The early history of
Irish art is generally considered to begin with early carvings found at sites such as
NewgrangeNewgrange is a prehistoric monument located in County Meath, on the eastern side of Ireland, about one kilometre north of the River Boyne. It was built around 3200 BC , during the Neolithic period...
and is traced through
Bronze AgeThe Bronze Age is a period characterized by the use of copper and its alloy bronze as the chief hard materials in the manufacture of some implements and weapons. Chronologically, it stands between the Stone Age and Iron Age...
artefacts, particularly ornamental
goldGold is a chemical element with the symbol Au and an atomic number of 79. Gold is a dense, soft, shiny, malleable and ductile metal. Pure gold has a bright yellow color and luster traditionally considered attractive, which it maintains without oxidizing in air or water. Chemically, gold is a...
objects, and the religious carvings and illuminated manuscripts of the
medieval periodThe Middle Ages is a periodization of European history from the 5th century to the 15th century. The Middle Ages follows the fall of the Western Roman Empire in 476 and precedes the Early Modern Era. It is the middle period of a three-period division of Western history: Classic, Medieval and Modern...
. During the course of the 19th and 20th centuries, a strong indigenous tradition of painting emerged, including such figures as
John Butler YeatsJohn Butler Yeats was an Irish artist and the father of William Butler Yeats, Lily Yeats, Lollie Yeats and Jack B. Yeats. He is probably best known for his portrait of the young William Butler Yeats which is one of a number of his portraits of Irishmen and women in the Yeats museum in the National...
,
William OrpenMajor Sir William Newenham Montague Orpen, KBE, RA, RHA was an Irish portrait painter, who worked mainly in London...
and Jack Yeats.
IrelandIreland is an island to the northwest of continental Europe. It is the third-largest island in Europe and the twentieth-largest island on Earth...
's best known living artists include
Louis le BrocquyLouis le Brocquy is an Irish painter born in Dublin. His work has received many accolades in a career that spans seventy years of creative practice...
, a figurative painter and print maker, Brian O'Doherty an art historian, sculptor, and conceptual artist who is based in
New York CityNew York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
,
Sean ScullySean Scully is an Irish-born American painter and printmaker who has twice been named a Turner Prize nominee. His work is collected in major museums worldwide.-Life and work:...
an abstract painter who lives and works in
New YorkNew York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
,
Dorothy CrossDorothy Cross is an artist born in Cork, Ireland. Working with diverse media, which includes sculpture, photography, video and installation she represented Ireland at the 1993 Venice Biennale...
, a sculptor and filmmaker and
James ColemanJames Coleman may refer to:*James P. Coleman , Governor of Mississippi*James Smoot Coleman , American political scientist*James Samuel Coleman , American sociologist*James Coleman , Irish artist...
, an installation and video artist.
Interest in collecting Irish art has expanded rapidly with the economic expansion of the country, primarily focussing on investment in early twentieth century painters. Support for young Irish artists is still relatively minor compared to their
EuropeEurope is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...
an counterparts, as the Arts Council's focus has been on improving infrastructure and professionalism in venues. That said, Ireland's unique tax break for creative artists (writers, visual artists and composers) has encouraged a wide community of artists to remain in Ireland.
Prehistory
Irish gold personal ornaments began to be produced within about 200 years either side of 2000 BC, especially in the thin crescent-shaped disks known as
lunulaeGold lunula is the term used to describe a distinctive type of late Neolithic or early Bronze Age necklace or collar shaped like a crescent moon. They are normally flat and thin, with roundish spatulate terminals that are often twisted to 45 to 90 degrees from the plane of the body...
, which was probably first made in Ireland, where over eighty of the hundred odd known examples were found. A range of thin decorated gold discs, bands and plaques, often with pin-holes, were probably attached to clothing, and objects that appear to be earrings have also been found. By around 1400-1000 BC heavier thin
torcA torc, also spelled torq or torque, is a large, usually rigid, neck ring typically made from strands of metal twisted together. The great majority are open-ended at the front, although many seem designed for near-permanent wear and would have been difficult to remove. Smaller torcs worn around...
s and bagles have been found. The Late
Bronze AgeThe Bronze Age is a period characterized by the use of copper and its alloy bronze as the chief hard materials in the manufacture of some implements and weapons. Chronologically, it stands between the Stone Age and Iron Age...
