Friday, May 25, 2012

Ireland's Favourite Painting


I was delighted to hear that Frederic William Burton’s "Hellelil and Hildebrand, the Meeting on the Turret Stairs" has been voted Ireland’s favourite painting in a nationwide poll.
I think that those type of polls are often a bit silly, but this one got it right in my opinion, so it is OK by me.
The painting is in the National Gallery of Ireland but, as it is a watercolour, it is only exhibited three times a week for an hour at a time. So check the NGI website before you go along to see it.
I have been very fond of this beautiful picture since I first saw it about twenty five years ago, and it has certainly influenced aspects of my illustration work.

4 comments:

Janiel Miller said...

Oh this is lovely! Wonderful. Thanks for posting it. Since it would take me about 12 hours flying to get to it live, you've done me a service showing it here. Thanks!

PJ Lynch said...

So glad you like it Janiel
All the best
PJ

Julia Lundman said...

Not silly, no! It shows a love of culture and art! I wish the US were more like that! What an awesome painting, too.

Julia

PJ Lynch said...

Thanks for your comment Julia.
I agree it is a great thing to get people talking about paintings, and they did indeed come up with a painting that is worthy of the title "Ireland's Favourite Painting", but I am very wary of the urge to reduce art appreciation to a kind of "hit parade".
Another thing is that on-line voting is far from democratic, and can easily be skewed by a clever hacker.
All the best
PJ