Hugh Lane 100 Years
26 June – 28 September 2008
President Mary McAleese to open
Hugh Lane 100 Years Exhibition
Charlemont House
Parnell Square North
Dublin 1
Ireland
t: + 353 1 222 5550
f: + 353 1 872 2182
“ The project of founding a Gallery of Modern Art for Ireland is no longer an idea, it is now an accomplished fact.”
Sir Hugh Lane, Dublin, December 1907
Dublin City Gallery The Hugh Lane is pleased to announce that President Mary McAleese will officially open Hugh Lane 100 Years at 6.30pm on 26th June 2008.
2008 marks the centenary of the founding of the Municipal Gallery by Hugh Lane and his supporters . The centrepiece of the Gallery’s centenary exhibition programme is Hugh Lane 100 Years, which includes his collection of 39 Continental Pictures, the first time seen in Dublin since 1913
Hugh Lane’s vision in founding the Gallery of Modern Art was one of the most significant cultural events in these islands at the turn of the 20th century and is acknowledged as one of the most remarkable cultural achievements in the history of Modern Ireland.
“This will be the first time these paintings including world famous Impressionist paintings will be exhibited alongside the original collection in Dublin since the site controversy in 1913 when they were removed to the National Gallery, London.
With the return of the 39 Continental Pictures the original foresight and vision of Hugh Lane can be truly appreciated and it is hoped that in the future they will be reunited permanently with the original collection” Barbara Dawson
Following a huge controversy surrounding a signed but un-witnessed codicil to Lane’s will, an agreement was finally reached in 1959 whereby the 39 Hugh Lane Bequest Paintings are shared between the National Gallery London and Dublin City Gallery The Hugh Lane. In 1993, an further agreement was negotiated whereby the Impressionists in the group are shared equally between the two institutions.
“When Hugh Lane bought the Impressionist masterpieces so loved today, he was one of the few collectors of modern French painting in either Britain or Ireland. However, this quick-witted tenacity in a way heightens the sense of loss when you come to realise how the paintings were to slip from Dublin’s grasp with Lane’s tragic, premature death on board the Lusitania in 1915”. says Jessica O’Donnell, Acting Head of Collections.
In addition to the 39 paintings from the Hugh Lane Bequest, the exhibition will present work by key artists including William Orpen, Nathaniel Hone, George Russell, Antonio Mancini, John Singer Sargent and JBC Corot and will feature a significant selection drawn from the 300 paintings, sculpture and works on paper originally shown when the gallery first opened.
Other Men’s Flowers is a contemporary response to Hugh Lane 100 Years and will be launched the same evening. Curated by Michael Dempsey Head of Exhibitions, it features the work of Frank Auerbach, Francis Bacon, Michael Farrell, Brian Fay, Ben Geoghegan, Patrick Graham, Patrick Hall, Leon Kossoff, Martin Kippenberger, William Walcot and Jeff Wall.
A fully illustrated book will published to coincide with the Hugh Lane Centenary exhibition with contributions by Roy Foster, Robert O’Byrne, Barbara Dawson, Jessica O’Donnell, Sean O’Reilly, John Redmill, Christopher Riopelle and Ray Ryan.
The exhibition continues until 26th September
This exhibition has been kindly supported by Investec ,The Irish Times and The Department of Arts, Sport and Tourism
For more information please contact: Dairne O’Sullivan, Marketing Manager Dublin City Gallery The Hugh Lane, Parnell Square, Dublin 1
dairne.osullivan@dublincity.ie Ph: 01 222 5568
