Opening at The Ava Gallery at Clandeboye Estate in Bangor next week, Irish Women Artists 1870-1970 is a rare collection of some of the most important works created by female painters and sculptors. Chris Morrison spoke to curator David Britton about the exhibition
DAVID Britton, a director at Adam's Fine Art Auctioneers and Valuers in Dublin, has been bringing exhibitions north to The Ava Gallery at Clandeboye Estate in Co Down for a number of years now. Next week, he will open the brilliant Irish Women Artists 1870-1970 exhibition - a huge catalogue of artwork celebrating the significant role women have played in the history of Irish art. "I noticed from previous shows at Clandeboye that every year people commented in the visitor's book on the small number of women artists included in each of the exhibitions," explains Britton. "That has obviously resonated with people, so it was something that I felt that I should address." Personally curated by Britton as a 'labour of love' during his free time, Irish Women Artists 1870-1970 has been exclusively drawn from private collections throughout Ireland.
As such, it offers the public a unique opportunity to view works that would never normally be available to see.
Using his contacts throughout the art world, David Britton has brought together a formidable range of styles and subjects. Having been displayed at Adam's in Dublin throughout July, next week they will be transported north to The Ava Gallery. "This exhibition is different from those held in major institutions," he says. "Institutions would tend to go for the obvious choices. They are the same pictures that you see all the time. "We've tried to put some of the more obscure artists in because I think people enjoy seeing artists that they've never heard of." Anyone interested in art history will enjoy the journey through time documented by the exhibition.
It begins in 1870 - around the time the Watercolour Society of Ireland was formed. Representing this period in the exhibition are artists like Mildred Anne Butler and Rose Barton.
Barton's watercolours are masterful, depicting the looming St Patrick's Cathedral brilliantly in her painting of the same name.
The exhibition then moves on to artists sometimes called Irish Impressionists - basically the Irish painters who went to study in France during the late 19th century. These include Helen Mabel Trevor and Georgina Moutray Kyle from Northern Ireland, who both spent a considerable amount of time learning their craft in Paris and Brittany. Kyle's Breton Village Scene gives the viewer a real sense of the bustling atmosphere of an early 20th century French village.
The Dublin Painters Society is also represented. It was established in the 1920s by artists including Grace Henry, Mary Swanzy and Letitia Hamilton.
The Society was dominated by women artists, so much so that in 1935, an Irish Times reviewer wrote that this was "the first time there was a women artist's exhibition, as this show is virtually taken to be."
By the mid-1940s, The Dublin Painters Society was losing its reputation as the pre-eminent women's art society in Ireland. This position was assumed by the Irish Exhibition of Living Art.
It was founded by Mainie Jellett and taken over by Derry-born Norah McGuinness, who was the President from 1944 until 1971. Along with Nano Reid, McGuinness was chosen to represent Ireland at the Venice Biennale in 1950. "I think that was the Irish government saying 'Ireland is modern, we are progressive'," says Britton.
Visitors to the exhibition will have the chance to see a number of works produced by The Dublin Painters Society.
The last section of the exhibition contains sculptures by the likes of Rosamund Praeger, who was born close to Clandeboye Estate in Holywood, Co Down. Praeger studied in Paris and London before returning home to set up studios in Northern Ireland.
Those with a keen interest in the history of conflict in Ireland will also be fascinated by many aspects of the exhibition.
Some of the artists were heavily involved in the republican movement. Estella Solomons, who was Jewish, was a committed nationalist and sympathised with anti-Treaty forces during the Easter Rising and Civil War.
As a member of Cumann na mBan, an Irish republican women's paramilitary organisation, her studio was often raided.
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