Letter from Dublin

Apollo, Sept, 2004 by Nigel McKinley

The Oisin Gallery have recently moved into an impressive new space with an outdoor area, next door to their old gallery. They mount regular monthly well-attended exhibitions of contemporary work and are just a short walk from the National Gallery. Across Merrion Square from The National Gallery is an essential visit for the antiques enthusiast. Simply titled Number Twenty Nine, this museum, which is owned by the Electricity Supply Board and the National Museum of Ireland, is a completely restored middle-class house of the late 18th century and a permanent exhibition of Home Life in Dublin 1790-1820 from the basement to the attic. Visitors will find elegant furniture and fine paintings alongside carpets, curtains, floor coverings and decoration, paint and plaster work, bell pulls and doll's houses.

You will also stumble on the long established offices and salerooms of the James Adam Salerooms on St Stephen's Green, where a sale of important Irish Art is taking place on 29 September and, passing the offices of De Vere's, around the corner Whyte's auctioneers whose Irish Art sale is earlier on 21 September and held at the RDS. Hamilton Osborne King Fine Art auctions are also held there but organised from their offices in Blackrock on the coast just a short train ride away. Here you will also find The Temple Gallery, Peter Linden's impressive carpet showrooms (see illustration), the auctioneers Adams of Blackrock and another branch of the Apollo Gallery. Not too far away is The William Frank Gallery, in Monkstown Village, which combines contemporary art exhibitions with art lectures and indeed cultural trips.

Ireland is blessed with a huge number of museums, galleries and antique dealers from north to south reflecting the long and rich cultural life of the country. A new venture and one to be encouraged is the Cork Original Print Fair, which is following the example of the London Original Print Fair and attracting a selection of leading dealers to exhibit. Several from the London fair are coming and a variety of others from nearer to home. The fair is being held at the Crawford Municipal Art Gallery, 10-11 September. Another major city, Belfast is well worth travelling to for contemporary and modern art with a number of galleries based in Lisburn Road, such as the Tom Caldwcll Gallery who are showing the work of the Royal Academician Barbara Rae in October and the Nicholas Gallery who have a display of well known Irish artists of the 20th century and no doubt more.

The commercial highlight of the autumn art and antiques scene in Dublin is The Irish Antique Dealers Fair. This long running fair takes place again this year in the Main Hall at The Royal Dublin Society's premises in Ballsbridge, Dublin 4 and continues from the evening opening on 29 September until Sunday 3 October. Although other antiques fairs take place in Dublin during the year, such as the international fair at these premises in March, this remains the best and the only fair that is exclusively for members of the Irish Antique Dealers Association. The Association encompasses dealers from both the north and south and many make the trip down south to exhibit, including MacHenry Antiques and Paul Cranny. One of the largest stands every year is that of O'Sullivan Antiques, who along with Michael Connell Antiques have large shops in Francis Street, known nowadays as Dublin's Antique Quarter. L & W Duvallier will be showing a display of Irish silver. Nearly 60 members will be displaying a wide range of exhibits at the fair, some of which are illustrated here and on the fair advertisement pages that follow. All items should be pre 1940 except for paintings (1950) and jewellery (1960). Descriptions are supplied by the individual dealers. Intellectual stimulation is provided by the lectures that are given throughout the fair by members of the Association. A visit to the opening evening followed by a return the following afternoon is recommended, noting that the fair does not open until 12 noon.