Unveiling the Existential Element in Louis le Brocquy’s Presence Series

Helen Lee Claffey
Trinity College Dublin
Department of History of Art and Architecture
2017
BA

Subject: Painting
Country: Ireland
Period: 20th Century

10,000 words

The aim of this dissertation is to examine the significance of Louis le Brocquy’s Presence Series (1956-1966) under an existential discourse, namely Maurice Merleau-Ponty. Existentialism, focusing on the inexlicable nature of human existence is strongly reflected in le Brocquy’s ambiguous images of inchoate beings. The key themes preoccuping both artist and philosopher present a mutally illuminating dialogue. Le Brocquy’s focus and desire to question the existence of the elusive Presences in terms of the visible and the invisible will be correlated with Merleau-Ponty’s texts on similar concerns. Although le Brocquy was not a self-declared existentialist, a philosophical understanding of the mysterious and expressive work from this decade sets out to resituate le Brocquy in an international context.

Irish Georgian Society

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Unveiling the Existential Element in Louis le Brocquy’s Presence Series