Eloas
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Retrospective
exhibition of Ireland's most enigmatic and prodigious figure of
18th century landscape painting opens Saturday 28 March in the National
Gallery of Ireland. |
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Press Release March
2009 National Gallery of
Ireland A major retrospective exhibition of Waterford-born artist Thomas Roberts (1748-1777), will open in the Beit Wing of the National Gallery of Ireland on 28 March and will continue until 28 June 2009. Admission is free. The exhibition, which features some 50 works by Roberts, is the first significant show devoted to the artist and the largest ever gathering of his works. It coincides with the publication of the most comprehensive study on the artist in over 30 years, 'Thomas Roberts: Landscape and Patronage in Eighteenth-Century Ireland', written by William Laffan and Brendan Rooney, who have also curated the National Gallery exhibition. There has not been an in-depth presentation of Roberts's work since the National Gallery's exhibition in 1978 when just 16 works by the artist were on display. Since then, important paintings by Roberts have come to light and now have an opportunity to be admired in full splendour. Out of the 64 autograph works assembled for the book, 47 will be included in the exhibition, all of which belong to a career that lasted just a decade. Roberts died in Lisbon, tragically young at the age of 28, in 1777, and not in 1778 as previously thought. The exhibition will focus
on key areas of the artist's oeuvre: topographical views
of picturesque locations in Dublin, Wicklow and Meath, as well as
wonderful views of the north-west of Ireland, featuring subjects
painted in and around Lough Erne, Belturbet, Belleek and Ballyshanon.
There will also be examples of his storm scenes and ideal landscapes
and the wonderful demesne views of Dawson Grove, Co. Monaghan, Slane,
Co. Meath, and the Casino at Marino. Unique to the exhibition will
be Roberts's series of views of some of Ireland's finest demesnes
such as the Lucan series, and the complete set of views at Carton,
Co. Kildare. Also included is a rare Thomas Roberts was born in Waterford, in 1748, the son of architect, 'Honest John' Roberts (1714-1796), who is synonymous with the two Cathedrals in Waterford. In 1762, Roberts enrolled
in the Dublin Society Drawing Schools where he trained under George
Mullins (fl.1756-1775/6), a distinguished landscape painter in his
own right, and the Cork born artist, John Butts (c.1728-65). As a consequence, he invited great interest and subsequent patronage from some of the highest ranking figures in Ireland, among them Sir Ralph Gore, Earl of Ross, and Viscount Belleisle (Belle Isle at Lough Erne); Thomas Dawson, Baron Dartrey (Dawson Grove, Co. Monaghan), Lord Charlemont (Marino), the Veseys of Lucan Demesne and the FitzGeralds of Carton House and Demesne. Roberts was also commissioned by the Leesons of Russborough House. The exhibition includes many previously unknown works, the majority of which have been assembled from private collections as well as from the National Gallery of Ireland, and other museums in Ireland and abroad. It highlights the artist's outstanding achievements during his short career spanning the 1760s and 1770s. This together with the thorough study on Roberts by William Laffan and Brendan Rooney, aims to make his work more widely known which up until now has been little appreciated outside specialist circles. Roberts was an enigmatic figure whose life and work are celebrated in this much anticipated retrospective exhibition and aims to place him in the annals of European landscape painting. For further information
& images, contact: EXHIBITION CURATORS PUBLICATION EXHIBITION DATES AUDIO GUIDE LECTURE SERIES STUDY MORNING BIOGRAPHICAL NOTES Brendan Rooney is Administrator of the ESB Centre for the Study of Irish Art in the National Gallery of Ireland. He received his doctorate from Trinity College Dublin, and his publications include Irish Paintings in the National Gallery of Ireland, Volume I (2001, with Nicola Figgis), and The Life and Work of Harry Jones Thaddeus (2003). He was also editor of A Time and a Place:Two Centuries of Irish Social Life (National Gallery of Ireland 2006). He has contributed to various books and exhibition catalogues, including Hugh Douglas Hamilton's The Cries of Dublin (2003), A German Dream (National Gallery of Ireland 2004), Shades of Light. Evocations of Summer (Hunt Museum 2005), Whipping the Herring (Crawford Art Gallery 2006), and Hugh Douglas Hamilton. A Life in Pictures (National Gallery of Ireland 2008), and has published articles on Irish art in several periodicals.
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