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The Birth of Modernism in Irish Art 1920-1960

Lemons and a Funnel, 1949
12 April – 18 August 2019
State Apartment Galleries, Dublin Castle
Office of Public Works

Isolated on the Western fringes of Europe it took time before the influence of early 20th century European developments in art reached these shores. This exhibition explores the development of modernism in Ireland beginning in 1920, a period of political turmoil in this country and ends in the modern Ireland of 1960. It will contrast the traditional ‘Irish School of painting’ of the male dominated RHA favoured by de Valera and the new Irish Government to that of the European influenced art that was being championed by women artists such as Mainie Jellett, Evie Hone and Norah McGuinness amongst others through the Dublin Painters Society and the IELA exhibitions. Continue reading “The Birth of Modernism in Irish Art 1920-1960”

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This Life is so Everyday: The Home in British Art

William Scott, Cup and Pan Blues, 1970
30 March – 6 July 2019

Home means different things to different people. Our relationship with our homes influences the way we think about ourselves and each other.

This Life is so Everyday reflects on social changes in British home lives between 1950 and 1980. It looks at how artists have used depictions of the domestic to signify our diverse experiences, question ideas of gender, class and sexuality, and represent some of the most intimate aspects of who we are.

See work by William Scott, John Bratby, Patrick Caulfeld, Helen Chadwick, Richard Hamilton, David Hockney, Anne Redpath, Su Richardson and more. Continue reading “This Life is so Everyday: The Home in British Art”

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William Scott and his Circle: from Dylan Thomas to Mark Rothko

[Mary with Blue Bowl], 1938 or 1939
29th March  2019
Talk: William Scott and his Circle: from Dylan Thomas to Mark Rothko
with Jon Benington, Manager, Victoria Art Gallery 

This talk explores Scott’s path from figuration to abstraction, ranging from 1928 as a precocious 15-year old schoolboy in Northern Ireland, leading up to 1953 when he met and befriended Mark Rothko in New York. Coming from a working class background, Scott developed an uncanny knack for being in the right place at the right time, whilst gravitating towards the most progressive developments in French and American art. Continue reading “William Scott and his Circle: from Dylan Thomas to Mark Rothko”

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World Poetry Day at Tate St Ives

Mackerel on a Plate, 1952

For World Poetry Day, Tate St Ives have produced postcards with poems by the poet Ella Frears.

This is to coincide with selected works, including Mackerel on a Plate, 1952, currently hanging with Frear’s poems beside them.

Some poems draw on Frear’s experience of growing up in St Ives, while other works are written from the perspective of the objects. Continue reading “World Poetry Day at Tate St Ives”

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In Colour – Sickert to Riley

Kitchen Still Life, 1948
6 March – 26 August 2019

Opening on 6 March, Charleston’s second exhibition in the new Wolfson Gallery positions the work of former Charleston residents – Vanessa Bell (1879-1961) and Duncan Grant (1885-1978) – within a century of great British colourists, including William Scott.

Curated by London-based textile designer, Cressida Bell, granddaughter of artist Vanessa Bell, the exhibition will feature a broad-ranging and highly Continue reading “In Colour – Sickert to Riley”

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Archive Blog – January 2019

Sheet of photographs showing three sculptures made by Scott during his years at the Royal Academy Schools, and three paintings, one of which is [Mousehole Harbour], 1935 or 1936. William Scott Archive

William Scott: The Sculptor

In January 1934, William Scott, then a student at the RA Schools in London, decided to switch from studying sculpture to painting. Although at the time this request was made on the grounds that he felt more inclined to be a painter, Scott later explained that it had been for practical reasons: ‘One had to be pretty mobile in the early thirties. Continue reading “Archive Blog – January 2019”