The Dochas Centre, and Irish Prison Architecture
Mory Cunningham
Subject: Architecture
10,000 words
The 'new' women's prison at Mountjoy, Dublin - the Dochas Centre, provides the material for this dissertation.This study examines the prison, built in 1999, in relation and in contrast to, " historical prison architecture, sociological developments, and criminological changes". The architectural design of the Dochas Centre is compared to prison designs of the past, while the architectural consequences of sociological change in the area of incarceration is also examined. The dissertation includes a full chapter on the history of Irish Prisons. The issue of female offenders in the prison system in Ireland is also examined while the remainder of the study provides a comprehensive analysis of the architecture of the Dochas Centre.
The Implications of Servitude: Representations of Slavery in French Art, c. 1860-1870
Maeve Curran
Subject: Painting
10,000 words
This dissertation is a study on the representations of slavery and servitude in French art created between approximately 1860 and 1870. The study here takes a socio-historic approach, analysing chosen examples of artwork in terms of their relationship with cultural discourses around race and colonialism in the nineteenth century. The discussion is divided into three chapters, using varied examples of artwork to analyse the different means of depicting the theme of slavery. This is based on an interest in how these images could be used to promote a cultural hierarchy, employing ideas of European superiority as a means of justifying practices of slavery, racism and colonialism.
Domenico Beccafumi of Siena, Painter and Master of Casting
Patsy Currid
Subject: Painting
10,000 words
This dissertation examines the life and works of the "mannerist" artist Domenico Beccafumi . The author examines how Beccafumi has been dealt with in art history, from contemporary writers up to recent accounts and analyses his work in relation to the term 'Mannerism'. All of Beccafumi's works are discussed, most of which the author examined first hand.
The Representation of Queenship in medieval French Art, the twelfth to fifteenth centuries: From Secular Queens to the Queen of Heaven
Stephanie Curtin
Subject: Painting
10,000 words
This study of medieval French art focuses on the representation of queenship, both secular and heavenly. The iconography of the secular queen in French medieval art is considered in relation to the position of the queen in French medieval society while comparing the historical sources to the visual evidence. Contemporary sources are examined as a discussion of the ideals associated with queenship. The relationship between the representation of secular and heavenly queens is analysed in the discussion of the attachment of queenly virtues and symbols to the Virgin Mary. Chapter 3, The Queen of Heaven, discusses the development of the cult of the Virgin and representations of the Assumption and Coronation of the Virgin in French medieval art. A range of both sculpture, manuscript illumination is discussed along with some stained glass examples.
The Work of Filippo and Paolo Francini in Ireland with particular reference to the iconography of Carton House, No. 85 St. Stephen’s Green and Riverstown House, Co. Cork.
Adrienne Dagg
Subject: Architecture, plasterwork, stuccowork
10,000 words
This dissertation begins by following the development of plasterwork in general. Chapter 1 discusses the Francini’s and their work in England. Plasterwork in Ireland before the Francini is examined in the introduction to chapter 2. Following this is a discussion of the Francini in Ireland - Carton, Co. Kildare, No. 85 St. Stephen’s Green, Tyrone House and Russborough. Chapter 3 looks at Riverstown House, 4 studies the Francini work of the 1750’s and the 1760’s.
Basil Blackshaw - Blazing His Own Trail
Claire Dalton
Subject: Painting
10,000 words
This dissertation questions whether the fire which occurred in Blackshaw’s studio can be seen as a point of new departure for he artist. The focus of this dissertation is on the progression and changes within Blackshaw’s oeuvre throughout his career, and on reviewing the factors forcing or encouraging those changes. The author compares and contrasts Blackshaw’s portrayals of landscape, animals, still life and figures before and after the studio fire of 1983, and undertakes an analysis of the visual language developed by the artist to address these common themes. An examination of his more recent work, completed since 2000, explores new departures in Blackshaw’s work.
An Analysis of the Portraits of the Royal Children of Philip IV by Diego de Velazquez
Sinead Daly
Subject: Painting
10,000 words
This dissertation “sets out to analyse the portraits of the royal children, Baltasar Carlos, Philip Proper, Maria-Teresa and Margarita, painted by Diego de Velazquez during the period 1631 until his death in 1660.” Chapter 1 discusses ‘The Spanish Habsburg Court’; chapter 2 looks at ‘The Princes as Infants’; chapter 3 discusses three portraits of Baltasar Carlos in terms of meaning, technique and purpose of execution; chapter 4 concentrates on the portraits of Philip IV’s two daughters and ‘Las Meninas’.
Chimneypiece Design in Ireland, 1730-1770; Consumption, Authorship & Construction
Niamh Darling
Subject: Architecture
10,000 words
This study explores the factors influencing chimneypiece design in Ireland during the eighteenth century. Tracing the movement from bespoke design to serial production, this dissertation links changes in chimneypiece design to the rise of speculative housing in Dublin which resulted in a fractured approach to interior design, arguably freeing the chimneypiece from its architectural fabric and celebrating its decorative function. Taking into consideration social, economic and industrial factors, this dissertation highlights the client and craftsman as contributors to the design process rather than crediting leading contemporary architects with the sole responsibiliy of design. This disseratation posits that chimneypieces were produced and designed within a collaborative matrix and the explores the complexities of design authorship.