of 900-600 BC saw the peak of the surviving Irish prehistoric goldsmithing, with superbly worked pieces in simple but very sophisticated designs, notably in a type of dress-fastener that looks like a double-ended trumpet curved round so that the two bell mouths are roughly pointing in the same direction. There are also a series of grand gold collars, representing a development of the lunula, with round plates at either end, and a broad corrugated "U"-shaped body, decorated geometrically along the ridges and troughs of the corrugations. Goldwork all but disappears in the
Iron AgeThe Iron Age is the archaeological period generally occurring after the Bronze Age, marked by the prevalent use of iron. The early period of the age is characterized by the widespread use of iron or steel. The adoption of such material coincided with other changes in society, including differing...
, except for the late and enigmatic Broighter Hoard of the 1st century BC, which appears to mix local and Roman pieces.
Although Ireland tends to be strongly associated in the popular mind with
Celtic artCeltic art is the art associated with the peoples known as Celts; those who spoke the Celtic languages in Europe from pre-history through to the modern period, as well as the art of ancient peoples whose language is uncertain, but have cultural and stylistic similarities with speakers of Celtic...
, the early Continental style of
HallstattThe Hallstatt culture was the predominant Central European culture from the 8th to 6th centuries BC , developing out of the Urnfield culture of the 12th century BC and followed in much of Central Europe by the La Tène culture.By the 6th century BC, the Hallstatt culture extended for some...
style never reached Ireland and the succeeding La Tène style reached Ireland very late, perhaps from about 300 BC, and has left relatively few remains, which are often described by art historians together with their British contemporaries as "Insular Celtic". Buried ironwork does not last long in Irish conditions, and gold is very rare, so the survivals are normally in bronze. The Petrie Crown, Loughnashade Trumpet and a series of discs whose function is mysterious are among the most striking pieces. The decoration on a number of bronze scabbards, many found in the
River BannThe River Bann is the longest river in Northern Ireland, the total length being 80 miles . The river winds its way from the south east corner of Northern Ireland to the north west coast, pausing in the middle to widen into the enormous Lough Neagh...
, have inspired much discussion, as they seem close to other pieces from as far away as
HungaryHungary , officially the Republic of Hungary , is a landlocked country in Central Europe. It is situated in the Carpathian Basin and is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine and Romania to the east, Serbia and Croatia to the south, Slovenia to the southwest and Austria to the west. The...
, and the possibility of an immigrant master has been raised. The
National Museum of IrelandThe National Museum of Ireland is the national museum in Ireland. It has three branches in Dublin and one in County Mayo, with a strong emphasis on Irish art, culture and natural history.-Archaeology:...
in
Kildare StreetKildare Street is a well-known street in Dublin, the capital city of Ireland close to the principal shopping area of Grafton Street and Dawson Street, to which it is joined by Molesworth Street. Some Irish government departments have their offices on this street but it is most famous for Leinster...
,
Dublin holds the majority of major finds from the whole prehistoric period.
Later Celtic art
In Ireland an unbroken
CeltThe Celts were a diverse group of tribal societies in Iron Age and Roman-era Europe who spoke Celtic languages.The earliest archaeological culture commonly accepted as Celtic, or rather Proto-Celtic, was the central European Hallstatt culture , named for the rich grave finds in Hallstatt, Austria....
ic heritage existed from the late
Iron AgeThe Iron Age is the archaeological period generally occurring after the Bronze Age, marked by the prevalent use of iron. The early period of the age is characterized by the widespread use of iron or steel. The adoption of such material coincided with other changes in society, including differing...
through to the Roman period in Britain, despite increasing Roman influence in the Late Antique period. However, "La Tène ornamented material dating from the third to fifth centuries AD is difficult to demonstrate [from Ireland]".
In the 6th to 8th centuries the art of the newly-Christianized Irish mixed with Mediterranean and Germanic traditions through Irish missionary contacts with the
Anglo-SaxonsAnglo-Saxon is a term used by historians to designate the Germanic tribes who invaded and settled the south and east of Great Britain beginning in the early 5th century AD, and the period from their creation of the English nation to the Norman conquest. The Anglo-Saxon Era denotes the period of...
, creating what is called
Insular artInsular art, also known as Hiberno-Saxon art, is the style of art produced in the post-Roman history of Ireland and Great Britain. The term derives from insula, the Latin term for "island"; in this period Britain and Ireland shared a largely common style different from that of the rest of Europe...
