[The Irish Museum of Modern Art ]

The Pursuit of Painting

This major exhibition of 20 th-century European painting includes the work of both Modern Masters and contemporary artists.It is curated by the distinguished British-born painter Stephen McKenna.He describes the aim of the exhibition as being to "bring together 60 or so paintings which will exemplify the central purpose of painting: to make reality visible by presenting objects, figures and spaces on a canvas. The works will range from the figurative to the abstract, the working procedures from the analysis of form to poetic intuition. The common denominator among the artists is an attitude of independence and decisiveness, a refusal to be fettered by the dictates of fashion or groups or movements, even those which have been initiated by themselves."

The artists include
Hermann Albert, Jo Baer, Balthus,
Pierre Bonnard, Giorgio de Chirico, Chung Eun-Mo,
Andre Derain, Felim Egan, Lucian Freud, Bruno Goller,
Richard Gorman, Juan Gris, Jean Helion, Gwen John,
Fernand Leger, Ciaran Lennon, Markus Lupertz,Kazimir
Malevich, Leonard McComb, Giorgio Morandi, Francis
Picabia, Paula Rego, Peter Schermuly, Sean Scully,
Michael Williams and Jack B Yeats. In his argument
McKenna has linked the international context
to the work of Irish artists.

Fernand Leger (1881 - 1955 )
Two Women Holding Flowers 1954
oil on wood, 97 X 130 cm
Tate Gallery, purchased 1959

[The Irish Museum of Modern Art ]