“The Waterford Municipal Art Collection is one of the hidden gems of the Irish art world, offering a fascinating view of Irish painting in the first half of the twentieth century”.
Dr Peter Jordan, Senior Lecturer in the History of Art, Waterford Institute of Technology
The Waterford Art Collection forms an integral part of the city’s cultural heritage and identity. Formerly known as The Waterford Municipal Art Collection, it is acknowledged as one of the oldest and best municipal collections of art in Ireland.
Originally founded in 1939, the collection has grown considerably since and now comprises almost 800 works of art. These include paintings, prints, photography, and sculptures – much of which provide a valuable insight into the development of twentieth-century Irish art.
Significant highlights of the collection includes works by Paul Henry RHA, Jack B. Yeats RHA, Mainie Jellett, Louis le Brocquy RHA, Letitia Hamilton RHA, Dermod O’Brien PPRHA, Evie Hone RHA, Mary Swanzy HRHA, Maurice MacGonigal PPRHA, Hilda Roberts HRHA, Seán Keating PPRHA, Carey Clake PPRHA, Charles Lamb RHA, RUA, Patric Stevenson PPRUA, Colin Middleton MBE, RHA, RUA, and George Russell (aka. AE), as well as contemporary acquisitions of work by Catherine Barron, Mick O’Dea, Michael (Ben) Hennessy, Pauline Bewick, Martin Gale RHA, James Hanley RHA, Robert Jackson, Donald Teskey RHA, Alice Maher RHA, and Una Sealy RHA.
Selected works from the Waterford Art Collection:
Muriel Brandt,’Window Shopping’Jack B Yeats, ‘While Grass Grows’Martin Gale ‘Inland’Harry Kernoff, ‘Silver Birches in Phoenix Park’Dany Lartigue, ‘Les Retouves’ [Found Again]Hiroshige II, Utagawa, ‘Shinobazu Pond early 1860s’John Foley, ‘Biddy Boy’Benzoni ,Luigi, ‘Beatus Vir 1’Louis Le Brocquy, ‘Belfast Refugees at Mespil Road, Dublin, 1941’Geraldine M O’Brien, ‘Bella Donna Lilies’Sarah Purser, ‘A Woman’ANDERSON, Colonel Charles BC OBE PRCS ‘Dunmore East’Hilda Roberts, ‘Mick Dunne’Catherine Barron, ‘The Bridge’George William Russell, ‘Untitled (Boy with Donkey on the Skyline)’Thomas Ryan, ‘The Quay, Waterford, 1958’FAY, Christopher (CON), ‘The Applemarket’Brian Coghlan, ‘The Towers, Waterford’Camille Souter, ‘Composition (Abstract)’KERNOFF, Harry RHA, ‘Portrait of W.B. Yeats’William J Leech, ‘Concarneau’Sean Keating, ‘Captain Consadine’John B Yeats, ‘Portrait of R. Ashe King’Nicholas J Bowe, ‘Still-life with Lemons and Fish, 1965’Eileen Murray, ‘The Card Players’Evie Hone, ‘Compostion (abstract)’Charles Lamb, ‘Breton Peasants at Prayer’Pierse Murphy, ‘The Brigantine ‘Caradoc”Leah Murphy, ‘We Two’Ernest (Max) Ruckle, ‘The Nomination of Barry Ballwell, 1982’Patric Stevenson, ‘Waterford from Mount Misery’John Behan, ‘Man and Boy’Arthur Armstrong, ‘Pot Theme’Sheila Naughton, ‘Annamakerrig Suite’Robert Burke, ‘The Quay, Waterford, 1946’Pierre Louis Cadre, ‘Breton Wedding / Village Festival’Carey Clarke, ‘Still-life, 1994’Percy Francis Gethin, ‘Travelling Circus, Co Clare’Willem van der Hagen, ‘Panaramic View of Waterford, 1736’Paul Henry, ‘Evening in Kerry ( The