The Collection Revealed was an innovative new series begun in 2009 which encouraged appreciation of, and participation in, modern and contemporary art as well offered the opportunity for highlighting new insights and research into the Gallery’s permanent collection. This series of exhibitions was curated by Jessica O’Donnell, Head of Collections.
The Perceptive Eye: Artists Observing Artists was the third exhibition in this series drawn from the collection of Hugh Lane Gallery. The Perceptive Eye showcased rarely seen portraits of artists by artists, offering fascinating insights into how artists portray themselves and how they themselves are perceived. Paintings and works on paper by Edouard Manet, William Orpen, Sean Keating, Mary Swanzy, Henri Fantin-Latour, John Singer Sargent, Harry Clarke and Robert Ballagh, among other artists were included in this Collection Revealed show. From Manet’s inclusion of himself and other artists in the ground breaking painting Music in the Tuileries Gardens to Francis Bacon’s final unfinished self portrait there is great diversity in subject, setting and style of the works on show. Harry Clarke’s wonderfully intense ink study of himself, for instance, is an intriguing companion to his ‘hidden’ self portrait in the frieze of his stained glass masterpiece The Eve of St Agnes (Collection: Dublin City Gallery The Hugh Lane.) Not all of the works are self portraits. Mary Swanzy’s painting of Sarah Purser and C.F. Daubigny’s portrait of Honore Daumier, for example, are records of great friendships and artistic solidarity.
