Thread: As the National Gallery of Ireland is closed let’s take a virtual tour!

One of the least known major art museums in Europe, the Gallery has an excellent collection of Old Masters.

Hopefully we’ll see our masterpieces again soon

Andrea Mantegna (1430/1-1506). This portrait of Francesco Gonzaga has been attributed to Mantegna for its superb sensitivity & draughtsmanship. It dates from c1500 & is part of an important collection of Old Master Italian drawings.

To mark my 50th birthday I set up a special offer where you can purchase two artworks for a one-off €50(£45). Join the celebration! https://twitter.com/robertbohan/status/1253968614199263232

Caravaggio painted The Taking of Christ in 1602. It is considered one of his greatest masterpieces for the drama & lighting with which the Master tells the story. He included a self-portrait top right, holding a lantern up so that we might see the betrayal of Christ

Lavinia Fontana (c1600) was the first great self-made female painter. Her masterpiece is the Visit of the Queen of Sheba. Solomon & the Queen are Vincenzo I Gonzaga & Eleonora de’ Medici. It is a work of pilgrimage for many studying the history of women artists.

Watteau (1684-1721) was one of the greatest French draughtsmen of the 18th C. The Gallery has a choice collection of his drawings & others by artists such as Picasso, Cézanne, Rembrandt, Klee & Modigliani. Few can match his verb & observation

Poussin (1594-1665) painted Acis & Galatea. Although created in Rome in 1627-8, this stunning mythological piece has a classic French colour palette. The lovers are exquisitely portrayed. Poussin is out of favour now but deserves more interest.

François Boucher (c1751) depicts the courtesan Mademoiselle O’Murphy in this drawing. A girl of Irish extraction she holds the laurels for possibly being the most famous Irish woman in art. The drawing is a new acquisition- for comparison here’s the finished picture (in Cologne)

Jacques-Louis David (1748-1825) painted this, The Funeral of Patroclus, in 1778. It is his first neoclassical work & he would go on to be the master of the neoclassical movement. It was painted in Rome. Now recognised as seminal in his oeuvre, it was once a table top!

Pissarro (1873) painted Bouquet of Chrysanthemums in a Chinese Vase after the Franco-Prussian war. What seems, at first glance, a simple flowerpiece transforms once you realise that Chrysanthemums are associated with mourning in France. The picture has a wonderful integrity.

Picasso’s (1924) Still Life with a Mandolin. This is from his second period of Cubism; when he took the colour palette of Matisse & introduced it to his work. The painting is a large canvas & sings with colour. It is a masterpiece of observation & perception

Velázquez (1599-1660) painted The Kitchen Maid with the Supper at Emmaus aged just 19 or 20. It is his first known work. The discovery of the scene behind the Maid demonstrates its authenticity. It is a tour de force by the young Master - he is considered the painter’s painter!

Goya (1746-1828) painted El Sueño in about 1800. It has a clear relationship with the Majas. The work is a study of a sleeping woman where his subtle brushwork allows the eye to imagine one can see her breathing. When purchased the Irish media called it pornographic!

Rembrandt (1647) created the tenebrous Landscape with the Rest on the Flight into Egypt. His ability to tell a story, striking use of light & uncanny ability to depict objects in small brushstrokes is clear. You can even identify the species of oak beside the Holy Family.

Judith Leyster (1609-60) is believed to have painted The Lute Player (it had long been attributed to her more famous contemporary Frans Hals). Leyster is now gaining the reputation she deserves. The work is one of her finest & demonstrates her genius.

Vermeer’s (1670-1) Lady Writing a Letter with her Maid is one of the most famous paintings in Ireland. Stolen several times, it’s now securely in the gallery. The passage of light through the window defies belief, in its perfection.

Steen (c1665) created the Village School. In a life-size painting he depicts himself as the school master & his own children are portrayed as the pupils. It’s full of incident & one of his greatest works. Ireland has always loved Dutch art & has a superb collection.

Gainsborough (1785) wanted to create works to match the Old Masters. He took Murillo & Van Dyck for inspiration & added his own humanity. The work is considered, together with the pics of his daughters, one of his greatest. He sought to depict the dignity of the poor.

Reynolds (1773-4) painted the Irish Earl of Bellamont, a notorious womaniser & father to over a dozen children to a variety of women. Clearly the Earl decided to create a satirical work sending himself up as an erect pink figure with a giant ejaculation of feathers on his head!

Raeburn (1791) painted Sir John & Lady Clerk of Penicuik. It is the ultimate image of middle-aged love. The great Scot poured his heart into the work. Sir John’s pose is borrowed from the Apollo Belvedere & the couple are seen Contre-jour. A work of genius.

Van Dyck (1627) painted his Boy Standing on a Terrace in Genoa. It is a masterful portrait of a young boy where the artist has attributed dignity to the child, who probably hailed from an aristocratic family. It’s sometimes known as the Red Boy

Rubens’ (1628) Christ with Mary & Martha was a cooperation with his friend’s son. Rubens did the figures, Bruegel the rest. It’s an important image to me as my great grand uncle gifted it to the National Gallery. The monkey would have attracted him to it.

Gabriele Münter’s (1908) Girl with Red Ribbon is one of my favourite German Expressionist works. Münter is one of Germany’s greatest painters & relatively unknown. Her economic use of colour manages to present a window to the sitter’s inner world.

Here’s more on my special offer with two artworks for just €50(£45). Join in! https://twitter.com/robertbohan/status/1253793899581227008