A Concise History of Irish Art.
Author: ARNOLD, Bruce.
New York: Praeger, 1968. 216 pages. Illustrated. Hardback.
Irish art of the early Christian era is widely and justly celebrated, as is the work of modern Irish artists such as Jack B. Yeats. Perhaps less widely appreciated is the existence of a continuing and developing tradition of Irish art, from earliest times to the present day. In the early phases of its extremely complex evolution, this tradition drew upon Celtic, Anglo-Saxon, Norman, and even Mediterranean sources. Subsequently, from the seventeenth to the twentieth century, it enriched itself from the diverse strands of European art.
Many aspects of Irish art closely parallel the unhappy history of the Irish people. Some gifted Irish artists are known by a mere handful of paintings, most of their works having been attributed to more famous names. Others were forced by circumstance or persuaded by ambition to seek better fortune in London. For instance, two great “English” narrative painters, William Mulready and Daniel Maclise, were really Irish artists. So were James Barry (the only painter ever expelled from the Royal Academy), George Barret, Nathaniel Hone (the portrait painter, one of the founding members of the Royal Academy), and his son Horace (the miniaturist). A similar situation prevails in the twentieth century, and artists like Orpen, Lavery, William Scott, F. E. McWilliams, and Roderic O’Conor have been repatriated in this book.
The author has both presented the rich texture of Irish art—paintings, sculpture, illuminated manuscripts, metalwork, architecture—and restored to their native tradition artists who have become familiar in other contexts. The illustrations have been chosen to show the best and most characteristic work of the artists, and the story of the art has been related, wherever possible, to the rich and varied history of the Irish people.
Contents:-
Introduction
CHAPTER ONE
The Celtic era
CHAPTER TWO
From the Viking invasion to 1700
CHAPTER THREE
The age of Swift
CHAPTER FOUR
Ireland her own
CHAPTER FIVE
Landscape into art
CHAPTER SIX
The Celtic revival
CHAPTER SEVEN
Jack Yeats and the moderns
Bibliography
List of Illustrations
Index
ISBN: None/Unknown
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