William Laffan applauds the return of seven notable paintings from the Wood Collection to Fota House, Carrigtwohill, Cork
When the story of Irish art collecting in the 20th century is finally told, one of the pioneering figures will undoubtedly be seen as Richard Wood. In the 1970s and early 1980s, the Cork businessman assembled a thoughtful and scholarly collection of 18th-century Irish art, which he carefully displayed at Fota, just outside Cork City. Partly under the influence of Anne Crookshank, he assembled a representative group of the great Irish ‘old masters’. At the time he was collecting, Wood was one of the small band of connoisseurs to appreciate the significance of artists such as George Barret and Thomas Roberts
