Brian McAvera pays tribute to Edward Murphy whose personal commitment to the development of Irish art research will reap immeasurable benefits for generations
There are always a number of reasons for any efflorescence in the arts and they are usually economic and political in character. One has only to think of the economic factors underpinning the rise of Dutch art in the 17th century or, more prosaically, of several of Haughey’s interventions in the 1980s, when he was Taoiseach, such as tax relief for artists, or the introduction of Aosdana. One might look to the increasing attention paid to the visual arts in the press, or to the slow transition of ‘art history’ in Ireland from that of leisured connoisseurship to an academic discipline. Arguably, the most important intervention was the arrival of Edward ‘Eddie’ Murphy to the National College of Art and Design (NCAD) in the 1970s. One man can, and did, make a difference. When he retired last year he left two legacies: the first is the creation of the art library at NCAD, easily the best in the country with over 100,000 volumes, with major and often complete runs of periodicals, and with remarkable specialist collections in areas such as photography, design and artists’ books. His second was the creation of NIVAL, an artists’ archive, which is unique in Ireland. So who is this man and why were a library and an archive so important?
With the recent passing of Ronald Tallon, Seán Ó Laoire reflects on the end of an era and remembers Michael Scott, founder and charismatic figurehead of Scott Tallon Walker
Catherine Marshall assesses the unwavering artistic journey of Maria Simonds-Gooding in advance of her retrospective in Dublin
The class of 2014 is looking anew to the tangible joys of creativity, in contrast to its documentation, writes Gerry Walker of the trends emerging from this year’s graduate shows.