“As it was and where it was”. The Reconstruction of the Bridge at Sta. Trinita
Giuliano Davenport
Subject: Architecture
10,000 words
A history of the first four bridges is given, followed by an detailed discussion of the run up to and destruction of the bridge in 1944. The reconstruction process is recounted along with “the struggle for accuracy and faithfulness which has accompanied this bridge since 1944.” The temptation to ‘improve’ upon original work when restoring is also considered in this dissertation.
Examining the Impact of the 2008 Recession on the Market for Irish Art
Michala Davey-Borresen
Subject: Painting and Installation
10,000 words
This dissertation will examine the global and national impact, along with the underlying causes, of the catastrophic financial and economic recession in 2008-2009 on the market for Irish art. ‘Art’ will encompass fine Art such as paintings, sculpture and tapestries and decorative Art such as glass, wood, metal, ceramic, couture and textiles. The relationship between art and money has existed for centuries: once defined as a commodity, the domain of art attracts abstract concepts and ideas that translate art into a material product, capable of being sold for financial gain. With a small population in comparison with countries such as the United States, the limited size of wealth in Ireland makes us a small domestic market and a player worth 1% of the worldwide art market. Irish buyers tend to invest more in art by Irish artists.
A Cultural and Visual Analysis of the Work of Helmut Newton in the Context of Gender, Classicism and the Psycholoanalysis of Visual Pleasure.
Isabella Davie
Subject: Photography
10,000 words
Through a combination of provocation and confrontation, Helmut Newton’s photography is lauded for the arresting imagery he constructed of the female nude. The image of the female is constantly changing in art and culture. The work of Newton appeared to bridge the two institutions without denying a feminine expression, yet mapping masculine traits upon the female’s external body language. By equating femininity with masculine characteristics of empowerment, his nude compositions challenged the expression of the female nude in twentieth century imagery, through the gender politics of female representation
Children in Irish Painting 1670-1830
Marie Davis
Subject: Painting
10,000 words
Treatment and Appropriation of Religious Themes in Contemporary Art with Particular Focus on David LaChapelle
Susan Davis
Subject: Photography, Film and Digital Painting
10,000 words
The dissertation aims to explore the treatment and appropriation of religious themes in contemporary art. This is achieved by examining the work of David LaChapelle. Other select artists will be referred to for comparative purposes including John Byrne, Kathleen Kondilas and Pierre et Gilles. This thesis assesses why LaChapelle and contemporaries are drawn to or reference religious subject matter. Furthermore, religious work in contemporary society and its relevance today will be explored. Ultimately, the dissertation raises the question as to how the appropriation of religious imagery by contemporary artists impacts on original and subsequent meanings.
Seeing Red
Penny Day
Subject: Painting
10,000 words
An in depth survey of the use of red in the history of art, focusing on the technical elements of its production, in relation to artistsic style. From red ochre in the Paleolithic period, evoking spirituality and symbolism, and applied with and by spit, to the more divers palette of Egyptian several thousands of years later. The dissertation compares and contrasts the pigments Minium and Kermes, their different uses and effects. There is also an exploration of lauguage as bearing influence upon the popularity of one pigment over another. The dissertation then moves from the use of cinnabar in Ancient Rome where the symbolic significance of red is explored, to the use of Cochineal in the Renaissance where the palette became more diverse. Finally the primarily optical and emotional use of red in the nineteenth century was free from its more formulaic use during Renaissance. The use of red through the history of art is examined, serving several purposes, from structural to sensual.
An Analysis of the Work and Merit of Vito d’Ancona as a Painter Within the Context of the Macchia Movement
Sadhb De Barra
Subject: Painting
10,000 words
Vito d’Ancona (1825-1884) was an Italian painter of the so-called ‘Macchia’ movement (the term roughly translates as ‘blot’ or ‘stain’).This nineteenth-century movement is relatively unknown outside Italy. Surprisingly little has been written in English about this particular chapter in the history of Italian painting. The aim of this thesis is to bring to light the works of a lesser known Macchiaiolo whose career has been the subject of a most interesting study. Although a key figure during the formative years of the Macchia movement and despite contributions to important exhibitions, d’Ancona is an artist who has never achieved much recognition. The whereabouts of many of his works is unknown which hinders public awareness of his oeuvre.
‘Pearls laid side by side’ Considering ‘Donegal Carpet’ in the Context of Design, Principles and Motifs in Ireland (c. 1888-1915)
Caitriona De Burca
Subject: Carpets, Textiles, Manuscripts
10,000 words
The purpose of this dissertation is to consider the Donegal Carpet Industry, founded by prominent British textile manufacturer Alexander Morton & Co. during the Arts and Crafts Movement. The discussion centres around the ‘early period’ of the Donegal enterprise (1888-1915), prior to the reorganisation of Morton & Co. The Donegal Carpets are not reflective of Irish Revivalism, the dominant cultural force in Ireland at this time, Rather, the Donegal Carpet industry would become renowned for its pastiche ‘Turkey Style’ rugs, which appropriated and emulated motifs and technique from the hand-knotted carpets of the Middle East. As such, the central question I seek to answer is ‘Why was the Donegal industry creating pastiche Turkish rugs in Ireland during the Irish Revival?
