Hugh Lane Gallery

2025-10-07T08:02:40Z

109.79.67.206: Gallery closed for major refurbishment

{{For|the Irish art collector|Hugh Lane}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2022}}
{{Infobox museum
| name = Dublin City Gallery The Hugh Lane
| native_name = Dánlann Chathair Bhaile Átha Cliath
| native_name_lang = ga
| logo =
| former_name = Municipal Gallery of Modern Art
| image = Hugh Lane Gallery Dublin.jpg
| caption = Hugh Lane Gallery in 2015
| alt = Facade of the Hugh Lane Gallery
| map_type = Ireland Central Dublin
| coordinates = {{Coord|53.354167|-6.264722|display=inline,title}}
| established = 1908
| type = [[art gallery]]
| chairperson = Pat Molloy
| director = Barbara Dawson
| location = [[Charlemont House]], Parnell Square North, Dublin
| website = {{URL|hughlane.ie}}
| founder = [[Hugh Lane]]
| publictransit = [[Parnell Luas stop]] ([[Green Line (Luas)|Green Line]])
}}

The '''Hugh Lane Gallery''', and originally the '''Municipal Gallery of Modern Art''', is an [[art museum]] operated by [[Dublin City Council]] and its wholly owned company, the Hugh Lane Gallery Trust.<ref>{{Cite web |date=January 2014 |title=Code of Governance |url=http://www.dublincity.ie/sites/default/files/content/RecreationandCulture/ArtsOffice/HughLane/Documents/FinalCodeofGovernance.pdf |access-date=2015-06-09 |publisher=Hugh Lane Gallery Trust |archive-date=1 June 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190601122256/http://www.dublincity.ie/sites/default/files/content/RecreationandCulture/ArtsOffice/HughLane/Documents/FinalCodeofGovernance.pdf |url-status=dead }}</ref> It is in [[Charlemont House]] (built 1763) on [[Parnell Square]], [[Dublin]], [[Republic of Ireland|Ireland]]. Admission is free. The gallery closed September 28, 2025 for major refurbishment.<ref>{{cite web |date=30 July 2025 |title=Dublin’s Hugh Lane Gallery to close for ‘at least 3 years’ |url=https://www.independent.ie/regionals/dublin/dublin-news/dublins-hugh-lane-gallery-to-close-for-at-least-3-years/a1528216909.html |website=Irish Independent }}</ref>

== History ==
[[File:Dublino, Hugh Lane Municipal Gallery of modern art, salone ovale nella parte vecchia 01.jpg|thumb|left|The Oval Hall]]

The gallery was founded by noted art collector Sir [[Hugh Lane]] on [[Harcourt Street]] on 20 January 1908, and is the first known public gallery of [[modern art]] in the world.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Dawson |first=Barbara |title=Hugh Lane : founder of a gallery of modern art for Ireland |date=2008 |publisher=Scala |isbn=978-1-85759-575-8 |publication-place=London |oclc=298595691}} p. 6</ref> Lane met the running costs, while seeking a more permanent home. New buildings were proposed in [[St Stephens Green|St. Stephens Green]], and as a dramatic bridge-gallery over the [[River Liffey]], both proposed designs by Sir [[Edwin Lutyens]], both unrealised.<ref name=":0">{{Cite web |date=2015-05-30 |title=How Ireland was robbed of Hugh Lane's great art collection |url=http://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2015/may/30/how-ireland-was-robbed-hugh-lanes-great-art-collection |access-date=2021-04-15 |website=The Guardian |language=en}}</ref> Lane did not live to see his gallery permanently located as he died in 1915 during the [[Sinking of the RMS Lusitania|sinking of the RMS ''Lusitania'']]. Since 1933 it has been housed in Charlemont House.

