The Case for Irish Surrealism. Surrealistic influence in Irish figurative and semi-figurative painting c.1930-1950

Caroline Orr
Trinity College Dublin
Department of History of Art and Architecture
2002
BA

Subject: Painting
Country: Ireland
Period: 20th Century

10,000 words

This dissertation examines the appearance of surrealist tendencies in Irish Art in the period from 1930-1950 and analyses the impact of surrealism on Irish art during that period. Artists discussed include Ralph Cusack, Lady Beatrice Glenavy and Patrick Hennessy, among others. The context of British and Continental surrealism is considered along with the context of the ‘artistic climate in Ireland at the time’ in chapters one and two. Subsequent chapters discuss the idea of The ‘Unconscious’ as a theme in Irish surrealist art and ‘The Visual Language of Paint’ or aesthetic of the works concerned. The final chapter assesses the critical and popular reaction to this surrealist element in Irish Art along with the ‘legacy’ of surrealism in Irish art thereafter the period of 1930-1950.

Irish Georgian Society

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The Case for Irish Surrealism. Surrealistic influence in Irish figurative and semi-figurative painting c.1930-1950