Limerick: Traditions in the Arts.
Tradition is rooted in history. Limerick was designated a Centre of Excellence for Music by the Arts Council in 1995. Artistic traditions link the past with the present as is illustrated in the following story. A painting by Joseph Patrick Haverty RHA (1794-1864) entitled "The Limerick Piper" became one of the most famous lithographs of the 19th century, copies of which sold throughout Ireland. Haverty painted the original in 1844 which was sold to Sir Josslyn Gore-Booth who exhibited the work at the Cork Exhibition in 1852. William Smith-O'Brien commissioned the artist for a copy of the painting which he later presented to the National Gallery in 1864. The painting depicts Patrick O' Brien, the blind painter from Labasheeda, Co. Clare playing his pipes at his stand at the corner of Hartstonge Street and the Crescent. The young girl is reputed to be of the Russell family ( a later member of this family, Anna Russell performed at the Athenaeum in the 1880s and gave a Command Performance in London on June 18, 1898).
In the early 1990s the original painting was purchased by Limerick University as a visual symbol to grace their new Traditional Music Department, World Music Centre and Concert Hall which is now the home of the Irish Chamber Orchestra. Meanwhile at the Theatre Royal [Athenaeum] a young rock group, The Cranberries, gave their first public performance. Within 3 years, they were a huge international success. At the 1994 Eurovision Contest, Limerick composer, Bill Whelan, astonished Europe with his brilliant composition for the Riverdance sequence performed during the intermission of the Eurovision Song Contest. It seemed that a Renaissance of musical creativity was bursting into life in Limerick. But musical talent just doesn't happen overnight. It is nurtured over generations by an appreciative and musically educated audience. The city has traditionally been a music-friendly environment that welcomed visiting musicians. The composer Franz Liszt played in 1841. The opera "Maritana" composed by Vincent Wallace was performed by the National Opera Company in 1856 creating a tradition that enticed other visiting opera companies as Moody-Manners, the Carl Rosa and Elster-Grimes to visit the city on a regular basis. John Mc Cormack played at the Athenaeum in 1905 followed by tenors Plunkett-Greene and Denis O'Sullivan in 1906. This book sets out to explain the origins of this tradition which launched the international careers of Catherine Hayes, Joseph O'Mara, Anna Russell and in recent times, Richard Harris, Terry Wogan, the Cranberries and Bill Whelan. If a painting is worth 10,000 words; then Haverty's painting of the Limerick Piper in 1844 is visual proof of this older musical tradition. There is an echo of harmony in the picture that evokes a sense of poignancy when you realise that it took 150 years for Haverty's painting to return to the city that inspired its creation. It is a happy portend.
Painting by Joseph Patrick Haverty RHA
Teniers, Baroccio, Rembrandt, Sir Joshua Reynolds, Romako, Mackin, Poussin, Constable, Panini, Caracci, Haverty,Hogarth, Franz Hals Bassano, Parmogianni, Canaletti, and William Turner. George St. Hare & Sean Keating and the students of Limerick School of Art & Ornamental Design 1856-1912
- Mr Arthur Cleary at the Athenaeum Exhibition 1866.
The Limerick School of Art & Ornamental Design, was founded in July 1852 at a public meeting held in the rooms of the Limerick Institution at 49 George Street Limerick.
Henry Cole, ( 1808-1882 ) who had organised the highly successful Great Exhibition at the Crystal Palace, London, the previous year attended the meeting in his capacity as Secretary of the Board of Trade. The meeting was chaired by Lord Monteagle, the former Thomas Spring Rice. Henry Cole and Lord Monteagle were old friends. Earlier in their careers both men had played a major role in the introduction of the first postage stamp, the famous Penny Black in 1840.
Weeks before his elevation to the peerage, Thomas Spring Rice MP, then Chancellor of the Exchequer, introduced the legislation to Parliament for the penny-postage scheme on 5 July 1839. The man chosen to implement the scheme was an energetic young civil servant named Henry Cole who worked in the Records Office. Cole commissioned his friend William Mulready, R.A. (1786-1863), the Ennis born artist to design the cover for the envelope which although ridiculed at the time has in time become a collector's item more valuable than the Black Penny stamp itself.
Henry Cole congratulated the citizens of Limerick for their enterprise and initiative but warned the meeting by saying that " Money alone is insufficient for the establishment of a School of Design. You must treat a School of Design as you would an oak tree; you must allow it to grown upwards and afterwards nourish and take care of it". His admonition was prophetic. Not for the first time in Irish history, it would appear that what London gave with one hand; they took away with the other. Two years later, the Government in London under his advise withdrew funding for all the Irish Schools of Design. The School in Belfast closed permanently. The Cork and Limerick schools survived only by the tenacity of the citizens of each city. Henry Cole was vilified in the local Press and earned the nickname "Old King" Cole. Years later in 1864, Irish John Francis Maguire MP castigated him at a Select Committee of Parliament. The Limerick School of Ornamental Design was saved from extinction by the Council of the Athenaeum, who offered the School a permanent home at the modest rent of £20 per annum.
The Limerick Art School thrived at the Athenaeum where they were to remain until the construction of Municipal Technical Institute in 1912.
The names of generations of art students are recorded in the Athenaeum archives, including those of George F. Hare and John [Sean] Keating both who went on to achieve international recognition.
Sean Keating: (1889-1977), artist, educated St.Munchin's College, Limerick Art School and College of Art Dublin. He studied under William Opren in London, returning to Ireland in 1916 where he painted scenes in the Aran Islands. He taught at the National College of Art and Design, Dublin. He was President of the RHA for 12 years. He was made a Freeman of Limerick in 1948.
