While the display of sculpture at the re-opened National Gallery is impressive, what is on view is but a fraction of the collection, writes paula Murphy
When the long-awaited re-opening of the National Gallery of Ireland took place in June 2017, it came as something of a relief to find that railway magnate William Dargan was still on his perch on the front lawn at the original entrance to the building. The bronze over-lifesize portrait of the Irish engineer, which is the work of Dublin sculptor Thomas Farrell, was commissioned to mark Dargan’s generous financial support in the establishing of the NGI and erected to coincide with the opening of the gallery in 1864. The statue has now been slightly repositioned on the lawn, but to no significant ill effects. However, in the delightfully uncluttered and pristine newness of the entrance court, it is particularly noticeable that the bronze has not been cleaned. One would be forgiven for thinking that Dargan deserved better than this!
Stephanie McBride reflects on the extraordinary life’s work of Arthur Fields, the last of the street photographers
All around the globe, conflicts have and continue to shape the land and their inhabitants’; Elizabeth Magill explores the flipside of the buccolic in conversation with Brian McAvera.