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National Gallery mounts major exhibition to welcome ten new EU member states. |
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Press Release, 2 March 2004 "New
Frontiers-art from new EU member states" A major exhibition of paintings from the ten new EU accession states was formally opened by John O'Donoghue, TD, Minister for Arts, Sport and Tourism, on Tuesday, 2nd March, 2004 in the Millennium Wing of the National Gallery of Ireland. The exhibition, entitled 'New Frontiers-art from new EU member states', features some 60 paintings broadly covering the late-nineteenth and first half of the twentieth centuries. It opens to the public from 3rd March until 30th May 2004. Admission is free. Raymond Keaveney, Director of the National Gallery of Ireland, says that this exhibition opens a window on to a world of art that is relatively unknown to Ireland and indeed much of Western Europe. He said the National Gallery was delighted to have this unique opportunity to display and explore the art of the ten accession countries. In saluting the new states at this pivotal moment in their history when Ireland is holding the presidency of the EU, the National Gallery is looking to a future when interchange with galleries and art institutions throughout the enlarged Europe will become a feature of its exhibition programme. Conor Killeen, Chairman of NCB Group, says: "We are delighted to be associated with the 'New Frontiers' exhibition and to be partnering the Government and the National Gallery of Ireland in showcasing it to the Irish public. Having plotted the fortunes of the ten new EU states in economic terms as part of our day-to-day analysis of financial markets, this wonderful snapshot of the cultural heritage of the ten new members will help to round off our understanding of the true potential of these countries to contribute to the economic and cultural diversity that underpins the EU." Fionnuala Croke, Head of Exhibitions at the National Gallery, who has curated the exhibition, says that the works on display, which were selected in collaboration with the directors and curators in each of the national institutions, are considered emblematic of their country's cultural identity. "Though each artist has their own distinctive style they all share a common European heritage, a reminder that art transcends politics", she says. In an introductory essay to the accompanying illustrated exhibition catalogue, Steven A. Mansbach, Professor of the History of Modern Art at the University of Maryland, traces the links between the works on display in this exhibition and the mainstream traditions of Western art. He points out that while the artists in the East borrowed from the West, each developed their own distinctive style with allusions to ancient myths, events, heroes and folk traditions to express their national identities. In his concluding remarks, he states: "By attending to the dual matrix in which the art was created and continues to function as national self-image and international modern expression, today's audience can appreciate the ingenious ways in which these nations from the east and southeast of the Continent contributed to the styles, forms and vocabulary that long constituted progressive European visual culture." Exhibition:
3 March - 30
May 2004. The exhibition is supported by the Department of Arts, Sport and Tourism for Ireland's 2004 Presidency of the European Union and by NCB Group and Statoil Ireland. Exhibition
Catalogue Exhibition
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