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Thread: For #StPatricksDay here’s a series of Irish artworks to celebrate the creativity of the island’s men & women. From Francis Bacon to Eileen Gray, the visual arts have been an important part of the culture of the Irish & their diaspora 
Hugh Douglas Hamilton (1740-1808) created his portrait of the great neoclassical sculptor, Antonio Canova whilst in Rome. He also painted an image of the sculptor showing off his Cupid & Psyche (1789). Later (c1792-3) Hamilton painted Cupid & Psyche too.
Frederic William Burton (1816-1900) painted Meeting on the Turret Stairs (1864). Burton would go on to become one of the most successful directors of the London National Gallery. Of particular Irish note is his Aran Fisherman’s Drowned Child (1841) - complete with keeners.
Mary Swanzy (1882-1978) was an interesting artist who at first worked her way through a series of other’s styles before finally finding her feet in the 1940s & exploring her own intense version of Expressionism. Ebb Tide (1941), Revolution (1942) & Untitled (1940s?)
Harry Clarke (1889-1931) was an artist of international stature. His medium was stained glass & he created sublime images that are equal to the great Hiberno-English literature of his time. He was also a fascinating illustrator.
Harry Kernoff (1900-74) was a Jewish immigrant who lived in Little Jerusalem, Dublin. He made his life’s work the depiction of the city. His art is increasingly popular as it becomes better known. Portobello Harbour, Queen Mews Court & Bathers, Naylor Cove, Bray (1940)
I’m currently working on a project to make my artwork accessible for everyone:
Rose Barton (1856-1929) was a gifted watercolourist who painted gardens, children & street scenes. Her images of Dublin record a time when it was the second city of the Empire & ‘society’ centred on Dublin Castle. St Patrick’s Cathedral & Changing the Guard, Dublin Castle.
James Barry (1741-1806) was a neoclassical artist within the European tradition. He created a series of idiosyncratic mythologies as well as the most powerful self-portraits in Irish art. Self-Portraits (1803, 1767 & nd)
Evie Hone (1894-1955) was a student of Lhote in Paris & introduced his Cubist style to Ireland. She worked in Clarke’s studio & it was here that she discovered her own style which she applied to her stained glass work.
Georgia O’Keefe (1887-1986) is one of the tens of millions of the Irish diaspora. She is also considered to be the ‘mother of American Modernism’. Her work is bold, magnificent & profoundly beautiful.
Mildred Anne Butler (1858-1941) was a painter of gardens & birds. She imbued the latter with almost human character. I love her pictures of crows & her keen interest in their intelligence. Shades of Evening (1904)
William John Leech (1881-1968): A Convent Garden (c1913) was the artist’s celebration of his new wife’s beauty as well as the bright sunshine of France. Throughout his life he was fascinated with the depiction of light.
May Guinness (1863-1955) travelled on the continent & studied in France. She worked as a nurse in WWII & is accredited with introducing post-Impressionism to Ireland. Breton Lace Makers (1909) & Sundial in a Scottish Garden (c1902)
John Luke (1906-75) was a Belfast artist with a unique & elegant style. He was a strong advocate of the importance of drawing - a direction which is clearly seen in his commitment to line in his work.
Sarah Cecilia Harrison (1863-1941) was recognised for her organisational powers, feminism & campaigning (not least being the first woman on Dublin City Council). She was a portraitist & statesman. Self-Portrait (1889), Hugh Lane (nd) & Landscape (nd)
Patrick Proctor (1936-2003) was based in England & part of the Swinging Sixties scene. He was refreshingly open about his passions; the most important of which was his muse, Gervase. Seldom can a lover have been portrayed more dynamically
Francis Bacon (1909-92) was the greatest Irish painter of the 20th C. His subject was nihilism & he addressed it with profound insight. No artist has ever captured the troubled existentialism of humanity like this. Three Studies for Figures at the Base of a Crucifixion (c1944)
John Lavery (1856-1941) was a Belfast born society portraitist who created exquisite images of French landscapes, English interiors & female beauty. His great muse was his American wife, Hazel. He loved her so much he personified her as the symbol of Ireland with her harp.
Norah McGuinness (1901-88) approached life with great style & consideration. Here she captures a bird singing and a young girl gathering sticks. McGuinness is one of the great free spirits of Irish art. The Startled Bird (1961)
Roderic O’Conor (1860-1940) was based in France & was a post-Impressionist, a close friend of Gaugin & said to have valued van Gogh’s work when no-one else did. His was a cosmopolitan Franco-Hibernian vision. A Breton Girl (c1903-4), Cornfield (c1892) & Still Life (1892)
Gerard Dillon (1916-71) was a Belfast artist & gay man at a time when to be gay was criminal. Despite this he bravely created images that express his own desires & capture the longing of those who were different in a conservative Ireland.
William Orpen (1878-1931) was probably the most sophisticated man who ever became a painter. He was the highest paid artist of his time, had a wry humour, loved beautiful women & treated children as if they were adults. A classy bloke.
Imogen Stuart (b1927) is Ireland’s greatest living sculptor. She emigrated from Berlin to Ireland in 1948 & her genius is in combining German Expressionism with Hiberno-Celtic art.
Eileen Gray (1878-1976) was a Wexford woman & one of the key design figures in the international modern movement. Her designs are as influential today as they are sought after. Gray, O’Keefe, Clarke & Bacon were four of the most important creators in Irish history.
