Gailearaí Náisiúnta na hÉireann | |
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| Established | 1864 (1864) |
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| Location | Merrion Square West,Dublin, Ireland |
| Coordinates | 53°20′27″N6°15′09″W / 53.340914°N 6.252554°W /53.340914; -6.252554 |
| Type | Art museum |
| Key holdings | Kitchen Maid with the Supper at Emmaus Portrait of Doña Antonia Zárate The Taking of Christ Lady Writing a Letter with her Maid Connemara Girl |
| Director | Caroline Campbell |
| Public transit access | Clare Street bus stop Dublin Pearse Dawson Street (Green Line) |
| Website | www |
TheNational Gallery of Ireland (Irish:Gailearaí Náisiúnta na hÉireann) houses the national collection of Irish and European art. It is located in the centre ofDublin with one entrance onMerrion Square, besideLeinster House, and another onClare Street. It was founded in 1854 and opened its doors ten years later.[1] The gallery has an extensive, representative collection of Irish paintings and is also notable for itsItalian Baroque andDutch masters painting. The current director isCaroline Campbell.[2]
In 1853 anexhibition, theGreat Industrial Exhibition, was held on the lawns ofLeinster House in Dublin. Among the most popular exhibits was a substantial display of works of art organised and underwritten by the railway magnateWilliam Dargan. The enthusiasm of the visiting crowds demonstrated a public appreciation for art, and it was decided to establish a permanent public art collection as a lasting monument of gratitude to Dargan. The moving spirit behind the proposal was thebarristerJohn Edward Pigot (1822–1871), son ofDavid Richard Pigot,Chief Baron of the Irish Exchequer, and he became one of the first governors of the gallery.[3] The façade of the National Gallery copies the Natural History building of theNational Museum of Ireland which was already planned for the facing flank of Leinster House. The building itself was designed byFrancis Fowke, based on early plans byCharles Lanyon, and was completed and opened in 1864.[4][1]
The gallery was not founded around an existing collection, and when the gallery opened it had just 112 paintings.[1] In 1866 an annual purchase grant was established and by 1891 space was already limited.[4] In 1897, the Dowager Countess of Milltown indicated her intention of donating the contents ofRussborough House to the gallery. This gift included about 223 paintings, 48 pieces of sculpture, 33 engravings, much silver, furniture and a library, and prompted construction from 1899 to 1903 of what is now called the Milltown Wing, designed byThomas Newenham Deane.[1][5]
At around this timeHenry Vaughan left 31 watercolours byJ. M. W. Turner with the requirement that they could only be exhibited in January, this to protect them from the ill-effects of sunlight. Though modern lighting technology has made this stipulation unnecessary, the gallery continues to restrict viewing of the Vaughan bequest to January and the exhibition is treated as something of an occasion.
Another substantial bequest came with the untimely death in the sinking of theLusitania ofHugh Lane (1875–1915), since 1914 director of the gallery; not only did he leave a large collection of pictures, he also left part of his residual estate and the Lane Fund has continued to contribute to the purchase of artworks to this day. In addition to his involvement in the gallery, Hugh Lane had also hoped to found a gallery of modern art, something only realised after his death in theHugh Lane Gallery.George Bernard Shaw also made a substantial bequest, leaving the gallery a third of royalties of his estate in gratitude for the time he spent there as a youth.[6]
The gallery was again extended in 1962 with a new wing designed by Frank DuBerry of theOffice of Public Works. This opened in 1968 and is now named the Beit Wing. In 1978 the gallery received from the government the paintings given to the nation byChester Beatty and in 1987 the Sweeney bequest brought fourteen works of art including paintings byPicasso andJack B. Yeats. The same year the gallery was once again given some of the contents ofRussborough House whenAlfred Beit donated 17 masterpieces, including paintings byVelázquez,Murillo,Steen,Vermeer andRaeburn.
In the 1990s a lostCaravaggio,The Taking of Christ, known through replicas, was discovered hanging in aJesuit house of studies in Leeson Street in Dublin bySergio Benedetti, senior conservator of the gallery. The Jesuits have allowed this painting to be exhibited in the gallery and the discovery was the cause of national excitement. The painting was on loan to an Italian gallery from February until July 2010 as part of Caravaggio's 400th anniversary. In 1997Anne Yeats donated sketchbooks by her uncleJack Yeats and the gallery now includes a Yeats Museum.Denis Mahon, a well-known art critic, promised the gallery part of his rich collection and eight painting from his promised bequest are on permanent display, includingJacob Blessing the Sons of Joseph byGuercino.
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A new wing, called the Millennium Wing, was opened in 2002. Unlike the previous two extensions, this new wing has street frontage and the English architectsBenson & Forsyth gave it an imposing Bowers Whitbed,Portland stonefaçade and grandatrium. The design originally involved demolishing an adjoiningGeorgian terrace house and its ballroom mews; however, the Irish planning appeals authority, An Bord Pleanála, required that they be retained.
In March 2011, the Office of Public Works (OPW), in association with the gallery, commenced work on the historic complex at Merrion Square to address a critical need for the repair and renovation of the fabric of the Dargan (1864) and Milltown (1903) wings, together with the provision of much needed additional accommodation. The first phase of the works programme involved the removal and replacement of the Dargan Wing roof. The next two phases of the project involved the replacement of the Milltown Wing roof, followed by an extensive upgrade of the fabric and services of the two buildings whilst reclaiming their original period elegance. Refurbishment of the two wings was completed in June 2017.
The National Gallery of Ireland is located in the heart ofGeorgian Dublin. There are two entrances, one atMerrion Square and the other at Clare Street. Admission to the gallery is free and many talks, tours and events, as well as the audioguide, are also free of charge. The gallery launched a free smartphone app in 2013.
Dublin Bus routes 4, 7 and 7a all pass by the gallery. ThePearse StreetDART station is 5 minutes on foot as is the Dawson stop on the green line of theLuas. The Abbey Street stop of the red line of the Luas is a 20-minute walk away. There are twodublinbikes stations just outside the gallery, one at Clare Street and the other at Merrion Square West.
All galleries and entrances are wheelchair and buggy accessible and there are disabled parking spaces outside the Merrion Square entrance. Tours for the visually and hearing impaired are regularly organised. Visitors with guide dogs are welcome in the gallery. The lecture theatre, AV room and gallery shop are all fitted with a loop system for the hearing impaired.
The collection has about 14,000 artworks, including about 2,500 oil paintings, 5,000 drawings, 5,000 prints, and some sculpture, furniture and other works of art.
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Originally the Hennessy Portrait Prize, the Zurich Portrait Prize is an exhibition of commissioned artists creating works of portraiture. The Prize is open to artists in all mediums who are either citizens in Ireland or Irish citizens living abroad. The prize consists of €15,000 and a €5,000 commission to create a portrait that would be exhibited in the gallery.[8] Previous winners include:
When it was the Hennessy Portrait Prize, the prize winners were:
Thelibrary and archives collections at the National Gallery of Ireland encompass unique and historically significant collections for the study of art history. The origins of the collections can be traced back to the foundation of the institution over one hundred and sixty years ago. Covering the visual arts from the classical to the contemporary these collections continue to be a vital research element of the National Collection. The development of the library and archive has been supported principally through public funding and the private donations of generous benefactors.
Open to the public, it has particularly rich holdings relating to the history of western European art from the Middle Ages on, and the collections relating to Irish and Italian art are extensive. The collection amounts to over 100,000 published volumes, in addition to significant archival holdings.
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