(or the Hiberno-Saxon style) and such masterpieces as the
Book of KellsThe Book of Kells is an illuminated manuscript Gospel book in Latin, containing the four Gospels of the New Testament together with various prefatory texts and tables. It was created by Celtic monks ca. 800 or slightly earlier...
, the
Ardagh ChaliceThe Ardagh Hoard, best known for the Ardagh Chalice, is a hoard of metalwork from the 8th and 9th centuries, found in 1868 and now in the National Museum of Ireland in Dublin...
and the
Tara BroochThe Tara Brooch is a Celtic brooch of about 700 AD generally considered to be the most impressive of over 50 elaborate Irish brooches to have been discovered...
, the most spectacular of about 50 elaborate
Celtic broochThe Celtic brooch, more properly called the penannular brooch, and its closely related type, the pseudo-penannular brooch, are types of brooch clothes fasteners, often rather large...
es in precious metal that have been found. Later in the period
ScandinaviaScandinavia is a cultural, historical and ethno-linguistic region in northern Europe that includes the three kingdoms of Denmark, Norway and Sweden, characterized by their common ethno-cultural heritage and language. Modern Norway and Sweden proper are situated on the Scandinavian Peninsula,...
n influences were added through the Vikings, then Celtic styles largely came to an end with the
NormanThe Normans were the people who gave their name to Normandy, a region in northern France. They were descended from Norse Viking conquerors of the territory and the native population of Frankish and Gallo-Roman stock...
invasion in 1169-1170 and subsequent introduction of
Romanesque artRomanesque art refers to the art of Western Europe from approximately 1000 AD to the rise of the Gothic style in the 13th century, or later, depending on region. The preceding period is increasingly known as the Pre-Romanesque...
. The stone
high crossA high cross or standing cross is a free-standing Christian cross made of stone and often richly decorated. There was a unique Early Medieval tradition in Ireland and Britain of raising large sculpted stone crosses, usually outdoors...
was a distinctive insular type of monument, of which a good number survive. Through the Gothic and Renaissance periods Irish art was essentially a regional variation of wider European styles, with many works imported from England or further afield, and some English artists and craftsmen active in Ireland. Many objects of a distinctively Celtic form from the first millennium, such as bell or book shrine reliquaries, were renovated or repaired in the contemporary style.
Towards an Irish art
Due to ongoing wars, occupation and poverty much of the Irish arts were restricted to
musicIrish Music is the generic term for music that has been created in various genres on the island of Ireland.The indigenous music of the island is termed Irish traditional music. It has remained vibrant through the 20th, and into the 21st century, despite globalizing cultural forces...
and
literatureFor a comparatively small island, Ireland has made a disproportionately large contribution to world literature. Irish literature encompasses the Irish and English languages.-The beginning of writing in Irish:...
. Yet beginning in the late 17th century, Irish painting began to take a foothold. These painters typically looked outside of Ireland for influence, training and clients who were wealthy enough to afford the purchase of art. For example, Walter Frederick Osborne developed his open air painting in
FranceThe French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
whereas
Sir William OrpenMajor Sir William Newenham Montague Orpen, KBE, RA, RHA was an Irish portrait painter, who worked mainly in London...
studied in
LondonLondon is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
.
In the second half of the 19th century a climate of cultural resurgence and nationalist ideals contributed to the development of an Irish style. A revived interest in the
Irish languageIrish , also known as Irish Gaelic, is a Goidelic language of the Indo-European language family, originating in Ireland and historically spoken by the Irish people. Irish is now spoken as a first language by a minority of Irish people, as well as being a second language of a larger proportion of...
and celtic history prompted a revival in the Irish visual arts as well.
BelfastBelfast is the capital of and largest city in Northern Ireland. By population, it is the 14th biggest city in the United Kingdom and second biggest on the island of Ireland . It is the seat of the devolved government and legislative Northern Ireland Assembly...
born Sir John Lavery may be the most internationally-known painter of this generation. He trained in
GlasgowGlasgow is the largest city in Scotland and third most populous in the United Kingdom. The city is situated on the River Clyde in the country's west central lowlands...
and
FranceThe French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
, but unlike Orpen, maintained close ties to his native land. In 1928 he was commissioned to paint the symbol of Éire which would be used as the central image on the bank note of the new
Irish Free StateThe Irish Free State was the state established as a Dominion on 6 December 1922 under the Anglo-Irish Treaty, signed by the British government and Irish representatives exactly twelve months beforehand...
