Shaping Ireland: Landscapes in Irish Art

Oil painting of a green Irish countryside of fields and hills.
Nick Miller (b.1962), From Cogan's Shed, 2004. © Nick Miller Photo © National Gallery of Ireland
Credit

13 April – 7 July 2019
Beit Wing (Rooms 6–10)

Spanning 250 years, Shaping Ireland: Landscapes in Irish Art comprised artworks by fifty artists, exploring the relationship between people and the natural world. 

In addition to artists of the past, such as George Barret, Paul Henry and Jack B. Yeats, it included contemporary practitioners like Dorothy Cross, Willie Doherty, Kathy Prendergast and Sean Scully, as well as Niamh O’Malley, Caoimhe Kilfeather, Samuel Laurence Cunnane and others.

Encompassing a range of artistic media and perspectives, this exhibition examined different land types and uses, revealing the significant role artists have played in visualising aspects of human impact on the environment.

The exhibition was accompanied by a fully illustrated publication, featuring a selection of expert responses by individuals such as Paula Meehan (poet), Mary Reynolds (landscape designer), Duncan Stewart (environmentalist) and John Tuomey (architect), among others.     

Curator: Donal Maguire, National Gallery of Ireland