We History - Narratives of contemporary life in the exhibition of 20th century art in the National Gallery of Ireland

Niamh Nic Ghabhann
Trinity College Dublin
Department of History of Art and Architecture
2007
BA

Subject: Painting, exhibitions
Country: Ireland
Period: 20th and 21st Century

10,000 words

This dissertation examines the exhibition of 20th century Irish art in the Millennium Wing in the NGI. The exhibition is examined as a contemporary installation, which is formed with constituent parts (individual works of art) from the first part of the 20th century. The work of post-colonial theorists provides the paradigm through which these issues are discussed. The first section of this dissertation is a detailed study of the professed aims of this exhibition, the selection process, and the way in which the paintings are organised. The second part of this study provides a deconstruction of the hang, and the narratives of 20th century Ireland which are constructed, The final section of this work provides an analysis of the constructed cultural narrative, facilitated by post-colonial theory.

Irish Georgian Society

Education Theses Register

We History - Narratives of contemporary life in the exhibition of 20th century art in the National Gallery of Ireland