College’s library is loaning 11 prints from its manuscript collection to the National Gallery of Ireland for an exhibition about Irish paint etchers in the 19th century.
In an email statement to The University Times, Laura Shanahan, the Head of Research Collections at the College Library, said that Trinity is “delighted to be able to contribute to the forthcoming exhibition”.
“We look forward to collaborating through the exhibition, and expect a series of events to be open to the University and wider community, in celebration of the works of these artists”, Shanahan said.
Among the prints and etchings being lent to the Gallery are those by Estella Solomons, Myra K Hughes, Mary Duncan, Frida Perrott and William Senior and FS Walker. The exhibition is being co-curated by Trinity’s Dr Angela Griffith, an assistant professor of the history of art and architecture.
The exhibition, entitled Making Their Mark: Irish paint-etchers c.1880-1930, will examine a group of Irish artists from the end of the 19th century who “made a remarkable contribution to Irish visual culture, through the medium of print”, according to the the National Gallery of Ireland’s website.
The collection aims to “rediscover a part of Ireland’s artistic history, through this wonderful gathering of etchings from important public collections, by both renowned and lesser known artists”.
Earlier this year, Trinity lent one of its most important manuscripts, the Book of Durrow, to the British Library for an exhibition called Anglo-Saxon Kingdoms: Art, Word, War. The manuscript on loan from Trinity is one of the earliest surviving decorated gospel books in Western Europe.
The College library is home to over 20,000 collections of manuscripts and archives, with some dating back to the 13th century BC. Trinity’s most famous manuscript, the Book of Kells, is one of Ireland’s top tourist attractions and was visited by 454,000 people during this calendar year, up to the end of June.
