Louis le Brocquy

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Louis le Brocquy (born November 10, 1916) is an Irish painter.

Louis le Brocquy A Family 1951,National Gallery of Ireland

Born in Dublin, Ireland, Louis le Brocquy is one of the foremost Irish painters of the twentieth century. His work has received much international attention and many accolades in a career that spans seventy years of creative practice. In 1956, he represented Ireland at the Venice Biennale, winning the Premio Acquisito Internationale with A Family (coll. National Gallery of Ireland), subsequently included in the historic exhibition Fifty Years of Modern Art at Brussels World Fair 1958. Widely acclaimed for his evocative portrait ‘Heads’ of literary figures and fellow artists, which include William Butler Yeats, James Joyce, and his friends Samuel Beckett, Francis Bacon and Seamus Heaney, in recent years le Brocquy’s early Tinker subjects and Family paintings, have attracted headline attention on the international marketplace marking him as the fourth painter in Ireland and Britain to be evaluated within a very select group of artists, alonside Lucian Freud, David Hockney and Francis Bacon. Recognised by many as the greatest Irish artist of the twentieth century, and one of the greatest of any era, the recent realisation of over £1 million for one of his works at auction is not merely a record but an acknowledgment of his genius and international appeal. Acknowledged by museum retrospectives worldwide, the artist’s work is represented in numerous public collections, from the Guggenheim in New York City to the Tate Gallery in London. In Ireland, he is honoured as the first and only living painter to be included in the Permanent Irish Collection of the National Gallery.

Le Brocquy's inquiry into the human condition is seminal to his motivation as a painter. This underlying concern has informed a number of significant developments. According to Francis Bacon, 'Le Brocquy belongs to a category of artists who have always existed - obsessed by figuration outside and on the other side of illustration - who are aware of the vast and potent possibilities of inventing ways by which fact and appearance can be reconjugated.'

Important developments comprise:

Early Works (1939-1945) incl. Southern Window (1939; coll. Hugh Lane Municipal Gallery of Modern Art, Dublin), and A Picnic, (1940; coll. Irish Museum of Modern Art, Loan), establish the artist's ongoing preoccupation with the inward isolation of the individual. Girl in White (coll. Ulster Museum) established the artist's ongoing preoccupation with the inward isolation of the individual.

The Tinker paintings (1946-1950) incl. Tinkers Resting (coll. Tate Britain) developed concerns relating to their marginal lives.

The Grey Period (1950-1956) incl. A Family (coll. National Gallery of Ireland) contemplated a stark human circumstance in the aftermath of the war. John Russell records that the artist was by then ‘well known as a symbolist and thoughtful enquirer into the conditions of life’.

His painting underwent a profound development in 1956 with the White Period (1956-1964) incl. Woman (coll. Tate Modern) that radicalised the human figure as an isolated presence.

The ensuing Head Series (1964-1996) incl. Head of an Irish Martyr (coll. Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden, Smithsonian Institution, Washington) and Stele: Hommage à Entremont (1968; Collection Fondation Maeght, St Paul) that kindled his interest in the Celtic head culture. Initially anonymous, these images later depicted heads of specific individuals, including Shakespeare (coll. Guggenheim, New York City) and Image Ulterieure de Picasso (1983; Collection Picasso Museum, Antibes), whom the artist perceived as avatars of consciousness.

In recent years he has undertaken a major series entitled Procession, and since 1996 he has embarked on a body of work entitled Human Images, pursuing his interest in the Presence series. Louis le Brocquy's latest commission by the National Gallery of Ireland was to paint an image of his friend Bono (Image of Bono National Gallery of Ireland), publicly presented to the National Portrait Gallery in October 2003.

Louis le Brocquy, The Portrait Head Series: Image of Federico Garcia Lorca, 1977

Among the many collaborations with Irish writers, notably Samuel Beckett and Seamus Heaney, le Brocquy is perhaps best known for his lithographic brush drawings for Thomas Kinsella's renowned translation of the Táin in 1969, held to be the great Irish Livre d'Artiste of the twentieth century. In 1988 it was at Samuel Beckett's personal request that le Brocquy illustrated his valedictory book, Stirrings Still (1988);, and designed the set and costumes for Waiting for Godot, Dublin, 1988, produced by the Gate Theatre throughout the world by the Gate Theatre, Dublin. Further important illustrated works include J.M. Synge’s The Playboy of the Western World, 1970; Desmond O'Grady’s The Gododdin, 1977; Andrew Carpenter’s Eight Irish Writers, 1981 and James Joyce's Dubliners (1986)

Few artists anywhere have had as much experience in tapestry design. Along with his well-known predecessor Jean Lurçat, the artist has proved to be a master of the medium and a landmark figure in the revitalisation of this art form. Mostly woven in Aubusson, France, the tapestry designs include "Travellers" 1948, "Garlanded Goat" (1949-50), "Allegory" (1950), the "Eden series" (1951-52), the "Inverted series" (1948-99), the Táin series (1969-2000, Irish Museum of Modern Art), the "Cúchulainn series" (1973-1999), and the "Garden series" (2000). Large-scale tapestry commissions include "Brendan the Navigator" (1963-64, UCD, Michael Smurfit School of Business, Dublin), "The Hosting of the Táin" (1970; Irish Museum of Modern Art), the "Massing of the Armies" (RTÉ, Dublin) and the monumental "Triumph of Cúchulainn" (Irish Museum of Modern Art, Millennium Wing).

Positions include: Visiting Instructor, Central School of Arts & Crafts, London (1947-54); co-founder Signa Design Consultants, 1954; Visiting Tutor, Royal College of Art, London (1955-58); Fellow, Society of Industrial Artist's, London, 1960; Member, Irish Council of Design (1963-65); Inaugural Board Member, Kilkenny Design Workshops (1965-77); Fellow, Royal Society for the Encouragement of Arts, Manufactures and Commerce, London, 1974; Founder Board-Member, Irish Museum of Modern Art, Dublin, 1989-94.

Some of the honors bestowed on him include:

Chevalier de la Legion d'Honneur, (1975)
Officier de l'Ordre de la Couronne Belge, (2001)
Member of Aosdána
Elected Saoi of Aosdána conferred by President Mary Robinson 1992.
Officier des Arts et des Lettres, France, 1999
Hon. Litt. D., University of Dublin, 1962
Hon. Ll. D., University College, Dublin, 1988
IMMA/Glen Dimplex award for a sustained contribution to the visual arts in Ireland, Dublin, 1998
Hon. D. Ph., Dublin City University, 1999
Hon. D. Univ., Queen's University, Belfast 2002
Hon. D. Ph., Dublin Institute of Technology, 2004