Cathy's Art Diary

Fascinating exhibition at the National Museum of Ireland: Decorative Arts and History on the role of photography during Ireland’s revolutionary decade. It set out the story clearly using wonderful images which it explained well. It was a shame they were shown as reproductions but it was good to see a note explaining why and it would have had to be a very different, less accessible show if they had used originals. It was a nice touch to have a few cabinets with original albums and publications in draws. It included a nice balance of amateur and professional work and explained how new cameras enabled more people to take photographs. It also examined how images were used, particularly interesting in a section on surveillance used by both sides in the conflicts. A number of the images were grim but I loved this First World War from a convalescent home. There is a novel in it somewhere! Closes 2024  

Interesting exhibition at the National Museum of Ireland: Archaeology looking at the monastic site of Glendalough in County Wicklow. The site was founded in the 6th or 7th century by St Kevin and, at its height, consisted of seven churches, a cathedral, a round tower and 1200 stone crosses. The exhibition told the story of the site and is role in pilgrimages in good, although wordy, information boards then showed objects excavated from the site and other monastic sites in Ireland to illustrate the narrative. I think the most moving item was some oat and barley from a kiln on the site. No closing date given.  

Interesting exhibition at the Hugh Lane Gallery in Dublin looking at Irish art from around the creation of the Irish Free State in 1922. I thought the show was going to be more about the people and events of 1922 and after but it was more about Irish art of the time and how it helped forge an Irish identity and broke artistic moulds. It is a period of art I loved so it was fascinating to see how styles developed in another country with a different political background. I loved the Jack Yeats pictures. I always forget how good he was as you don’t seem to see his work in English shows. It also featured a number of female artists I’d not come across before such as Mary Swanzy and Grace Henry. Runs through 2023

Interesting exhibition at the Photographers’ Gallery of work drawn from one photographic collection looking at the role of photography in the move to Irish Independence with the Easter Rising as a focal point. It started with how photography was used to present an iconography of Ireland and to spread images of the evictions of the 1880s. It was interesting to see a picture of Captain Boycott, from who we take the word Boycott, who was a land agent in the evictions. I don’t think I’d ever seen a picture of him. It was also interesting to see there had been a market for images of nationalist leaders going back to the 1850s. The Easter Rising itself was represented mainly by pictures of the aftermath due to the limitations of photography at the time. It’s interesting that these images were sold as postcards and the sense of how quickly people came out to look at the damage. Now the area is rebuilt it is strange to see pictures of what it looked like then. I was rather in...

Exhibition at National Gallery of Ireland in Dublin of watercolours by William Evans of Eton done in 1838 on tour of Ireland. The pictures capture an isolated by heavily populated area just before the potato famine. They were gentle pictures giving a detailed vision of a time and a place. They were shown alongside contemporary work by Wendy Judge which explored the difference between authentic and armchair travel. A couple of these were interesting sculptures of rock formation made to be viewed from a particular angel to give them depth.