Pictiúirí
Caravaggio, The Taking of Christ (1602), with kind permission of the Jesuit community who acknowledge the generosity of Dr. Marie Lee Wilson
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Paintings | |
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collection spans from the 14th to the 20th centuries and includes
all the major Continental Schools. Irish painting is charted from
its re-emergence in the 17th century to Jack B. Yeats, Ireland's
most important 20th century artist. Portraits by Hamilton, Barry,
Lavery and Orpen hang alongside a tradition of landscape (Roberts,
O'Conor, Hone) and subject painting (Danby, Osborne, Leech).
The Italian School is the second most numerous. Early gilded altarpieces and Renaissance treasures by Fra Angelico, Mantegna and Titian precede one of the most distinguished collections of 17th century paintings outside Italy. A Caravaggio, rediscovered in Dublin, is shown with his European followers, while in the Baroque Gallery there are large canvases by Lanfranco, Maratta, Rubens and others. In the French School, 17th century classicism is represented by Claude, Vouet and four subjects by Poussin. There are sparkling paintings from the rococo (Fragonard, Nattier, Chardin) and neoclassical works by J.L. David and Gérard. The Chester Beatty Gift of 19th century landscape and subject paintings contains academic, Orientalist and plein-air artists. The Impressionists' room has Monet, Sisley, Pissarro and Gonzales and into the early 20th century, Signac, Picasso and Nolde. The collection of Dutch 17th century masters was built up in the last century and has been crowned by the Beit Gift of works by Vermeer, Metsu, Ruisdael and Hobbema. Spanish painting is predominately religious, with an El Greco and altarpiece from the Escorial Palace by 'El Mudo' among the early works. An early Velázquez and several pictures by Murillo and Zurbarán are 17th century highlights and there are four examples by Goya. British painting is strongly based on portraiture, but with many Irish sitters or connections. Hogarth, Reynolds, Gainsborough and Raeburn dominate the 18th century alongside Romney, Kauffman and Wheatley.
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The Beit Gift | |
| Lady
Clementine Beit, who passed away in August 2005, was, with her late
husband, Sir Alfred Beit, one of the world's most exceptionally
generous patrons of the arts.
In 1952, Sir Alfred and Lady Beit purchased the Palladian mansion Russborough in County Wicklow as a suitable setting for their private art collection, and after restoration of the house, installed their pictures there in 1953. Since then, the collection has not only attracted the admiration of millions of art lovers, but regrettably has also been the target of many thefts over the years (1974, 1986, 2001, 2002). In 1976, Sir Alfred and Lady Clementine established the Alfred Beit Foundation to ensure that the eighteenth-century mansion would be maintained for the nation. Following the death of Sir Alfred in May 1994, Lady Beit continued to build on the work that her husband had started, and continued to be actively involved in promoting Russborugh and its affairs right up to the last weeks preceding her death. Their outstanding munificent donation of old masters to the National Gallery of Ireland in 1987 was among the greatest single gift to any Gallery in the world in that generation. It was not just the number of works, which numbered seventeen in total, but the quality. Virtually every painting out of that gift, which includes masterpieces by Velázquez, Goya, Vermeer, Metsu, Ruisdael, Murillo, Gainsborough and Raeburn is considered a masterwork, if not the masterwork, of the artist involved. Like her husband, Lady Beit served on the Board of Governors and Guardians (1994-1998). She was also a generous benefactor in her own right having gifted works by Jack B. Yeats (The Beggarman in the Shop) and by JMW Turner (The Castellated Rhine) in 1997 and in 2000 respectively. In 2001, in recognition of their generous patronage, the Gallery named its 1968 extension in their honour. Two special bronze busts commissioned in 1990 from the Irish sculptor Marjorie FitzGibbon HRHA today adorn the entrance to the Beit Wing. Through their generous patronage the Gallery has been a most fortunate recipient of wonderful masterpieces over the years, which have enhanced the collection beyond the wildest dreams of its predecessors one hundred and fifty years ago.
Thomas Gainsborough (1727-1788), 'The Cottage Girl' Francisco de Goya (1746-1828), 'Doña Antonia Zárate' Frans Hals (c.1580/83-1666), 'The lute player' Meindert Hobbema (1638-1709), 'A wooded landscape - the path on the dyke' Gabriel Metsu (1629-1667), 'A man writing a letter' Gabriel Metsu (1629-1667), 'A woman reading a letter' Bartolome Esteban Murillo (1617-1682), A series of 6 paintings telling the story of the Prodigal Son: 'The Prodigal Son receiving his portion', 'The departure of the Prodigal Son', 'The Prodigal son feasting', 'The Prodigal Son driven out', 'The Prodigal Son feeding swine', 'The return of the Prodigal Son' Henry Raeburn (1756-1823), 'Sir John and Lady Clerk of Penicuik' Jacob van Ruisdael (c.1628/29-1682), 'The Castle of Bentheim' Jan Steen (1625/26-1679), 'The Marriage Feast at Cana' Diego Velázquez (1599-1660), 'Kitchen Maid with the Supper at Emmaus' Johannes Vermeer (1632-1675), 'A woman writing a letter with her maidservant' Lady Beit Gift to the Collection: 1997: Jack B. Yeats (1871-1957), 'The Beggarman in the Shop', 1924 2000: Joseph Mallord William Turner (1775-1851), 'The Castellated Rhine', c.1832 |
