A Wild Atlantic Way – Irish Life and Landscapes

A Wild Atlantic Way: 9 July – 3 October 2021

A painting, oil on canvas, entitled An Atlantic Drive, by Jack B. Yeats. The painting show four figures, the driver and three passengers on a side-car on the Atlantic Drive, Mullaghmore, Co. Sligo. They look out over the rough sea

An Atlantic Drive | Jack B Yeats | Irish | oil on canvas | 1944 | Hunt Museum |In Copyright Yeats Estate | Photographer: Justin Gawke)

The Hunt Museum’s Summer Exhibition Opening in Limerick Examines Enduring Attraction of Wild Atlantic Way to Artists for over 200 years  

The Hunt Museum’s 2021 summer exhibition “A Wild Atlantic Way” gave visitors the chance to travel the Wild Atlantic Way from Donegal to Kinsale and experience the essence and soul of Ireland through a series of atmospheric and strikingly evocative paintings by 30 artists.

It featured works were created between 1800’s and 2019 by Irish born artists or artists drawn to Ireland by the beauty of the Wild Atlantic Way. This major exhibition accentuated traditional habits and ways of life – remembering people and history through painting.

The inspiration for the exhibition first came to Naomi O’Nolan, Head of Exhibitions at The Hunt Museum, when she spent time on the West Coast of Ireland during the first lockdown of 2020. She noted, “For centuries, the majestical West of Ireland and the uniqueness of its coastline has attracted artists from all over the world. This exhibition focused on the allure of the West Coast of Ireland to artists both past and present and how they had captured the ways of life and customs of people living and working on the coastline as well as the power and the beauty of the land and seascape.”

The variety of artistic practice from the earliest work in the exhibition Samuel Lover’s The Kelp Burners (1835) to Donald Teskey’s ‘Turn in the Weather’ (2016) and John Shinnor’s portrayal of Loop Head (2019) bear testament to the enduring attraction of the West of Ireland to artists.

The theme of travel was further illustrated with a selection of illustrated travel books by artists and travellers from the 19th century to today. “A Wild Atlantic Way” offered a glimpse into how artists viewed and still view the West and the different approaches they take when responding to it, through their mastery in many different styles and techniques.

Features works by Shinnors, Teskey, Yeats, Lover, Hone, Souter and Jellett

Jill Cousins, Director, The Hunt Museum, said “As Limerick sought to create new and improved visitor experiences, we’re  were delighted to present this major exhibition, endorsed by Failte Ireland and linked to Limerick’s new designation as a Wild Atlantic Way Gateway City.   It gave visitors another reason to visit the city. With so many themes explored and works by very well-known artists, this staycation-inspired exhibition really had something for everyone.”

A show of both national and international significance, the exhibition featured approximately 50 works, many from private collections which are not normally available for public viewing, together with some pertinent pieces from National Cultural Institutions.

The Hunt Museum had lots of events and activities to support the exhibition including Family workshops, En Plein Air with local artists such as John Shinnors and Charlie Harper, a Masterclass in Landscape painting with Joseph Kelly, Podcasts by experts and the living artists alongside online lectures and talks.

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Pictured at the launch of the Hunt Museum Summer exhibition, A Wild Atlantic Way was Naomi O'Nolan. Picture: Alan Place

15.07.21.
Pictured at the launch of the Hunt Museum Summer exhibition, A Wild Atlantic Way were, Jill Cousins, Director Hunt Museum and Dr. Julian Campbell. Picture: Alan Place

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Pictured at the launch of the Hunt Museum Summer exhibition, A Wild Atlantic Way were, Tom Cassidy, John Moran, Maria Cagney and Damien Duggan. Picture: Alan Place

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Pictured at the launch of the Hunt Museum Summer exhibition, A Wild Atlantic Way were, Katie Conway, Meabh Delaney, Alisson Rocha and Sian Costello. Picture: Alan Place

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Pictured at the launch of the Hunt Museum Summer exhibition, A Wild Atlantic Way were, Jackie Shannon, Joani Roche and Sinead Hutchison. Picture: Alan Place

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Pictured at the launch of the Hunt Museum Summer exhibition, A Wild Atlantic Way were, Justyna Cwojdzinska, Polish Arts Festival and Maria Cagney, Hunt Museum. Picture: Alan Place

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Pictured at the launch of the Hunt Museum Summer exhibition, A Wild Atlantic Way were, John Moran and Naomi O'Nolan. Picture: Alan Place

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Pictured at the launch of the Hunt Museum Summer exhibition, A Wild Atlantic Way were the team from the Hunt Museum wishing Naomi O'Nolan a happy retirement. Picture: Alan Place

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Pictured at the launch of the Hunt Museum Summer exhibition, A Wild Atlantic Way were, Naomi O'Nolan and Justyna Cwojdzinska. Picture: Alan Place

15.07.21.
Pictured at the launch of the Hunt Museum Summer exhibition, A Wild Atlantic Way was former curator Naomi O'Nolan. Picture: Alan Place

15.07.21.
Pictured at the launch of the Hunt Museum Summer exhibition, A Wild Atlantic Way was Naomi O'Nolan. Picture: Alan Place

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Pictured at the launch of the Hunt Museum Summer exhibition, A Wild Atlantic Way were, . Picture: Alan Place

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Scenes at the launch of the Hunt Museum Summer exhibition, A Wild Atlantic Way. Picture: Alan Place

 

The Long Road (Connemara funeral)

Gerard Dillon

St. Mac Dara’s pattern

Diarmuid O Ceallachain

A Fair Day, Roundstone

Maurice MacGonigal

Turn in the Weather

Donald Teskey

Lisheen

William Crozier

Achill Village, County Mayo

Eva Hamilton

Cottage Interior, Connemara

Maurice Wilks

Night at Claddagh

Lilian Davidson

Self Portrait on Western Shore

Daniel O’Neill

Resting Tinkers

Gerard Dillon

Achill Horses

Mainie Jellett

A Connemara Girl

Augustus Burke

Tory Gully

Derek Hill

12 Bens

Paul Henry

The Gathering

Maurice MacGonigal

Turf Gatherer

Sean Keating

Waiting for the Tide

Sean Keating

Hearing the news

Charles Lamb

Kelp Gatherers

Samuel Lover

Inish Tearaght, West Coast of Ireland (1883)

Richard Brydges Beechey

Cows by a Stream, Cloudy day, near Kilkee, Co Clare

Nathaniel Hone (1831- 1917)

Waves & Rocks, Bundoran

Nathaniel Hone

Unloading the turf Connemara

Thomas Rose Miles

Headline at Kilgalligan ll

Pat Harris

Atlantic 2004

Mary Lohan

Old Dugort, Achill Island

Sarah Purser

Under the Mountains of Mayo

Letitia Hamilton

View of Kinsale

Patrick Hennessy

Westcoast, Tralee Bay near Castlegregory

Jack B Yeats

Western Boatmen

Lilian Davidson

Allihies Village 1976

Tim Goulding

The Gap of Dunloe

Bartholomew Colles Watkins

Morning Light, Aughrus Bay (1981)

Barbara Warren

Galway Girl

Alfred Fripp

Flying Over the Shannon Estuary

Camille Souter

Gorteen

George Campbell

Mass in a Connemara Cabin

Aloysius O Kelly

(Tile: An Atlantic Drive | Jack B Yeats | Irish | oil on canvas | 1944 | Hunt Museum |In Copyright Yeats Estate | Photographer: Justin Gawke)

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