest building and the headquarters of and routed while marching through a pass in the the SIPTU Trade Union. However, SIPTU officials Curlew Mountains and suffered heavy casualties. said it would pose a traffic hazard and refused permission for the sculpture. A landmark for Offaly The sculpture was subsequently transferred to Cork in 1969, where it was placed outside the Maurice Harron is also responsible for four 7.5m County Hall. Here it was an immediate hit with the steel figurines of Saints and Scholars on the N52 public, who recognised something of Cork’s dry Dublin to Galway motorway on the Tullamore wit in the two who appeared not at all impressed bypass. Each holds a symbol of the world of by the height of Cork’s new glass and concrete learning and sanctity, representing the monastic ‘skyscraper’ that had surpassed Liberty Hall as the settlements of Durrow and Clonmacnoise. One as the tallest building in Ireland. holds a book, one holds a chalice, one a staff and one throws aloft a flock of birds or souls. In 2007, Desmond Rea O’Kelly, architect of Liberty Hall, reflected on the lost opportunity. The semi-abstract patterns on the figures were inspired by ancient manuscripts like the Book of He said: Durrow, but the work is modern so stainless steel One of the other things I regret very much is was the material chosen. This reacts well with the that Oisín Kelly’s great sculpture of the young rays of the sun at different times during the day. man and the older man admiring their work The artist hoped that the sculpture would become was never put up outside Liberty Hall. a landmark, as well as an emblem of the locality, Desmond Rea O’Kelly gives the story creating an awareness of its great heritage. of the Two Working Men www.mauriceharron.com www.vimeo.com/47390197 County Cork Roadside art Cork is one of Ireland’s largest counties, with hundreds of roadside sculptures stretching from As the roadway system in Ireland was upgraded west to east. Happily, Cork County Council’s it was increasingly flanked by massive public website shows many of these fine sculptures listed artworks. Today there may be as many as under the name of the artist. Hopefully they will 1,500 pieces of these ‘motorway masterpieces’ get around to updating the site to include more throughout Ireland, funded through the Per Cent recent works. for Art Scheme, but it is not always possible to www.corkcoco.ie/arts-heritage/public-art- identify the artists responsible. directory

ART GALLERIES AND ARTS CENTRES IN IRELAND 9 such environments, some of these are found in the Wexford woods of Co. Wicklow, the bogs of the Midlands County councils around the country have and the rugged coastline of north Co. Mayo. embraced the possibilities of the Per Cent for Art Scheme with enthusiasm. In 10 years, for example, Tír Sáile, Co. Mayo Wexford County Council alone has undertaken 34 commissions, shifting in emphasis from permanent One the largest public art projects ever undertaken outdoor sculpture to time-based installations and in Ireland was in north Co. Mayo. This area has one other explorative art forms. Artist Mick Fortune, of the greatest concentrations of Stone Age tombs for example, was commissioned to make a digital in Europe, as well as intact Neolithic farms, which video of Rosslare Harbour and local people’s lives. were found in the recent past preserved beneath the thick blanket of bog, which covers the region. To www.wexfordcoco.ie/sites/default/files/content/ mark this ancient landscape in a contemporary way, Arts/PerCent%20For%20Art%20Phase%20 Tir Sáile created a trail of permanent sculpture from 4%20Projects.pdf the Moy Estuary to the Mullet Peninsula. www.northmayo.ie/tir-saile-the-north-mayo- Sculpture in Context sculpture-trail/ exhibition Lough Boora Parklands The idea of exhibiting sculpture in areas outside of Hidden at the centre of Ireland is a beautiful new the normal gallery space began in 1985. A group of landscape, which until recently has been a well- sculptors in Dublin got together to work at providing kept secret. a space for their fellow sculptors. The venture has been extremely successful over the years. Lough Boora Parklands are a creative combination of nature and the human hand. Bogs harvested The ‘Sculpture in Context’ outdoor exhibition is held by Bord na Móna for energy since the 1940s are every September in the National Botanic Gardens re-establishing and forming unique and welcoming in Dublin. The grounds provide a stunning haven habitats for a wide range of flora and fauna. of peace and tranquillity for the finest sculpture by leading Irish and international artists. More than one These magnificent wetlands and wildlife hundred sculptures in a large range of materials wilderness also host some of the most innovative are displayed throughout the gardens, ponds, Great land and environmental sculptures in Ireland. The Palm House, and Curvilinear Range. Smaller works artists, inspired by the rich natural and industrial are shown in the gallery above the visitors’ centre. legacy of the bog lands, have created a series of large-scale sculptures that are now part of the www.sculptureincontext.com Parklands’ permanent collection. Industrial materials of the bog, such as Sculpture trails and locomotives, rail line, timber and stone have been parks developed into magnificent sculptures. Over time, with the effects of nature over the seasons, One of the most exciting and interesting some of the sculptures have changed colour and developments in public art has been the putting in developed plant growth that blends the landscape. place of sculptures in sensitively developed public www.loughboora.com/sculpture/ parklands. Created to enhance and compliment

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