A time and a place

A Time and a Place: Two Centuries of Irish Life. National Gallery of Ireland (Millennium Wing), Merrion Square West and Clare St, Dublin 2. www.nationalgallery.ie  until 28 January

Last chance to catch this exhibition, which is made up of 83 paintings and watercolours documenting the last two centuries of life in Ireland. Among the artists featured are James Arthur O'Connor, Jack B Yeats and Louis le Brocquy. The work covers social themes like sport, music and theatre, religious and civic celebration.

The idea behind the exhibition is to provide an insight into the manner in which people and communities went about their daily lives and how they enjoyed themselves in days gone by.
According to the director of the National Gallery, Raymond Keaveney, the value of the exhibition is in the many paintings “we can all relate to, either directly or through conversations and stories which have been passed down to us”.

The curator Brendan Rooney, who has produced a detailed catalogue of the exhibition featuring illustrations and essays, feels that the “variety and testimony that these scenes of social life represent and the relativity of their pictorial language are fascinating subjects in their own right”.

Tickets cost €10 for adults, with family and children concessions available. On Thursdays, all adult tickets cost just €6.

DARRAGH O'DONOGHUE