Still Life, c. 1959 © Norah McGuinness. Courtesy AIB Collection.
The first major exhibition of Irish art in London for 30 years opens today at The Mall Galleries. Featuring over 70 works from 1900 to the present day it draws on the collections of paintings, photography, tapestry and sculpture from the AIB Collection and the Crawford Gallery in Cork.
Works by open air painters Aloysius O’Kelly, Sir John Lavery and Roderic O’Conor are represented, together with the ‘Dublin Painters’, Sean Keating, Jack B. Yeats, Paul and Grace Henry. Artists who celebrated the Irish way of life, like Harry Kernoff, as well as other experimenters who embraced new styles and themes, including Mary Swanzy, Mainie Jellett and Norah McGuinness, also feature. The contemporary scene is represented with major works by Louis le Brocquy, Colin Middleton, Sean Scully, photographer Willie Doherty and Royal Academician Hughie O’Donoghue. Younger emerging artists such as Shane Blount and Caroline McCarthy demonstrate the strength and depth of Irish art today.
The Art of a Nation runs until May 31.