A Pablo Picasso print owned by Trinity was removed from a student’s on-campus room before Christmas, after the College became aware of a potentially damaging leak in the apartment.
In an email statement to The University Times, Catherine Giltrap, the Curator of the College Art Collections, said that the painting was removed “as a preventive, precautionary measure”. She confirmed that there was no damage to the artwork.
A print of Picasso’s “Le Couple”, which is signed by the artist, was rented by the fourth-year art history and architecture student Robert Holton under the College art hire scheme. The hiring scheme allows staff and students to rent out works from Trinity’s vast art collection for on-campus apartments and offices.
After a heavy leak in Holton’s apartment, the painting was removed. While the apartment has since been renovated, the painting has not yet been returned.
Speaking to The University Times, Holton said that the action was “absolutely reasonable”.
“The priority is protecting the work”, he said. Holton’s hiring fee and deposit for the rental of the painting were returned to him.
Giltrap said: “We take this action no matter where the work were displayed and no matter who the artist was. We have a wealth of works by artists who are nationally and internationally renowned alongside those who await more in-depth research.”
She added that artworks are moved around 800 times per year, and “this is just one of those moves”. She said that her primary concern was “protecting the artworks for the current and future generations”.
Praising the art hire scheme, Holton said: “The walls were really bare, and it was something to spice up the apartment. It’s a great scheme.”
In 2016, 34 new works – by artists like Anita Groener, David Beattie and Brian Duggan – were added to the collections, which already boast artworks by Patrick Scott, Jack B Yeats and Henry Moore. The money raised from the art hire scheme has gone towards the acquisition of several important artworks.
The Provost’s Fund for Contemporary Art was inaugurated in 2014 with an aim to procure Irish contemporary art created in the last three to five years. Between 2015 and 2016, five works, including “Sugarloaf 12” by Gavin O’Curry, which is now in Provost Patrick Prendergast’s office, were purchased.
In 2016, the Art Collection was also bolstered by the addition of 16 works donated by John Hutchinson, the Director of the Douglas Hyde Gallery, including a set of eight lithographs by Scottish artist Ian Hamilton Finlay and Finbar Kelly’s “Bogworld”. Hutchinson was also instrumental in securing three Alec Soth exhibition prints, “2008_02zl0189”, “Laura” and “Mary”, which were on display in the Douglas Hyde Gallery earlier this year.
Over the years, hundreds of staff and students have benefitted from the scheme. Every year, staff and students have the chance to borrow works by prestigious Irish and international artists.
Dominic McGrath contributed reporting to this piece.
