Irish Paintings At The National Gallery

The development of Irish painting is illustrated from the seventeenth century to the twentieth century, the latter featuring outstanding works by Jack B. Yeats (1871–1957) and Louis le Brocquy (b.1916), Ireland's two most important artists of modern times.

The collection features a wide selection of Irish portrait artists, Irish genre painters and Irish landscape artists, with works of portraiture by James Barry (1741–1806), Hugh Douglas Hamilton (1740–1808), Sir John Lavery (1856–1941), Sir William Orpen (1878-1931); landscape painting by Roderic O'Conor (1860–1940), Nathaniel Hone the Elder (1718–84); and genre scenes by Francis Danby (1793–1861), Walter Osborne (1859–1903), and William John Leech (1881–1968), to name but a few.

The Liffey Swim by Expressionist
Painter Jack B. Yeats.

Irish Art Highlights

Here are some of the specific highlights of the collection of Irish paintings at the National Gallery of Ireland.

- The Temptation of Adam (c.1767) by James Barry
- Connemara Girl by Augustus Nicholas Burke
- The Conjurer (1775) by Nathaniel Hone the Elder
- The Opening of the Sixth Seal (1828) by Francis Danby
- The Marriage of Strongbow and Aoife (1854) by Daniel Maclise
- Le Petit Dejeuner (1881) by Sarah Purser
- Le Jeune Bretonne (c.1895) by Roderic O'Conor
- In a Dublin Park, Light and Shade (c.1895) by Walter Osborne
- John O'Leary (1904) by John Butler Yeats (1839–1922)
- The Artist's Studio: Lady Hazel Lavery & Daughter (c.1913) by John Lavery
- Launching the Currach (c.1910) by Paul Henry
- Convent Garden, Brittany (c.1912) by William John Leech
- An Allegory (c.1922) by Sean Keating
- Decoration (1923) by Mainie Jellett
- The Liffey Swim (1923); A Morning in a City (1937); by Jack B. Yeats
- The Little Green Fields (c.1945) by Gerard Dillon
- A Family (1951) by Louis le Brocquy

Other important figures from the history of Irish art whose works are featured in the gallery, include Hugh Douglas Hamilton and Sir William Orpen.

Launching the Curragh by Paul Henry,
Noted for his Landscapes of the West
of Ireland.

In addition to these, the National Gallery of Ireland has a wide range of drawings and other artworks (eg. stained glass) by Irish artists, including: Evie Hone, Harry Clarke, George Petrie, James Arthur O'Connor, James Malton and Nathaniel Hone the Younger. Also, it houses a collection of sketches and designs by Mainie Jellett, a number of early twentieth century views of Dublin by Flora Mitchell and (in the Yeats Collection) a number of sketchbooks and sketches by Jack B. Yeats.

For more information about Irish artists displayed at the National Gallery of Ireland, telephone: 01-661-5133.

• For details of other fine art exhibitions and collections, see: Irish Art Galleries and Museums.
• For facts about painting and sculpture in Ireland, see: Guide to Irish Art

• How to Update This Mini Review of Irish Art At The National Gallery of Ireland