National Gallery of Ireland

History

In 1853 an exhibition, the Great Industrial Exhibition, was held on the lawns of Leinster House in Dublin. Among the most popular exhibits was a substantial display of works of art organised and underwritten by the railway magnate William 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 the barrister John Edward Pigot (1822–1871), son of David Richard Pigot, Chief Baron of the Irish Exchequer, and he became one of the first governors of the gallery. The façade of the National Gallery copies the Natural History building of the National Museum of Ireland which was already planned for the facing flank of Leinster House. The building itself was designed by Francis Fowke, based on early plans by Charles Lanyon, and was completed and opened in 1864.

The gallery was not founded around an existing collection, and when the gallery opened it had just 112 paintings. In 1866 an annual purchase grant was established and by 1891 space was already limited. In 1897, the Dowager Countess of Milltown indicated her intention of donating the contents of Russborough 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 by Thomas Newenham Deane.

At around this time Henry Vaughan left 31 watercolours by J. 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 the Lusitania of Hugh 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 the Hugh 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.

List of directors

George Mulvany, 1861–1869

Henry Doyle, 1869–1892

Walter Armstrong, 1892–1914

Hugh Lane, 1914–15

Walter G. Strickland, 1915–16

Robert Langton Douglas, 1916–1923

Lucius O'Callaghan, 1923–1927

Thomas Bodkin, 1927–1935

George Furlong, 1935–1950

Thomas McGreevy, 1950–1963

James White, 1964–1980

Homan Potterton, 1980–1988

Raymond Keaveney, 1988–2012

Sean Rainbird, 2013–2022

Caroline Campbell 2022–to present

Millennium Wing

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 architects Benson & Forsyth gave it an imposing Bowers Whitbed, Portland stone façade and grand atrium. The design originally involved demolishing an adjoining Georgian terrace house and its ballroom mews; however, the Irish planning appeals authority, An Bord Pleanála, required that they be retained.

Master development plan

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.

Location, access and facilities

The National Gallery of Ireland is located in the heart of Georgian Dublin. There are two entrances, one at Merrion 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. The Pearse Street DART station is 5 minutes on foot as is the Dawson stop on the green line of the Luas. The Abbey Street stop of the red line of the Luas is a 20-minute walk away. There are two dublinbikes 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.

Highlights

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.

Spanish

Luis de Morales (c.1592–86) St Jerome in the Wilderness 1570s

Jusepe de Ribera (1591?–1652) St Onuphrius late 1620s

Diego Velázquez (1599–1660) Kitchen Maid with the Supper of Emmaus, c.1617–18

Francisco de Zurbarán (1598–1664) The Immaculate Conception early 1660s

Bartolomé Esteban Murillo (1617–82) The Return of the Prodigal Son c.1660

Francisco José de Goya y Lucientes (1746–1828) Dona Antonia Zarate c.1805–06

Pablo Ruiz Picasso (1881–1973) Still-Life with Mandolin 1924

Juan Gris (1887–1927) Pierrot 1921

French

Jacques Yverni (flourished 1410–38) The Annunciation c.1435

Nicolas Poussin (1594–1665)

Acis and Galatea 1627–28

The Lamentation over the Dead Christ 1657–60

Jean Lemaire (1598–1659) Architecture Landscape with Classical Figures 1627–30

Jean-Baptiste-Siméon Chardin (1699–1779) Still Life: Two Rabbits, a Grey Partridge, Game Bag and Powder Flask 1731

Jean-Honoré Fragonard (1732–1806) Venus and Cupid (Day) c.1755

Eugène Delacroix (1798–1863) Demosthenes on the Seashore 1859

Gustave Courbet (1819–77) Portrait of Adolphe Marlet 1851

Alfred Sisley (1819–99) The Banks of the Canal du Loing at Saint-Mammes 1888

Claude Monet (1840–1926) Argenteuil Basin with a Single Sailboat 1874

Paul Signac (1863–1935) Lady on the Terrace 1898

Kees van Dongen (1877–1968) Stella in a Flowered Hat c.1907

Chaïm Soutine (1893–1943) Landscape with the Flight of Stairs c.1922

Italian

Master of Verucchio (14th century) The Crucifixion, Noli me tangere c.1330–40

Fra Angelico (1417–55) Sts Cosmas and Damian and their Brothers surviving the Stake c.1440–42

Zanobi Strozzi (attribute to) (1412–68) Assumption of the Virgin with Sts Jerome and Francis 1460s

Filippino Lippi (1457–1504) Portrait of a Musician late 1480s

Titian (c.1485/90–1576) Ecce Homo c.1558/60

Giovan Battista Moroni (before 1524–1578) Portrait of a Gentleman and his two Children c.1570

Caravaggio (1571–1610) The Taking of Christ 1602

Guido Reni (1575–1624) The Suicide of Cleopatra c.1639–40

Domenichino (1581–1641) Saint Mary Magdalene c.1625

Guercino (1591–1666) Jacob blessing the Sons of Jacob c.1620

Sassoferrato (1609–85) Virgin and Child 1630s

Luca Giordano (1634–1705) Venus, Mars and the Forge of Vulcan 1660s

Carlo Maratta (1625–1713) The Rape of Europa c. 1680–1685

Francesco Solimena (1657–1747) Allegory of Winter c.1690

Canaletto (1697–1768) St. Mark's Square c.1756

Ugolino di Nerio (early 14th Century) Prophet Isaiah

German and Swiss

Salzburg School Christ on the Cross with the Virgin Mary and John c.1430

Master of the Youth of St Romold (active c.1490) St Romold taking leave of his Parents c.1490

