The Hugh Lane Gallery houses an exciting and diverse collection of artwork. I enjoyed perusing the stained glass exhibit and the Francis Bacon exhibit. Bacon’s claim that his chaotic workspace was conducive to creativity was thought-provoking insofar as all artists and authors have strong opinions about engendering creativity under certain (usually repeated) conditions. For me, a chaotic environment is unrelentingly prohibitive of creative output. I found my favorite piece from Anne Madden’s Colours of the Wind exhibit, Winged Figure, at Town Hall today, although the pieces showcased at the Hugh Lane Gallery are all beautiful.

Ire/Land III by Patrick Graham is darkly evocative and is a piece I can’t stop thinking about. I’ve reviewed my pictures of it several times, and I plan to research the artist and his artwork in the future.

However, the artwork I was most drawn to in the Hugh Lane Gallery was Lady Gregory by Antonio Mancini. The reason I’m drawn to this portrait of Lady Gregory is because it crystallized for me her pervasive influence on the arts in Ireland. Not only was she a patron of Yeats and a co-founder of The Abbey theatre, but she was also an accomplished playwright. Her short play “The Rising of the Moon,” while on its surface simple, is a thought-provoking tale that in its deceptive simplicity challenges the audience’s notion of nationalist loyalty. Her portrait in the museum solidifies her influence and has encouraged me to further research her artistic and political contributions to Ireland.