National Self-Portrait Collection of Ireland

Housed at the University of Limerick, where it is on permanent display, The National Self-Portrait Collection of Ireland now comprises over 400 self-portraits by native or resident Irish artists. The collection grows by invitations or commissions (based on a small honorarium), but mainly by donations or bequests from painters, sculptors or their families. Artists of all ages and both genders are well represented, and the self portraits span several centuries although they are mainly from the twentieth and ninteenth centuries.

For art-lovers who are unable to visit the Self-Portrait collection in person, all the self-portraits are available in two art books (Volume 1 and 2).

Robert Armstrong, Self-Portrait 1997.
Oil on Canvas.

Begun in 1980, following the purchase of 15 self-portraits from the art-collector and former Chairman of the Limerick Art Society John Kneafsey, the collection now includes works by painters, sculptors, printmakers, photographers and mixed media artists. Among the painters, are portraitists, landscape artists, plein air Impressionists, genre painters, academic painters, abstract and conceptual artists, and others. The collection is a fascinating contribution to the visual arts in Ireland and is set to become an important part of the country's cultural heritage.

Although portraits in traditional oils are more numerous, the collection encompasses self portraits composed in a staggering variety of media types.

James Concagh, Self-Portrait, 1995.
Mixed Media on Board.

Paintings include those in: watercolour and crayon (eg. Louis le Brocquy); colour pencil on paper (eg. Jim Allen); regular pencil on paper (eg. Patrick Scott, Sarah Purser, Walter Osborne, Patrick Leonard); oil on board (eg. George Collie); watercolour and pencil (eg. Jack B. Yeats, Stephen McKenna); pastel on paper (eg. William Conor, Patrick Collins, Sean Keating); oils on canvas (eg. Louis King Bradford, John Shinnors, William Leech, Patrick Hennessy, Niccolo d'Ardia Caracciolo); watercolour gouache on paper (eg. Dairine Vanston); gouache on paper (Mary Swanzy); oil on paper (eg. Basil Rakoczi, Alice Maher); bronze sculpture bust (eg. Melanie le Brocquy); hammered sheet bronze (eg. Patrick McElroy); graphite and oil paint on board (eg. Anne Madden); oil and wax on board (John Kindness); mixed media on paper (eg. Michael Mulcahy); mixed media on board (eg. Liam Belton); acrylic on canvas (eg. Michael Ashur); ink on paper (eg. Gerard Dillon); tempera on linen (eg. Aengus Buckley); stained glass (eg. Maud Cotter); brass and slate (eg. Tom Fitzgerald); etching (eg. Patrick Hickey); dry-point (eg. David Lilburn); watercolour on paper (eg. Felim Egan, Jack P Hanlon, Tom Carr); woodblock (eg. Michael Kane); screen print etching (eg. Tim Mara); whalebone, glass, porcelain and stone sculpture (eg. Danny Osborne); sumi ink on paper (eg. Fionnuala Ni Chiosain); photograph (eg. Rod Tuach, Dorothy Cross); pencil and ink on tracing paper (eg. Robert Ballagh), ceramics and many others.

Pauline Bewick, Self-Portrait, 1983.

More Details

For more information about the National Self-Portrait Collection of Ireland, phone: 061-333-644.

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

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