Irish Art of the Seventies at IMMA includes over 50 works of by Irish artists from this pivotal decade including pieces by Robert Ballagh, Michael Coleman, Tony O'Malley, Patrick Scott, Maria Simonds-Gooding, Michael Warren, Barrie Cooke, Colin Middleton, and TP Flanagan.

Irish Art of the Seventies offers a fascinating insight into how the face of Irish art was revolutionized during that decade by a combination of factors. The Rosc exhibitions of the 1960's and 1970's created a debate about the nature of art and also provided an international context, which the artists were quick to respond to.

Another power stimulus on Irish Art in the '70s came from a small group of far-seeing collectors and businessmen, including Donas Carroll, of PJ Carroll and Co, Gordon Lambert and architects Scott Tallon Walker.

Irish Art of the Seventies includes 26 recently-acquired works from the PJ Carroll Collection one of the formative collections in the development of visual art in Ireland in the past 50 years. 

The PJ Carroll Collection acted as both a catalyst and a source of support to the work of many leading artists at a time when general interest in visual arts was quite limited.

The Company inaugurated an annual award at the Irish Exhibition of Living Art in 1964 and were also involved in sponsoring the ground-breaking Rosc exhibitions of the 1960's and 1970's.

Irish Art of the Seventies features award-winning works like Habitation, 1970, by Maria Simonds-Gooding, Through Black, 1979, by Michael Coleman as well as three sculptures by Gerda Fromel and two works by Patrick Scott, Large Rosc Symbol, 1971, and Small Rosc Symbol, 1967.

To celebrate the history of Dundalk and the Cooley Peninsula, the company also commissioned Louis Le Brocquy to create some of his earliest tapestries based on the Táin legend and these are represented in the show by the powerful The Hosting of the Táin, 1970.

The exhibition also features works by other major collections with paintings by Colin Middleton, Theo McNab, Patrick Ireland, William Scott and Deborah Brown from IMMA's founding donation from the Gordon Lambert Trust.

Admission is Free.
Opening Hours:
Tuesday to Saturday: 10am - 5.30pm
Sunday & Bank Holidays: 12pm - 5.30pm

Irish Museum of Modern Art
The Royal Hospital
Kilmainham
Dublin 8.
Tel: +353 (0) 1 612 9900
Web: IMMA

Images: (Previous page) Robert Ballagh, Two Men and a Lichtenstein, 1974, acrylic on canvas, 16 panels, 244 x 244 cm.  Collection Irish Museum of Modern Art, Heritage gift, P.J. Carroll & Co. Ltd. Art Collection, 2005.

(This page) Micheal Farrell, Une Nature Morte a la Mode Irlandaise, 1974, Acrylic on paper, 73.66 x 73.66 cm, Collection Irish Museum of Modern Art, Heritage Gift, P.J. Carroll & Co. Ltd. Art Collection, 2005