This Is Your Gallery

Monday August 18, 2003 12:21

by Jerry Cornelius

National Gallery of Ireland

Go along to the National Gallery, these shows are free, it for you, for everyone, not just the cognoscenti.The NGI organises of lectures and tours and provides support for the schools’ curricula and introducing adults to the history of art. A Teacher’s Resource Pack is published by its Education Department. Art for the People!
(Full details below)

National Gallery of Ireland
Exhibition Programme, Autumn -Winter 2003

Title: Before and After- The IIB Sculpture Conservation Project

Dates: 28 August 2003 - 18 January 2004

Venue: National Gallery of Ireland, Milltown Wing

Admission: Free

Content: In 2001, the National Gallery of Ireland carried out a major
sculpture conservation project over a period of two years, which was
supported by IIB Bank. It involved the surveying and conservation of key
pieces in the Gallery's collection, among them a number of works by Irish
sculptors such as the terracotta bust of the 18th century traveller, Sir
Watkin Williams-Wynne (1749-1789) by Christopher Hewetson (1739-1798), the
elegant white Carrara marble carving of 'A girl reading' by Thomas MacDowall
(1799-1870), the Connemara marble composition of trout swimming upstream by
Albert Power (1881-1945) and death masks of important literary, political
and artistic figures. The results of these endeavours are presented in a
special display in the Gallery, with information panels illustrating work
before and after conservation.
NGI Curator: Dr. Síghle Bhreathnach-Lynch

Re-Opening: National Portrait Collection -Irish Life through the Ages-

Dates: from 10 September 2003

Venue: National Gallery of Ireland, Dargan Wing

Admission: Free

Content: In 1884, the National Portrait Collection was established
under the then Director, Henry Doyle (1869-92). It included some 50
paintings together with works on paper, principally mezzotint portraits of
distinguished individuals, an area of the collection which was to be
significantly enhanced in 1887 and 1888 when the Gallery acquired a body of
work at the two Chaloner Smith sales in London. The National Portrait
Gallery continued to be a feature of the permanent display up until the
1970s, when it was dismantled. In the interim the collection has been
enhanced by a series of acquisitions and special commissions of portraits of
well-known personalities from contemporary Irish life, a project which was
facilitated through the generous support of Irish Life and Permanent plc.
From 10 September visitors will have an opportunity to explore the new
display of the National Portrait Collection which is devoted to over 70
national portraits, painted and sculpted from the 16th century to the
present day. The display includes the splendid 18th century portraits of
Lord Edward and Lady Pamela Fitzgerald, and that of Constance Markievicz
painted in 1899 by her future husband. Other more familiar faces on view,
will be the portrait of Lady Lavery used for the design of the first Irish
bank notes, the cruciform shaped portrait of Noel Browne by Robert Ballagh,
and the colourful representation of sportsman, Ronnie Delaney by Dublin
artist, James Hanley. The latest commissioned portrait of U2 frontman,
Bono, by one of Ireland's most admired artists, Louis le Brocquy, will also
be on display.
NGI Curator: Dr. Síghle Bhreathnach-Lynch

Title: "Heavenly Bodies-Figure Drawing through the Ages"

Dates: 16 September - 14 December 2003

Venue: National Gallery of Ireland, Print Gallery

Admission: Free.
This exhibition will focus on the art of
figure drawing from the 16th century to the present day with many of the
works drawn from the Gallery's permanent collection. Artists include Andrea
Mantegna, Jacopo Bassano, Ludovico Carracci, Gabriel Metsu, Jean Antoine
Watteau, Anton Raphael Mengs, William Mulready, Edgar Degas, Alberto
Modigliani, Rose Barton, William Orpen, Mainie Jellett, and Pablo Picasso.
A brochure will accompany the exhibition.
NGI Curator: Anne Hodge

Title: "Love Letters: Dutch Genre Painting in the Age of Vermeer"

Date: 1 October - 31 December 2003

Venue: National Gallery of Ireland, Millennium Wing

Content: This exhibition will examine the interest among Dutch
painters in depicting scenes involving letters, their writing, dictation,
delivery and reception. The subject appeared at a time of an explosion of
epistolary activity in Europe, when not only the use of letters as a form of
communication became more fashionable but also the very nature of private
written correspondence changed. The exhibition, which includes works by
Vermeer, ter Borch, de Hooch, Jan Steen, and Metsu, will discuss its social,
cultural and historical context, and discuss some of the devices that
artists employed to comment on the letter theme and the content of the
letters depicted. The accompanying catalogue is written by Peter C. Sutton,
with contributions by Jennifer Kilian and Ann Adams, all widely published
authorities on Northern Baroque painting.
Curator: Peter C. Sutton, Director, Bruce Museum, Connecticut
Other Venues: Bruce Museum, Greenwich, Connecticut, (31 January - 2 May
2004)

Further Information: Valerie Keogh
Press & Communications Office
National Gallery of Ireland
Tel. + 353 1 661 5133 Email: press@ngi.ie

Visitors entrance: National Gallery of Ireland, Merrion Square
West, Dublin 2 & Clare Street, Dublin 2.
Opening Hours: Mon.-Sat. 9.30am to 5.30pm;Thu. to 8.30pm; Sunday
12.00pm to 5.30pm