In a new series of landscapes at the Gordon Gallery, Derry, Bernadette Madden’s mastery with a demanding medium evokes a richly atmospheric sense of place, writes James Hanley
Bernadette Madden is synonymous in Ireland with the art of batik. Her prodigious output over the last forty years, with the exception of her print-making, has been predominantly in the medium. While perceived as a craft (and she has been the recipient of RDS craft medals in recent years for her work in the area) she has taken the technique, exploiting its painterly possibilities, and raised it to an art form.
Muirne Lydon reveals the original brilliance of Murillo’s Prodigal Son as degraded varnish and old restorations are painstakingly removed from the 17th-century series at the National Gallery of Ireland
Using a selection of germane quotations Rolf Loeber recalls his mentor, the late Maurice Craig; their literary exchange taking the form of a tete-a-tete.
Cosmopolitan yet connected to local issues, Mervyn Wingfield, 7th Viscount Powerscourt played a prominent role in promoting Ireland’s cultural institutions at a pivotal time in their early history, writes Philip McEvansoneya