Travel
New York, Ireland and the UK:
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Oscar Wilde's Sculpture Across from the National Gallery
Architectural Detail
For a QuickTime video of the neighborhood of the National Gallery of Ireland - Click Here
Detail, book of Kells
 Irish Euro
Detail, book of Kells
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The 2007 Artpoints Tour of the United Kingdom continued
Dublin, City of Poets and Writers
 Dublin from the top of a bus
Jonathan Swift, Samuel Beckett, James Joyce, Oscar Wilde are the names you
hear and the statues you see in Dublin.
Dublin is also a city full
of visual arts and artists.
 A Gay Pride Parade Outside of Trinity College, Dublin
Nevertheless there is an active visual arts community in and near-by Dublin.
One of the organizations we visited was the Dunamaise Arts Centre located in
the beautiful historical town of Portlaoise. The Dunamaise Arts Centre
serves the community with musical and dance performances, lectures and art
classes. The Arts Centre includes gallery space dedicated to the work of
community artists. Our visit there coincided with an exhibition by a local
artist, Mr. Robert Stack. Mr. Stack works in watercolor and acrylic on
themes of the Irish landscape and village. His work is very evocative of the
scenes of Ireland. Mr. Stack is a native of St. Louis, Missouri.
There are two destinations in Dublin not to be missed by the Visual Arts
lover.
The Book of Kells, detail showing Irish half-uncial calligraphy
Trinity College and the Book of Kells in the Trinity College Library.
The collection also includes the Book of Armaugh, the Book of Darrow and
other classics of Irish Illumination. Coming so quickly after touring the
workshop of the St. John's Bible we found this collection very moving. The
Trinity College Library also contains Irelands oldest harp, this possibly
600 year-old harp is featured on Irish coins including the new Euros used
in Ireland.
The National Gallery of Ireland (in Gallic: Gailearaí Náisiúnta na hÉireann), houses some European Masterpieces including paintings by
Caravaggio, Titian and Rubens as well as 4 of Goya's portraits. The Gallery
contains an amazing Vermeer portrait "Woman writing a letter" with the most
beautiful depiction of complexion I have seen.
However the Gallery's raison d'etre is the exhibition of Irish art work.
Jack B. Yeats, Ireland's most important artist of the last century hangs
with many other Irish masters of Landscape and Portraiture.
Dublin is a town of the spoken and written word, where you may find yourself
singing spontanously in the pub with the locals.
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