An Investigation into Damien Hirst’s Contribution to the Cabinets of Curiosities
Mia De las Casas
Subject: Mixed Media and Installation
10,000 words
This thesis aims to evaluate the significance of cabinets of curiosities in the work of contemporary artist Damien Hirst. Focus will be given to the areas of Hirst’s art that respond directly to the display and practice of the traditional cabinets of curiosities from the sixteenth-and seventeenth centuries. The cabinets of curiosities are known as being the precursors to museums and natural history collections. Within the cabinets items of both artificialia (artificial) and naturalia (natural) were assembled for display to create and understandable inventory of the world. This dissertation examines how Damien Hirst similarly assembles both natural and man-made objects within cabinet like displays in order to address contemporary issues.
An Examination of Henry Jones Map of Dromana and Villerstown of 1751
Natalie de Roiste
Subject: Architecture
10,000 words
This dissertation is an analysis of the map of the Demense of Dromana , dated 1751 by Henry Jones, held in the Irish Architectural Archive. This dissertation presents the map of Dromana as a possible planned improvement rather than a plan of architectural features that actually existed. The dissertation notes the high quality of the map, projecting not just an architectural space but also the philosophy of its creators, and as such is a key source for understanding social, economic, architectural, surveying and planning developments in the mid eighteenth century. The dissertation is essentially a survey of the conflicting sources avaliable, both visual and textual that document the mid eighteenth century Waterford plot.
The role of photography in the modernisation of the Royal Hibernian Academy. Case Study: Amelia Stein
Kildine De Saint Hilaire
Period: 20th Century
10,000 words
This dissertation will investigate the assimilation of fine art photography in the Royal Hibernian Academy and how this phenomenon has influenced the institution’s approach to other media. Fine art photography has no universal definition, however this study will focus on the content of the photographic work as the subject of analysis. The R.H.A. has for mission to exhibit contemporary art. Its history and functioning will constitute the premise for our investigation of Amelia Stein’s work. As the first to have achieved recognition as a photographer member, Stein paved the way for mixed media artists to enter the institution and invigorated its commitment to remain relevant to art as it develops.
Hokusai to Araki; The Global Reception to Explicit Japanese Art
Alyssa Delahan Meade
Subject: Photography/Prints
10,000 words
This dissertation explores the relationship between the theme of eroticism in the 19th century prints of Hoksusi and the 20th century photographs of Araki. The purpose of this research is to explore the history of erotic art which has contributed to the development of explicit and shocking imagery that has come to define contemporary Japanese art from a western perspective. Further the intention is to explore the ways in which this western impression is somewhat reductive. There is a desire to sensationalise that which is unfamiliar and strange to us, leading to a skewed view of Japanese art and culture, further enforcing the role of western viewer as a scandalised voyeur. Rather than this sensational view of erotic art, there ought to be a greater acceptance of erotic art as reflective of a natural practice and universal experience.
Rudolph Maximilian Butler and Walter Glynne Doolin: Two typical 19th Century architects
Mary Patricia Delaney
Subject: Architecture
10,000 words
This work discusses the “layout of Butler’s writings, the Gothic Revival in Ireland, building matters in Ireland, growth of suburbs and domestic architecture, the education of Irish architectural students at the time and reasons for change, Butler’s sympathy with this view, Butler’s articles (on materials, decoration, church building, Irish Gothic architecture, and stables, their building and furnishing) ,and Butler’s curriculum for the School of Architecture, Dublin.
The Inevitable Reservoir of Creative Ideation
Gregory Delaney
Subject: Painting and Sculpture
10,000 words
This work concentrates on two arists : Carlo Maria Mariani and Stephen McKenna as “Post-Modernist Classicists achieving in the 1980’s”. The dissertation discusses the fundamentals of “classicism” and the above two artists’ works, as the “new classical phenomenon ... an important departure from canonic Modernism”.
Ardfert Friary, Co. Kerry
Patricia Dennehy
Subject: Architecture
10,000 words
The object of this dissertation is to provide a description, which had not been undertaken before this. Sacristy, church, aisles, transept, cloister, domestic buildings, and tower are described. The wide disparity between the styles of architecture is also noted along with inaccuracies to the existing plans (at this time). Finally, a comparison is made between Ardfert and other Franciscan friaries and the various phases of construction are assessed.
The Soul of the Sitter A critical analysis of the portraiture of Margaret Clarke
Aisling Dennis
Subject: Painting
10,000 words
This dissertation examines the portraiture of Margaret Clarke, one of Ireland’s most highly regarded artists during the first half of the 20th century. Primarily concerned with discussing the artist’s commissions of influential figures in early twentieth century Irish society, this dissertation is broken into three foci. The first chapter examines the training and influences that informed her style. The second chapter contextualises Clarke, looking at identity through her self-portraiture and portraits of the artist by others. The final section analyses her official portraiture looking at how the commissions were obtained as well as their style and reception.