The Hugh Lane Gallery
Forging ahead in leaps and bounds
By Lynda Cookson
Another important celebration of the Hugh Lane’s watershed extension is the return of Harry Clarke’s stained glass ‘The Eve of Saint Agnes’ to permanent exhibition in pride of place as the first exhibit as you enter the gallery. You can’t help but catch your breath, readjust your spectacles (unless youth is still on your side) and gaze in wonder at the fineness of hand and clarity of imagination Clarke drew on to create his masterpieces. Childhood memories of fairy stories rush at you with an adult’s appreciation of the level of artistry, and it’s difficult indeed to move on to the Sculpture Hall … I turned, and stopped again at a small abstract stained glass piece – James Scanlon’s ‘Study No 2 for Miro 1985’ – which is sure to keep your eyes delving into the depths of colour and design. Stunning. Finally, I managed to pull myself away.
For the first time since 1913 Hugh Lane’s original collection of Impressionist paintings is hanging together. Failing to overcome difficulties in finding a permanent home for his collection in Dublin during the early 1900s, Lane bequeathed his continental paintings to the National Gallery in London. Just before his death on the liner The Lusitania in 1915 he changed his mind when London baulked at hanging the entire collection believing some works to be below standard. Lane added a Codicil to his Will leaving the famous collection of 39 paintings to the new gallery in Dublin – but the Codicil was not witnessed. A British commission decided that the works, including paintings by Manet, Monet, Renoir, Morisot, Pissarro, Degas and Vuillard, should stay in London. Lady Gregory, Lane’s aunt, fought for decades to prove that her nephew wished the paintings to go to Dublin and in 1959 it was finally agreed that the paintings be shared in a rotating arrangement between Dublin and London with the agreement being reviewed every 12 years.
The recent expansion of the gallery, on the site of the famous former national ballroom and utilising the gardens of two neighbouring houses which were bought in 1995, has doubled gallery space allowing for thirteen new temporary exhibition rooms, a dedicated children’s area and education resource room, a lecture theatre with state of the art equipment, and an extensive archive and storage area together with a larger bookshop and café opening onto an internal courtyard.
My eye was caught specifically by three pieces: ‘The Umbrellas’ by Renoir; George Clausen’s ‘The Haymaker’; and ‘There is No Night’ by Jack B Yeats, as I moved through the five galleries leading to the much-publicised Francis Bacon Studio and I sank onto a couch to watch a continuous video of an interview of the celebrated Dublin-born artist. What a difference it makes to be able to hear and see the artist speak. After having only a passing interest in his life and work, I became entranced with the person, with his unaffected manner and warmth – and I sat through the video twice. His studio is an incredible mess yet as my eye searched, expecting a mouse or two to appear from beneath the piles of paper, I realised that this gift of his studio is priceless – worth more as the essence and secrets of a great artist than any painting could be. Dublin is truly privileged.
I spoke to Barbara Dawson, Director of the Hugh Lane Gallery, about the gallery’s philosophy, of how new works of art are chosen: ‘Hugh Lane had been supportive of the living artists of his time so we focus on living art, on young, contemporary, national and international art, and in some circumstances established artists like Louis Le Brocquy, Patrick Scott, Francis Bacon and Ellsworth Kelly. We look at contemporary artists and see what their practice is and how it would relate to our reading of pioneering practice today. Although we like to exhibit two or three works by the same artist so that the visitor may understand the practice instead of just being presented with one example by many artists, our annual budget for purchasing is very low – so we strongly encourage specific donations.’ She went on to say that the Acquisitions Board looks to her for guidance. ‘They rely on my recommendations for focus – not the only focus – but a defined focus. A collection cannot be great in any way unless there is a definite focus and ours has a strong contemporary relevance.’
A visit to the gallery before 10th September means you will be able to catch Beyond The White Cube, a retrospective of pioneering conceptual artist Patrick Ireland. From December 2006 to February 2007 ‘The Studio’ will present work by artists who directly address their relationship to the studio – inspired by the Francis Bacon Studio. A series of public lectures and films will take place throughout autumn on Sundays at 3pm. Free guided tours of the collection take place every Tuesdays at 11.00 and Sunday at 1.30.
Further information can be gleaned from the gallery’s website : www.hughlane.ie