Lakeside Cottages )’Grace Henry, ‘A Window at St Paul’Kenneth Mahood, ‘Marine Moon’SCALLY, Caroline, ‘Dublin Mountains’Mainie Jellett, ‘Virgin and Child’Patrick Hennessy, ‘On Casino Hill’Edward Delaney, ‘Peace’Jonathan Wade, ‘untitled’James Power, ‘Gorta Mór’Linn Hansen, ‘Seapoint’O’Connell, Michael, ‘William Street Bridge’Patrick Pye, ‘Annunciation’Anne Yeats, ‘Springing and Turning’Mary Swanzy, ‘Through the Trees’George William Russell, ‘The Bathers’Mary Rose Barton, ‘Catching the Tram on Nassau Street’Gerhardt Gallagher, ‘Ireland, Copper Coast’Niamh Swanton, ‘No Worries if Not’ Robert Jackson, ‘Tiny Horizons (the Atrocity Series)’BOURKE, Brian, ‘Scandinavian Girl’BRENNAN, Cecily, ‘View from Hill-top’BRUEN, Gerald E RHA, ‘Fishing Boats’DARWIN, Eleanor Mary, ‘Two Nuns’DOHERTY, John, ‘Typical’GALLAGHER, Gerhardt, ‘Druids’GUINNESS, Mary Catherine (May), ‘Les Amis’HONE, Nathaniel, the Younger RHA, ‘Landscape near Malahide’KEATING, Christopher, ‘The Boat Cove’Laurence O’Toole, ‘Persistence Alone is Omnipotence’Roberts, Thomas Sautelle, ‘West View of Waterford’KINGSTON, Richard RHA, ‘Birds’LAMB, Charles RHA, ‘Portrait of the Late Mrs B.G. Usher’LIEBERS, Klaus, ‘Two Musicians’LOW, Bet, ‘Northern Light’MAGUIRE, Robert, ‘Bombay Boatmen’MCGUINNESS, William Bingham RHA, ‘Venice’O’ BRIEN, Finbar, ‘Aine’O’ CONNOR, Edward Dominic, ‘Ferrybank Church’OBERMANN, Beate, ‘Girl in a Restaurant’SCHRODER, Erica, ‘Quartet’FERRAN, Brian, ‘July’SORGE, Peter, ‘The Tower’STEVENSON, Patric PRUA, ‘Arundel Lane, Waterford’McWEENEY, Leslie Mary, ‘Girl’TAPIES, Antonio, ‘Composition’VROLIJK, Jacobus Adrianus, ‘View of Schiedam’Brennan, Cecily, ‘View from Hill-top’Craig, James Humbert RHA RUA, ‘Clandeboye’HANRATTY, Alice, ‘Untitled’Keating, Seán, ‘Teas Mór’Le Moigne, Simon, ‘Promenade Sous La Voute Le Moigne’Louisa, Marchioness of Waterford, ‘The Nativity (after Palma Vechio)’Kelly, Oisín, ‘Chariot of Fire’Mulready, William, ‘Study of Male Figure’Hone, Nathaniel (the younger), ‘Landscape near Malahide’Jellett, Mainie, ‘Study for painting Mayo Horses’Steele, Kenneth, ‘St. Audeon’s Church’
The conception of a civic art gallery and collection within the city can be dated back to the early 1930s. The marriage in 1932 of artist Hilda Roberts to Arnold Marsh, the headmaster of Newtown School Waterford, soon resulted in the establishment of an annual art exhibition within the school’s gymnasium. This further strengthened a growing network of artists and likeminded advocates for the arts.
The collection was previously housed at several locations within the city including the Library, Greyfriars Church, City Hall, and Garter Lane Arts Centre. On the 18 October 2019, the collection was rehoused and displayed at its new permanent home, the Waterford Gallery of Art, located at 31-32 O’Connell Street. This former bank building was built in 1845 and now serves as a dedicated facility comprising galleries, outreach spaces, offices, meeting and workshop rooms.
The first annual Waterford Art Exhibition held in Newtown School, Waterford, 1935.