George St. Hare (1867-1933) artist, born July 5, 1867, son of George Frederick Hare, L.D.S. Limerick. He was educated at Limerick School of Art where he won a scholarship to the School of Art, South Kensington. He first exhibited at the Royal Academy in 1884. He painted a number of portraits including that of Sir James Spaight in Limerick. ( see p.72.). In 1904, he exhibited the "Misere Domine - The Victory of Faith" painting at the Exhibition of Irish Art at the Guildhall, London which was organised by Hugh Lane. George St. Hare died in London on January 30, 1933. His death went unrecorded in Limerick.
Lord Emly (1812-1894), the former William Monsell who was elected MP for Co. Limerick for the years 1847-1877 during which time he served as Postmaster General. Elevated to the peerage in 1874. He became a Catholic in 1850 .Earlier he had attended the meeting in 1852 which led to the establishment of the Limerick Art School. He opened the Great Art Exhibition at the Athenaeum in 1883.
Earl Spencer (1835-1910), Lord-Lieutenant of Ireland (1869-1874 and 1882-1885), and ancestor of Princess Diana, attended the Great Art Exhibition at the Athenaeum in 1883. A story handed down in Limerick about the Earl was picked up by the Limerick Chronicle journalist Dick Naughton in 1955 who wrote: "Spencer was at one time noted for his fearlessness but the strain of living in constant fear of assassination eventually had its effects and in later years he became just as infamous for his cowardice. The story goes on that while admiring some paintings at the Athenaeum Exhibition, Spencer was noticed pressing his hands closely to his back. Said an attendant:- " I fear his Excellency has the back-ache". Replied another:- " Not at all!..he is feeling for his backbone". Earl Spencer was the target of the assassins at the Phoenix Park Murders on 6 May 1882 and narrowly escaped death.
Sarah Purser (1849-1943) portrait artist and noted wit, revived the craft of stained glass in her studio, The Tower of Glass in Dublin where Evie Hone, Michael Healy, Minnie O'Brien from Ennis, Co. Clare and many others received their training. The studio quickly established an international reputation. Sarah Purser participated in the Great Exhibition at the Athenaeum in 1883. Her self-portrait is now located in the National Self Portrait Collection at the University of Limerick.
Maurice Lenihan as an Art Collector:
At the Great Art Exhibition held in the Athenaeum on June 23 1883, the following paintings owned by Maurice Lenihan were exhibited. (The original catalogue numbers from the Exhibition are given in brackets) . (#4). "Father Matthew" painted by Maclise, (#86). "Limerick in 1816" painted by Brocas, (#93). "A Local Character" in the early part of the century. Artist unknown, (#105). "Portrait of Hugh O'Neill". Artist unknown, (#107). "Cupid and Psyche" painted by Fiorini, (#108). "Portrait of an old Gentleman". Artist unknown, ( #109)."Fruit &c" painted by Ostade, (#111). "Portrait of George I". Artist unknown, (#116). " Marriage of St. Catherine" painted by O'Halloran. (#114). "Virgin and Child". Artist unknown, (#?) " Cromwell". Artist unknown and (#208). "Portrait" painted by Haverty.
The Missing Portrait of Maurice Lenihan.
In 1927, June 28th, there is a report in the Limerick Chronicle that Miss Harriet Lenihan of Australia, donated a painting of her father, Maurice Lenihan, the Limerick historian, which was "executed by the painter Haverty" to the Limerick Corporation. Weeks later, in August there is a report that The Mayor discussed with Mr Butcher, the Principal of the Limerick Art School the "touching-up" the Lenihan painting. The portrait has been missing ever since. At a commemorative lecture to honour the centenary of the death of Maurice Lenihan held in the Limerick City Library in January 1996 the Mayor of Limerick, Mr Jim Kemmy TD vowed the find the missing artwork. There are differences of opinion amongst local experts as to whether a damaged portrait of a Mayor in full regalia at the Limerick Art Gallery is that of Maurice Lenihan or of someone else. Maurice Lenihan was elected Mayor in 1884, some twenty years after the death of Haverty so it is improbable that the portrait of the above mayor is in fact that of Lenihan. Clearly Haverty's portrait of Lenihan is from a much earlier date. Maurice Lenihan was High Sheriff of the city in 1880, the year Parnell was granted the Freedom of Limerick. The sketch depicts the ceremony held in the Council Chambers on November 2, 1880. As chief legal officer of the city, Lenihan is likely to be in the picture.
Image #93 of The 1840 Penny Black.
Limerick was once a treasury of great art works. Art Exhibitions at the Athenaeum in 1866 and 1883 contained works by Teniers, Baroccio, Crawford, Rembrandt, Sir Joshua Reynolds, Romako, Mackin, Poussin, Constable, Panini, Caracci, Haverty, Bassano, Parmogianni, Canaletto, and William Turner. All of these paintings were owned by Limerick families. Catalogues from the Exhibitions have survived. In many cases, the provenance of these paintings can be traced back to the Restoration and some had been brought into Limerick by Dutch settlers following the Williamite Wars. In May 1883 the Limerick Chronicle reported the names of city art owners who were "stripping the walls of valuable pictures" to hang them at the Athenaeum Exhibition. Today these paintings are scattered in major art galleries around the globe.
(Courtesy of University of Limerick)
Design Stage 1: 1st Class Honours. John S Keating
by George St. Hare
Lord Emly