Georg Pencz (active 1500–50) Portrait of a Gentleman 1549

Angelica Kauffman (1741–1807) The Ely Family 1771

Emil Nolde (1867–1956) Two Women in a Garden 1915

Flemish

Pieter Brueghel the Younger (1564–c.1637) Peasant Wedding 1620

Peter Paul Rubens (1577–1640) St Peter finding the Tribute Money 1617–18

Jacob Jordaens (1593–1678)

The Veneration of the Eucharist c.1630

The Supper at Emmaus c.1645–65

Anthony van Dyck (1599–1641) A Boy standing on a Terrace c.1623–24

Dutch

Marinus van Reymerswaele (attributed) (c.1490/95–c.1567) The Calling of Matthew c.1530–40

Gerrit van Honthorst (1590–1656) A Musical Party c.1616–18

Rembrandt (and studio) (1606–69) La Main Chaude c.1628

Willem Cornelisz Duyster (1599–1635) Interior with Soldiers 1632

Aelbert Cuyp (1620–91) Milking Cows 1640s?

Matthias Stomer (1600–after 1650) The Arrest of Christ c.1641

Rembrandt (1606–69) Landscape with the Rest on the Flight into Egypt 1647

Willem Drost (1652–80) Bust of a Man Wearing a Large-brimmed Hat c.1654

Anthonie de Lorme (1610–73) Interior of St Laurenskerk, Rotterdam c.1660–65

Gabriel Metsu (1629–67)

Man Writing a Letter c.1663

Woman Reading a Letter c.1663

Jan Steen (1625/26–79)

The Village School c.1665

The Marriage Feast at Cana 1665–70

Johannes Vermeer (1632–75) Lady Writing a Letter with her Maid c.1670

Cornelis Troost (1696–1750) Jeronimus Tonneman and his son Jeronimus 1736

Nicolaes de Giselaer Interior with Figures

British and American

William Hogarth (1697–1764)

The Western Family c.1738

The Mackinen Children c.1747

Thomas Gainsborough 1727–88

A view in Suffolk c.1746

Mrs Christopher Horton (1743–1808) later Duchess of Cumberland 1766

The Cottage Girl 1785

Joshua Reynolds (1723–92)

Parody of Raphael's 'School of Athens' 1751

The Temple Family 1780–82

Omai 1776 (On loan from a private collection)

Portrait of the Earl of Bellamont 1774

Henry Raeburn (1756–1823) Sir John and Lady Clerk of Penicuik 1791

George Romney (1734–1802) Titania, Puck and the Changeling, from Shakespeare's 'A Midsummer Night's Dream' 1793

David Wilkie (1785–1841) Napoleon and Pius VII at Fontainebleau, 1836

John Singer Sargent (1856–1925) The Bead Stringers of Venice 1880–82

Stanley Royle (1888–1961) The Goose Girl c.1921

Francis Wheatley (1747–1801) The Dublin Volunteers on College Green, 4 November 1779 1779–80

Andrew Festing (1941–present)

Irish

Kevin Abosch (photographer) (1969) "Portrait of Brian O'Driscoll" 2011

James Barry (1741–1806)

The Temptation of Adam 1767–70

Self-portrait as Timanths c.1780–1803

The Death of Adonis

Augustus Nicholas Burke (1838–1891) Connemara Girl (1865).

Nathaniel Hone the Elder (1718–84) The Conjurer, 1775

Hugh Douglas Hamilton (1740–1808) Frederick Hervey, Bishop of Derry and Fourth Earl of Bristol (1730–1803), with his Granddaughter Lady Caroline Crichton (1779–1856), in the Gardens of the Villa Borghese, Rome c.1790

Francis Danby (1793–1861) The Opening of the Sixth Seal, 1828

Daniel Maclise (1806–1870) The Marriage of Strongbow and Aoife, 1854

Sarah Purser (1848–1943) Le Petit Dejeuner 1881

Roderic O'Conor (1860–1940) Le Jeune Bretonne c.1895

James Arthur O'Connor (1792–1841) The Poachers, 1835

Walter Osborne (1859–1903) Dublin Streets: a Vendor of Books, 1889, In a Dublin Park, Light and Shade c.1895

John Lavery (1856–1941) The Artist's Studio: Lady Hazel Lavery with her Daughter Alice and Step-Daughter Eileen 1909–13

Paul Henry (1876–1958) Launching the Currach 1910–11

The Yeats Collection

Jack B. Yeats (1871–1957)

Bachelor's Walk, in Memory 1915 (On loan from a private collection)

The Liffey Swim 1923

A Morning in a City 1937

Grief 1952

John Butler Yeats (1839–1922) John O'Leary 1904

Drawings and watercolours

James Malton (1760–1803) The Custom House

Joseph Mallord William Turner (1775–1851)

A Ship against the Mewstone, at the Entrance to Plymouth Sound

Fishing Boats on Folkestone Beach

Dante Gabriel Rossetti (1828–82) Jane Burden as Queen Guinevere 1858

Frederick William Burton (1816–1900) Hellelil and Hildebrand, the Meeting on Turret Stairs, 1864 1864

James Abbott McNeill Whistler (1834–1903) Nocturne in Grey and Gold – Piccadilly, 1881–83

Edgar Degas (1834–1917) Two Ballet Dancers in a Dressing Room

Pablo Ruiz Picasso (1881–1973) Two Dancers 1925

Zurich Portrait Prize

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. Previous winners include:

2018 Mandy O'Neill

2019 Enda Bowe

2020 Aidan Crotty

2021 Salvatore of Lucan

2022 David Booth

2023 Ruaidhrí Condon

2024 TBC

When it was the Hennessy Portrait Prize, the prize winners were:

2014 Nick Miller

2015 Vera Klute

2016 Gerry Davis

2017 Jack Hickey

Library and archives collections

The library 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.