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In the fascinating continuing series, Conor Tallon explores the latest Work of the Week at the Crawford Gallery in Cork. Art lovers can view the pieces online, or of course visit the gallery in person. This week's work is an abstract, which gets to the heart - or indeed the nucleus -of the matter........a painting on two canvases!

The startling Diptych by Patrick Scott likely dates to the mid-1960s, only a few years after the Kilbrittain-born artist had dedicated himself to being a full-time artist.

Arresting the eye with its dazzling composition, Diptych not only reveals Scott’s instinct for colour but can also be read as an expression of outrage. The bleached colouration, dripping solar halo, and unprimed canvas register the artist’s protest to the testing of hydrogen bombs and other nuclear devices. In this context, the painting can be viewed in an eery and unsettling new Cold War light.

Best known for his later ‘gold paintings’, Patrick Scott (1921-2014) is noted for his dedication to pure abstraction. Having initially trained as an architect, the artist exhibited with the White Stag Group in 1944. He would go on to represent Ireland at the 30th Venice Biennale (1960) and was elected a member of Aosdána in 1981. Scott was conferred with the title of Saoi (‘wise one’), the highest honour for a living Irish artist, in 2007 by then President Mary McAleese

Diptych by Patrick Scott is featured in lucid abnormalities (until March 2021) in our Gibson Galleries (Floor 1). Free entry and open daily.

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Conor Tallon spoke to Curator Michael Waldron about a very unusual and hard to describe

work this week!

It’s a tale of heraldry, family, and decorative arts with this curious carved object that depicts the family crest of a noted family once prominent in Cork and Waterford. The Penrose family crest consists of an escutcheon or shield emblazoned with three bends (diagonal bars) that signify protection. Each of these contain three roses, which may denote grace or faith. The shield is set on an oval cartouche decorated with scroll and tassels, which in turn is surmounted by a trout or salmon naiant (in a horizontal position).

The inclusion of the fish on this family crest relates to a legend regarding the origins of the Penroses at their traditional seat of Loe Pool in Cornwall. (The family was first documented here in 1281!) There is a long history of connection between Cornwall and the south coast of Ireland, particularly when it comes to fisheries. Today, ‘The Loe’ – or An Logh in Cornish – is the largest freshwater lake in Cornwall and is administered by The National Trust.

Born in 1736, the businessman Cooper Penrose was from the third generation of the Irish branch of the family. Having moved to Cork in 1763, he married Elizabeth Dennis, a fellow Quaker who was the daughter of his business partner. Together they lived at Woodhill on Lover’s Walk and amassed a renowned art collection.

Fun Fact: among other interests, the Penroses founded glass companies in Cork and Waterford, one of which eventually became the celebrated Waterford Crystal.

Presented to the collection twelve years ago, this historic objectis displayed in our eighteenth-century Penrose Rooms (Floor 1) along with paintings, silverware, porcelain, furniture, and books from the period. Free entry and open daily.

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Conor Tallon and Micheal Waldron headed out to Cork’s historic harbour with this WORK OF THE WEEK!

View of Haulbowline and Spike Island from Cove (1819) by Sarah Grace Carr transports us back more than two centuries to a time when tall ships and fortifications defined Cork Harbour. Close inspection of this pencil drawing reveals the artist’s keen eye for detail and economy of line, as she observes the bustle of the lower harbour.

Carr preserves a visual account of Cork Harbour at an interesting time in its history. Part of a network of defences built during the Napoleonic Wars, the relatively new Martello Towers at Ringaskiddy and Haulbowline can be seen in the background (left and right) of her sketch. An outcrop of newly-built naval buildings at Haulbowline form the backdrop to sail vessels of different sizes, as a detail of figures embarking or disembarking in the middle foreground lends interest. Rocky Island appears to the left of the scene, while land reclamation of the eastern side of Haulbowline is yet to begin. Cork Harbour was then a principle victualling port (for stores and provisions) on westward shipping routes.

Between August and October 1819, and sketching as she went, Grace Carr (1794-1837) was to visit Cork, Kilworth, and Ballyannan during her travels through Ireland and Wales. From 1821, the artist was known by her married name, Sarah Grace Lushington – her father-in-law, Sir Stephen Lushington, was Chairman of the East India Company – while she was also to become a close friend of Annabella, Lady Byron (1792-1860). Examples of her work are held at Crawford Art Gallery, National Library of Wales, and Yale Center for British Art.

View of Haulbowline and Spike Island from Cove (1819) by Sarah Grace Carr is featured with two other drawings by the artist in STATIO BENE: Art and Ireland’s Maritime Haven, our current exhibition in the historic Long Room (Floor 1). Free entry and open daily.

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Conor Tallon spoke to Michael Waldron from the Crawford Art Gallery outside in their garden café about this weeks offering....

It’s time for a ‘Guinness’ with this WORK OF THE WEEK! May Guinness, that is.

Not only does Portrait Study (c.1930) reveal May Guinness’ artistic influences but it also suggests her later collecting habits. Slightly downcast in a brown felt hat, the subject of this study is pensive and appears to be a thoroughly modern woman, much like the artist was herself.

Descended from brewer Arthur Guinness, May Guinness (1863-1955) was also a nurse and was awarded the Croix de Guerre in 1917 for her brave service in the French army during the Battle of Verdun (1916).

Although less experimental than some of her other works, this painting combines a Fauvist handling of colour and free brushwork with some of the spatial and formal aspects of Cubism. Both modernist art movements would have a pronounced effect on Guinness, who had begun to pursue her artistry in the 1890s as a watercolourist.

Extensively travelled throughout her life, Guinness spent time in Paris in the early twentieth century, where she encountered the work of Henri Matisse. Having studied with Norman Garstin at Newlyn, alongside Mildred Anne Butler, she would later work with Andre Lhote, as did fellow Irish artists Evie Hone, Mainie Jellett, and Norah McGuinness. She also collected paintings by Matisse and Pablo Picasso.

Portrait Study (c.1930) by May Guinness is featured in lucid abnormalities, our current exhibition in the historic Gibson Galleries (Floor 1). 

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