Hugh Lane Gallery, Dublin. Find out why it's the best gallery in Ireland?
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- Опубліковано 24 сер 2022
- We visit the Hugh Lane Gallery in Dublin situated on Parnell Square, just across the road from the Garden of Remembrance. I have to say that it’s perhaps my favourite gallery in Dublin. I like it because it’s beautiful, as you’ll see, but also because it’s not massive and overwhelming like so many galleries and yet it’s full on some really incredible works of art.
A lot of work goes into these videos. You can now buy me a pint as a means of appreciation for my work on Naked Ireland, no obligation, obviously - only if you can afford it... I appreciate it. Cheers.
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We pass Suzanne walking in a leather Skirt by Julian Opie on the way in - an interesting little piece of digital art to start us off.
Sir Hugh Percy Lane was an Irish art dealer and he established this place which was at the time the first public gallery of Modern Art in the world! He was also one of the foremost collectors of French Impressionist paintings and you’ll see a few of those as we progress through the gallery.
We look at the gift shop and café just before we head into the main gallery spaces. The gift shop has some very reasonably priced items, and from there we can see down to the café below, a nice place to have lunch if you’re planning a visit.
Outside the main gallery we have a little annex displaying the stained glass of Henry Clarke. Born at the end of the 19th Century he is one of Irelands exceptional 20th Century artists. And, as we enter the gallery you can see that it’s been set up for one of their Sundays at Noon concerts. Classical music recitals are featured here every Sunday and they’re entirely free.
In the first painting we see a gathering of supporters of Hugh Lane around his portrait. You may notice WB Yeats on the immediate lower left of the frame.
Then we see an amazing self portrait of the painter and political activist Sarah Cecila Harrison, a friend and colleague of Hugh Lane, who we see represented in a bust created by the artist Albert Power to commemorate the gallery’s opening.
Enjoy the splendour of this space, from its terrazzo floors right up to its opulent lit skylight and ornate ceiling.
We look at another bust, this time of the Irish writer George Bernard Shaw and sculpted by none other than Auguste Rodin, and beside it we have an amazing Rodin work entitled The Age of Bronze.
We look at a range of french paintings in the main gallery:
A Peasant Woman by Edgar Degas.
Édouard Manet’s “La Musique aux Tuileries”
Boulevard de Clichy by Pierre Bonnard
Beach Scene again by Edgar Degas
And we view an unusual landscape, the work of Gustave Courbet, it’s called the Diligence in the snow. The Diligence in this case is the name of the unfortunate coach. After that we see another Claude Monet, a painting from his time in London, Waterloo Bridge, Overcast Weather.
We travel on into the Sean Scully gallery. Sean Scully is certainly, it’s fair to say, one of Irelands most famous contemporary painters. His works reflect his preoccupation in geometric abstraction. You can imagine that his unique style grew out of minimalism, but his paintings now are actually deceptively complex, each dealing with a building up of layers of paint in what otherwise appear to be simple geometric shapes. Scully is based in America now and his paintings are held in collections all over the world. He was nominated for the Turner prize on two occasions and is also a celebrated academic. While the Scully works for part of the gallery’s permanent exhibition the gallery also hosts temporary and visiting exhibitions.
We look at an exhibition of the painter Irish painter Patrick Graham, a painter who has become well known since the 1980s. The paintings and collages you see here obviously need closer scrutiny that I’m able to allow in this video, however to my mind he seems to have a lot in common with some of the late 20th Century American artists such as Roschenberg, De Kooning or even Cy Twombly.
Arriving back in the permanent collection again we see two paintings from the pre-Raphaelite or Aesthetic movements: Azaleas by Albert Moore and a fantastic Edward Burne-Jones, The Sleeping Princess.
This brings us to perhaps the most exciting part of the gallery to my mind - the Francis Bacon Studio. You could be forgiven for thinking that we’ve stumbled upon an old gallery storage area, but the highly recontrived mess you see, is actually Francis Bacon’s London studio. After Bacon’s death in 1992, his atelier at 7 Reece Mews in London was considered important in terms of conservation as a means of documenting the way in which the artist worked. In 1998 the complete room (all 7000 items) was painstakingly relocated to Hugh Lane almost like an archaeological project. Aside from the reconstruction of the studio itself, there’s an archive of Bacon’s materials here with multi media access.
The Hugh Lane is such an incredible museum. It can't really be put into words. So much amazing work by such a vast array of artists. The Francis Bacon studio is incredible. I didn't expect it to be so moving and interesting, I could have stayed there all day. Amazing book shop aswell, I dropped 200 euro and left with enough books to fill an entire shelf, all very well priced for art books. And the cafe is gorgeous, the food is is glorious, the staff lovely and its so cozy. The Hugh Lane is my favourite gallery, of all the ones I visited. I head to Dublin every couple of months to visit it. ❤️
Couldn't agree more Shelley - my experience too! Great artworks, great bookshop, great cafe and the Bacon exhibit! Incredible!! Thanks for your comment.
This museum is wonderful. It’s so accessible and not too big to get around. The Francis Bacon work and studio is a must see for any visitor
Couldn’t agree more!
Thanks for bringing this gallery to my attention Greg as I knew very little about it, since it's been almost 20 years since I moved out of Dublin.
My Madeira vlogs are almost at an end, but last weekend I got a chance to record a vlog in Ireland & I hope to be in a new country at the end of September.
Have a great weekend my friend ☺
Sounds like you’re getting around as well Rue!
Has to be done! 😬
It's hard work but someone's gotta step up Rue!
Good job
Aw thanks Jaqueline, glad you enjoyed it. It’s my fav gallery!
Awesome, lot of his collections went down on Lusitania with him I believe
Terrible shame Edward.
Hugh Lane died on the Lusitania. The house was formally owned by Lord Charlemount. He also loved in Marino then county Dublin. He did t get on with his neighbour who built a row of houses to spoilt his view of the bay. In one of the houses a certain Bram Stoker was born. Author of Dracula.
I knew about his death on the Lusitania, but all the rest is news to me. And the fact that he had a fall out with his neighbours - it shows that disputes over planing have been going on for years!
It’s kinda funny, how Petty adults can be. The place is referred to as “Spite Row” . Officially it’s called Marino crescent. Mr Stoker was born I believe in number 22
A celebrity area indeed!