. Other paintings embodied the call for independence, such as
Beatrice ElveryBeatrice Moss Elvery was an Irish stained-glass artist and painter.She was the second daughter of a Dublin businessman whose family had originated from Spain where they were silk merchants. Her family owned the original Elverys Sports store in Wicklow Street, Dublin...
's
Éire of 1907 which depicts the history of
Irish CatholicIrish Catholic is a term used to describe people who are both Roman Catholic and Irish .Note: the term is not used to describe a variant of Catholicism. More particularly, it is not a separate creed or sect in the sense that "Anglo-Catholic", "Old Catholic", "Eastern Orthodox Catholic" might be...
ism with the still-nascent
Irish RepublicThe Irish Republic was a revolutionary state that declared its independence from Great Britain in January 1919. It established a legislature , a government , a court system and a police force...
.
2008-05-22|publisher=New York Times|date=2005-05-22|url=http://www.nytimes.com/2008/05/22/arts/design/22patr.html}}
Early Irish masters
- Garret Morphey
Garret Morphey was an Irish painter.-Career:One of the earliest, if not the earliest, Irish painters, Morphey practised in Dublin. He was most likely a pupil of Gaspar Smitz, a Dutch painter who worked in Ireland, though he is also recorded as having been an assistant to Edmund Ashfield in London...
, Robert CarverRobert Carver was a Dublin born Irish painter, who worked as a painter of theatre scenery as well as painting framed works.-Career:...
, George Barrett, Sr.George Barret, Sr. was an Irish landscape artist best known for his portraits of the British countryside during the mid to late 18th century. He was a founding member of the London Royal Academy....
, James BarryJames Barry , Irish painter, best remembered for his six part series of paintings entitled The Progress of Human Culture in the Great Room of the Royal Society of Arts...
, Hugh Douglas Hamilton
The Irish landscape
- Augustus Nicholas Burke
Augustus Joseph Nicholas Burke was an artist and a member of the Royal Hibernian Academy .-Biography:Burke was born into the Galway Burkes of Glinsk and was the sixth son of William Burke of Knocknagur, Tuam, Co. Galway. He was born at Waterslade House in the town...
, Susanna DrurySusanna Drury, later Susanna Warter was an Irish painter. Though little is known of her life or work, she was very influential in the development of Irish landscape painting. She is chiefly noted for her watercolor drawings of the Giant's Causeway in County Antrim, which brought international...
, Paul HenryPaul Henry was a Northern Irish artist noted for depicting the west of Ireland landscape with a spare post-impressionist style....
Irish sculptors
- Jerome Connor
Jerome Connor was an Irish sculptor.-Life:...
, John Henry FoleyJohn Henry Foley , often referred to as JH Foley, was an Irish sculptor, best known for his statues of Daniel O'Connell in Dublin, and of Prince Albert in London. Both are still considered iconic in each city.-Life:...
, Augustus Saint-GaudensAugustus Saint-Gaudens was the Irish-born American sculptor of the Beaux-Arts generation who most embodied the ideals of the "American Renaissance"...
, Mary RedmondMary Redmond was an Irish sculptress born in Nenagh, County Tipperary in 1863, and then raised in Ardclough, County Kildare, where her father came to work in the limestone quarries....
, Oliver SheppardOliver Sheppard RHA was an Irish sculptor, most famous for his 1911 bronze statue of the mythical Cuchullain dying in battle.-Family:...
Modernism
- Mainie Jellett
Mary Harriet Jellett, known as Mainie Jellett was an Irish painter whose Decoration was among the first abstract painting shown in Ireland when it was exhibited at the Society of Dublin Painters Group Show in 1923.Mainie Jellett studied at the Metropolitan School of Art in Dublin and under Walter...
, The White Stag groupThe White Stag Group was a group of artists centred around the painters Basil Rakoczi and Kenneth Hall.Founded in London in 1935, the group moved to Ireland in 1939 and stayed until after the Second World War...
, The Exhibition of Living Art, Louis le BrocquyLouis le Brocquy is an Irish painter born in Dublin. His work has received many accolades in a career that spans seventy years of creative practice...
