Skip to main content

Thomas Roberts: Landscape and Patronage in Eighteenth-Century Ireland


This exhibition, which featured some 50 works by Roberts, was the first significant show devoted to the artist and the largest ever gathering of his works. 





Landscape with Waterfall and Rustic Bridge

It coincided with the publication of the most comprehensive study on the artist in over 30 years, 'Thomas Roberts: Landscape and Patronage in Eighteenth-Century Ireland', written by William Laffan and Brendan Rooney, who have also curated the National Gallery exhibition. 



 Thomas Roberts: Ideal Landscape ; ca. 1770; National Gallery of Ireland.
There has not been an in-depth presentation of Roberts's work since the National Gallery's exhibition in 1978 when just 16 works by the artist were on display. Since then, important paintings by Roberts have come to light and now have an opportunity to be admired in full splendor.


Out of the 64 autograph works assembled for the book, 47 were included in the exhibition, all of which belong to a career that lasted just a decade. Roberts died in Lisbon, tragically young at the age of 28, in 1777, and not in 1778 as previously thought.
The exhibition focused on key areas of the artist's oeuvre: topographical views of picturesque locations in Dublin, Wicklow and Meath, as well as wonderful views of the north-west of Ireland, featuring subjects painted in and around Lough Erne, Belturbet, Belleek and Ballyshanon. 





Thomas Roberts` ‘Landscape with Slane Castle’—Oil on canvas Exhibited at the Pyms Gallery, London (Public Domain)

There were examples of his storm scenes and ideal landscapes and the wonderful demesne views of Dawson Grove, Co. Monaghan, Slane, Co. Meath, and the Casino at Marino. 




Landscape with two men and a horse 

Unique to the exhibition was Roberts's series of views of some of Ireland's finest demesnes such as the Lucan series, and the complete set of views at Carton, Co. Kildare. 

Also included was a rare portrait of the artist by Hugh Douglas Hamilton (recently acquired by the National Gallery of Ireland), as well as paintings by Roberts's teachers; George Mullins and John Butts, and his contemporaries George Barret, Robert Carver and William Ashford.
Thomas Roberts was born in Waterford, in 1748, the son of architect, 'Honest John' Roberts (1714-1796), who is synonymous with the two Cathedrals in Waterford.
In 1762, Roberts enrolled in the Dublin Society Drawing Schools where he trained under George Mullins (fl.1756-1775/6), a distinguished landscape painter in his own right, and the Cork born artist, John Butts (c.1728-65). Roberts developed a distinctive approach to landscape painting. His close attention to detail of the Irish landscape, together with an instinctive ability in capturing the effects of nature, earned him critical acclaim during his short career.
As a consequence, he invited great interest and subsequent patronage from some of the highest ranking figures in Ireland, among them Sir Ralph Gore, Earl of Ross, and Viscount Belleisle (Belle Isle at Lough Erne); Thomas Dawson, Baron Dartrey (Dawson Grove, Co. Monaghan), Lord Charlemont (Marino), the Veseys of Lucan Demesne and the FitzGeralds of Carton House and Demesne. Roberts was also commissioned by the Leesons of Russborough House.
The exhibition included many previously unknown works, the majority of which have been assembled from private collections as well as from the National Gallery of Ireland, and other museums in Ireland and abroad. 

It highlighted the artist's outstanding achievements during his short career spanning the 1760s and 1770s. This together with the thorough study on Roberts by William Laffan and Brendan Rooney, aimed to make his work more widely known which up until now has been little appreciated outside specialist circles. Roberts was an enigmatic figure whose life and work are celebrated in this much anticipated retrospective exhibition and aims to place him in the annals of European landscape painting.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

ARTHUR DOVE at AUCTION

BIOGRAPHY Arthur Dove was one of the first American artists to experiment with complete abstraction. His unique, nature-inspired style developed independently from his modernist contemporaries, and his thematic concerns remained remarkably consistent throughout his life. Dove was born in the Finger Lakes region of New York State, where his father was a brickyard owner and building contractor. He displayed an early interest in art and received his first painting lessons from a neighbor. At his father's insistence he attended Hobart College and Cornell University but continued to paint and draw. By the end of 1903, Dove was living in New York City and supporting himself as a free-lance illustrator for such popular magazines as  Harper's ,  Scribner's , and  The Saturday Evening Post . An eighteen-month stay in Europe between 1907 and 1909 set the course of Dove's future career. While in Paris he met other young American artists who were influenced by well-known European m
Post a Comment
Read more

Cách làm nở vòng 1 tự nhiên năm 2019

Làm thế nào để vòng 1 được nảy nở tự nhiên và săn chắc mà không cần tới phẫu thuật thẩm mỹ? Hãy tham khảo những cách làm nở vòng 1 tự nhiên dưới đây nhé! Massage ngực mỗi ngày Bài tập massage ngực đơn giản dưới đây không chỉ giúp ngực săn chắc mà còn giúp cải thiện vòng 1 chảy xệ rất tốt đấy. Bước 1: Dùng ngón tay đeo nhẫn và ngón giữa ấn vào giữa hai khe ngực, để kích thích hoạt động của ngực. Bước 2: Dùng bàn tay di chuyển tròn từ phía trên bầu ngực xuống đến dưới ngực. Mỗi bên thực hiện 10 lần. Bước 3: Lấy tay trái vòng sang ngực bên phải và bắt đầu kích thích các tuyến, mát xa vòng quanh bầu ngực. Thực hiện 2 phút và chuyển sang bầu ngực còn lại. Bước 4: Dùng tay mát xa từ nách bên trái sang bên phải, đi qua phía trên ngực. Thực hiện 20 lần. Sau đó, đổi bên. Động tác này, rất tốt cho phụ nữ văn phòng, do ngồi nhiều nên thường tích mỡ thừa ở vùng ngực. Bước 5: Đặt 2 tay từ phía dưới nách, mát xa hướng lên phía trên. Thực hiện 20 lần. Cải thiện chế độ ăn uống Bạn nên ăn
Post a Comment
Read more

Egon Schiele: The Radical Nude

23 October 2014 – 18 January 2015 The Courtauld Gallery is presenting the first major museum exhibition in over 20 years of one of the 20 th Century’s most exceptional artists, Egon Schiele (1890- 1918). A central figure of Viennese art in the turbulent years around the First World War, Schiele rose to prominence alongside his avant-garde contemporaries, such as Gustav Klimt and Oskar Kokoschka. He produced some of the most radical depictions of the human figure created in modern times, reinventing the subject for the 20 th Century. The exhibition charts Schiele’s short but transformative career  through one of his most important subjects – his extraordinary drawings and watercolours of male and female nudes. Egon Schiele: The Radical Nude concentrates on the artist’s drawings and watercolours. It brings together an outstanding selection of works that highlight Schiele’s technical virtuosity, highly original vision and uncompromising depiction of the naked figure. This sharply focused
Post a Comment
Read more