, Patrick ScottPatrick Scott is an Irish artist.Patrick Scott had his first exhibition in 1944, but trained as an architect and did not become a full time artist until 1960. He worked for fifteen years for the Irish architect Michael Scott, assisting, for example, in the design of Busáras, the central bus...
, Patrick SwiftPatrick Swift was an artist born in Dublin, Ireland. Patrick Swift was a painter and key cultural figure in Dublin and London before moving to the Algarve in southern Portugal, where he is buried in the town of Porches...
, John KingerleeJohn Kingerlee is an Irish painter currently living on the Beara peninsula, in West Cork. He is a convert to Islam and has a second family in Fez, Morocco.-Early life:...
The Northern artists
- John Luke
John Luke was an Irish artist. He was born in Belfast at 4 Lewis Street. The fifth of seven sons and one daughter of James Luke and his wife Sarah, originally from Ahoghill. He attended the Hillman Street National School and in 1920 went to work at the York Street Flax Spinning Company...
, Colin MiddletonColin Middleton MBE was an Irish artist and surrealist.Middleton was born in 1910 in Belfast. He trained at Belfast College of Art, he was heavily influenced by the work of Vincent van Gogh. He regarded himself as the only surrealist working in Ireland in the 1930s.His work first appeared at the...
, William ScottWilliam Scott was a British artist known for still life and abstract painting. He is the most internationally celebrated of 20th century Ulster painters.-Early life and education:...
, Neil ShawcrossNeil Shawcross is an artist born in Kearsley, Lancashire, England, and resident in Northern Ireland since 1962. Primarily a portrait painter, his subjects have included novelist Francis Stuart , former Lord Mayor of Belfast David Cook , footballer Derek Dougan and fellow artists Colin Middleton...
, Gladys Maccabe (artist)-Early life:Gladys Maccabe was born in Randalstown, County Antrim. Her mother Elizabeth was a designer in the linen business, and her father George Chalmers, a Scot, was a former army officer and artist specialising in calligraphy and illumination...
, Basil Blackshaw-Life:Born in Glengormley, County Antrim, Northern Ireland and brought up in Boardmills, County Down, Blackshaw attended Methodist College Belfast and studied at Belfast College of Art...
Public art
- Edward Delaney
Edward Delaney was an Irish sculptor born in Claremorris in County Mayo in 1930. His best known works include the 1967 statue of Wolfe Tone and famine memorial at the northeastern corner of St Stephen's Green in Dublin and the statue of Thomas Davis in College Green, opposite Trinity College Dublin...
, John BehanJohn Behan is an Irish sculptor from Dublin.He helped establish the Project Arts Centre, Dublin in 1967 and the Dublin Art Foundry. Notable sculptures include "Arrival", commissioned by the Irish Government and presented to the UN in 2000 and "Wings of the World" in Shenzhen, China, 1991...
, Rachel JoyntRachel Joynt is an Irish sculptor who has created some prominent Irish public art. She graduated from the National College of Art and Design in Dublin in 1989 with a degree in sculpture....
, Rowan GillespieRowan Fergus Meredith Gillespie is an Irish bronze casting sculptor of international renown. Born in Dublin to Irish parents, Gillespie spent his formative years in Cyprus...
Contemporary art
- Dorothy Cross
Dorothy Cross is an artist born in Cork, Ireland. Working with diverse media, which includes sculpture, photography, video and installation she represented Ireland at the 1993 Venice Biennale...
, James ColemanJames Coleman, born in Ballaghaderreen, County Roscommon in 1941, is an Irish installation and video artist associated with slide-tape works: sequences of still images fading one into the other with synchronized sound...
, Amanda CooganAmanda Coogan is an Irish performance artist, living and working in Dublin and Berlin. She studied Painting at Limerick School of Art and Design, Ireland, Athens School of Fine Arts, Greece, and Sculpture at the National College of Art and Design, Dublin and under the performance artist Marina...
, Fergus FeehilyFergus Feehily is an Irish artist.Feehily studied at Dún Laoghaire College of Art and Design , and in the late 1990s received the Monbusho Scholarship from the Japanese Ministry of Education to study at Tokyo National University of Fine Arts and Music.In 2005 Feehily published the book A Venn...
, Gary FarrellyGary Farrelly is an Irish artist.-Life and work:The artist Gary Farrelly was born in 1983 in the Irish capital Dublin. His artwork often involves a recurring fixation with narcissistic, utopic and infrastructural themes...
, Doreen KennedyDoreen Kennedy is an Irish artist, photographer and graphic designer.Doreen Kennedy studied at the College of Marketing and Design in Dublin...
, Ross EcclesRoss Eccles, , is a contemporary English artist and painter. He has been based in Dublin, Ireland since 1971, and exhibits there regularly. He has also exhibited his work in the UK, France and the US.-Life and work:...
, Mary FitzgeraldMary FitzGerald is an Irish artist who lives and works in Dublin and County Waterford. After graduating from the National College of Art and Design, Dublin in 1977, she moved to Japan where she lived and exhibited between 1979 and 1981. FitzGerald has held numerous solo exhibitions in Ireland,...
, Victor SloanVictor Sloan MBE is an Irish photographer and artist.Victor Sloan studied at the Royal School, Dungannon, Co. Tyrone and Belfast and Leeds Colleges of Art, England. He lives and works in Portadown, County Armagh in Northern Ireland...
, Paul SeawrightPaul Seawright is an artist born in Belfast, Northern Ireland, in 1965. He currently lives in Belfast and is Professor of Photography at the University of Ulster in Belfast.-Life and work:...
, Peter RichardsPeter Richards is both an artist and curator living and working in Belfast, Northern Ireland since 1994. Born in Cardiff in 1970 Richards studied a BA in Fine Art at Howard Gardens, Cardiff part of the University of Wales. He moved to Northern Ireland to further his studies, completing an MPhil...
, Ronan GotiRonan Goti is an Irish contemporary artist.-About Ronan:Ronan Goti was born in 1978 and raised in the seaside village of Portmarnock, County Dublin. He studied art in Ballyfermot Senior Art College and at NCAD. He first exhibited in 2002....
, Gottfried HelnweinGottfried Helnwein is an Austrian-Irish fine artist, painter, photographer, installation and performance artist.-Work:Helnwein studied at the University of Visual Art in Vienna...
, John LongJohn Long is an artist whose work has been exhibited in Dublin and London, as well as in the United States. He is a member of the Royal Hibernian Academy, and a widely-sought lecturer and teacher...
The short career of Patrick Ireland
Patrick IrelandPatrick Ireland was the alter ego of Brian O'Doherty an Irish sculptor, conceptual artist, author, and installation artist. He was born in County Roscommon in 1928 and lives and works in the United States. O'Doherty began signing his work under the name Patrick Ireland in reaction to the Bloody...
was a fictitious identity assumed by the artist, art historian, painter, and sculptor Brian O'Doherty between the years 1972 and 2008, initiated in 1972 as a protest to the
Bloody SundayBloody Sunday —sometimes called the Bogside Massacre—was an incident on 30 January 1972 in the Bogside area of Derry, Northern Ireland, in which twenty-six unarmed civil rights protesters and bystanders were shot by soldiers of the British Army...
killings in
DerryDerry or Londonderry is the second-biggest city in Northern Ireland and the fourth-biggest city on the island of Ireland. The name Derry is an anglicisation of the Irish name Doire or Doire Cholmcille meaning "oak-wood of Colmcille"...
. O'Doherty (who was born in
County RoscommonCounty Roscommon is a county in Ireland. It is located in the West Region and is also part of the province of Connacht. It is named after the town of Roscommon. Roscommon County Council is the local authority for the county...
in 1934) and who moved to the USA in 1961, produced his artwork during those years (1972–2008) in which he had an extensive following in museums, galleries and the press nearly exclusively under the pseudonym of Patrick Ireland. In 1972 as a protest to the
Bloody SundayBloody Sunday —sometimes called the Bogside Massacre—was an incident on 30 January 1972 in the Bogside area of Derry, Northern Ireland, in which twenty-six unarmed civil rights protesters and bystanders were shot by soldiers of the British Army...
killings in
DerryDerry or Londonderry is the second-biggest city in Northern Ireland and the fourth-biggest city on the island of Ireland. The name Derry is an anglicisation of the Irish name Doire or Doire Cholmcille meaning "oak-wood of Colmcille"...
he changed his artistic identity to
Patrick IrelandPatrick Ireland was the alter ego of Brian O'Doherty an Irish sculptor, conceptual artist, author, and installation artist. He was born in County Roscommon in 1928 and lives and works in the United States. O'Doherty began signing his work under the name Patrick Ireland in reaction to the Bloody...
, until peace would be restored in Ireland. On May 20, 2008, in recognition of the progress for peace in Ireland he ceremoniously buried his alter ego in a public funeral at the
Irish Museum of Modern ArtThe Irish Museum of Modern Art also known as IMMA, is Ireland's leading national institution exhibiting and collecting modern and contemporary art. The museum opened in May 1991 and is located in Royal Hospital Kilmainham, a 17th-century building near Heuston Station to the west of Dublin's city...
in
Dublin.
See also
- List of Irish artists
- Aosdána
Aosdána is an Irish association of Artists. It was created in 1981 on the initiative of a group of writers and with support from the Arts Council of Ireland. Membership, which is by invitation from current members, is limited to 250 individuals; before 2005 it was limited to 200...
- Statues in Dublin
- Dorothy Cross
Dorothy Cross is an artist born in Cork, Ireland. Working with diverse media, which includes sculpture, photography, video and installation she represented Ireland at the 1993 Venice Biennale...
, James ColemanJames Coleman may refer to:*James P. Coleman , Governor of Mississippi*James Smoot Coleman , American political scientist*James Samuel Coleman , American sociologist*James Coleman , Irish artist...
, Amanda CooganAmanda Coogan is an Irish performance artist, living and working in Dublin and Berlin. She studied Painting at Limerick School of Art and Design, Ireland, Athens School of Fine Arts, Greece, and Sculpture at the National College of Art and Design, Dublin and under the performance artist Marina...
, Fergus FeehilyFergus Feehily is an Irish artist.Feehily studied at Dún Laoghaire College of Art and Design , and in the late 1990s received the Monbusho Scholarship from the Japanese Ministry of Education to study at Tokyo National University of Fine Arts and Music.In 2005 Feehily published the book A Venn...
, Gary FarrellyGary Farrelly is an Irish artist.-Life and work:The artist Gary Farrelly was born in 1983 in the Irish capital Dublin. His artwork often involves a recurring fixation with narcissistic, utopic and infrastructural themes...
, Doreen KennedyDoreen Kennedy is an Irish artist, photographer and graphic designer.Doreen Kennedy studied at the College of Marketing and Design in Dublin...
, Ross EcclesRoss Eccles, , is a contemporary English artist and painter. He has been based in Dublin, Ireland since 1971, and exhibits there regularly. He has also exhibited his work in the UK, France and the US.-Life and work:...
, Elizabeth Cope, Mary FitzgeraldMary Fitzgerald is a television writer for The Singles Table, American Body Shop and most notably the HBO sitcom, Lucky Louie.-External links:...
, Oisin Byrne, David O'Kane, David Turpin, Victor SlóanVictor Sloan MBE is an Irish photographer and artist.Victor Sloan studied at the Royal School, Dungannon, Co. Tyrone and Belfast and Leeds Colleges of Art, England. He lives and works in Portadown, County Armagh in Northern Ireland...
, Paul SeawrightPaul Seawright is an artist born in Belfast, Northern Ireland, in 1965. He currently lives in Belfast and is Professor of Photography at the University of Ulster in Belfast.-Life and work:...
, Peter RichardsPeter Richards may refer to:*Peter Richards, rugby union player*Peter Richards , , artist & curator, Belfast*Peter Richards, a supporting character from Dallas, played by Christopher Atkins...
, Ronan GotiRonan Goti is an Irish contemporary artist.-About Ronan:Ronan Goti was born in 1978 and raised in the seaside village of Portmarnock, County Dublin. He studied art in Ballyfermot Senior Art College and at NCAD. He first exhibited in 2002....
, Gottfried HelnweinGottfried Helnwein is an Austrian-Irish fine artist, painter, photographer, installation and performance artist.-Work:Helnwein studied at the University of Visual Art in Vienna...
, John LongJohn Long may refer to:*John Long , English Member of Parliament for Cricklade*John Long , Archbishop of Armagh*John Long , member of the Parliament of Ireland in 1689 for Midleton, County Cork...
, John Gillan, Geraldine Fitzsimons , Anne YeatsAnne Butler Yeats was an Irish painter and stage designer. She was a daughter of the poet William Butler Yeats and a niece of the painter Jack B. Yeats, niece of Lily Yeats an embroiderer associated with the Celtic Revival, and botanic artist Elizabeth Yeats...
External links