Lane's will bequeathed his collection to London, but an unwitnessed [[Codicil (will)|codicil]], written in the months prior to his death, bequeathed the 39 paintings to Dublin on the condition that a permanent gallery was secured within 5 years.<ref name=":0" /> London's [[National Gallery]] did not recognise the codicil, and all the paintings form the [[Lane Bequest]] in their collection. In 1938, the British put forward a suggestion from Sir [[Robert Witt (art historian)|Robert Witt]]: "...that these pictures should alternate between London and Dublin. We have had them in London for a considerable number of years, and it might now be the turn of the Dublin Galleries to have them for a number of years... Legally, the holders have a very strong case, but we are so wealthy in our treasures, while Ireland is so comparatively poor..."<ref>{{Cite web |date=17 May 1938 |title=Hansard, 17 May 1938, Eire (Confirmation Of Agreements) Bill |url=https://api.parliament.uk/historic-hansard/lords/1938/may/17/eire-confirmation-of-agreements-bill |access-date=2 April 2019 |publisher=parliament.uk}}</ref>

This eventually led to a compromise agreement in 1959, announced by Taoiseach [[Seán Lemass]], whereby half of the Lane Bequest would be lent and shown in Dublin every five years.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Jordan |first=Anthony |title=John A Costello - Compromise Taoiseach |publisher=Westport Books |year=2007 |isbn=9780952444787 |pages=129–138}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |date=12 November 1959 |title=Dáil Éireann debate - Thursday, 12 Nov 1959 - Lane Pictures: Statement by Taoiseach |url=https://www.oireachtas.ie/en/debates/debate/dail/1959-11-12/41/ |access-date=3 April 2019 |website=oireachtas.ie |publisher=Houses of the Oireachtas}}</ref> In 1993, the agreement was changed so that 31 of the 39 paintings would stay in Ireland. The remaining 8 were divided into 2 groups, so that 4 would be lent for 6 years at a time to Dublin. These 8 include works by [[Édouard Manet|Manet]], [[Claude Monet|Monet]], [[Camille Pissarro|Pissarro]], [[Pierre-Auguste Renoir|Renoir]], [[Berthe Morisot|Morisot]], [[Édouard Vuillard|Vuillard]] and [[Edgar Degas|Degas]]. In 2008, the National Gallery in London arranged for the entire collection to be on display in Dublin together for the first time. There was a switch in May 2013 for a six-year period.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Jason Kennedy |date=23 May 2013 |title=Four priceless paintings return to Dublin - Irish News, World News & More | The Irish Times - Thu, May 23, 2013 |work=The Irish Times |url=http://www.irishtimes.com/news/four-priceless-paintings-return-to-dublin-1.1404339 |access-date=28 May 2013}}</ref>

== Building ==
Charlemont House is a [[mansion]] in [[Dublin]], Ireland. The house was built in 1763 and designed by [[William Chambers (architect)|William Chambers]] for [[James Caulfeild, 1st Earl of Charlemont]]. It is a brick-fronted mansion on Dublin's [[Parnell Square, Dublin|Parnell Square]].<ref>{{Cite web |date=2010-06-11 |title=1763 – Charlemont House, Parnell Square, Dublin |url=https://www.archiseek.com/2010/1763-charlemont-house-parnell-square-dublin/ |access-date=2021-04-15 |website=Archiseek - Irish Architecture |language=en-US}}</ref> According to the Hugh Lane Gallery, "in 1929 the gardens of the house were built upon to accommodate the Gallery". It was opened as a museum in 1933.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Charlemont House, Dublin City Gallery The Hugh Lane free admission |url=https://www.hughlane.ie/charlemont-house |access-date=2021-04-15 |website=www.hughlane.ie |archive-date=15 April 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210415161541/https://www.hughlane.ie/charlemont-house |url-status=dead }}</ref> The gallery was closed for reconstruction in 2004, and reopened in May 2006, with a new extension by Gilroy McMahon Architects.<ref>{{Cite web |title=PROJECTS: Cultural - The Hugh Lane Gallery |url=http://www.gilroymcmahon.com/cultural/projects/dublin-gallery.htm |access-date=2015-06-09 |publisher=Gilroy McMahon Architects |archive-date=26 September 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200926160721/http://www.gilroymcmahon.com/cultural/projects/dublin-gallery.htm |url-status=dead }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Combining old and new at the Hugh Lane Art Gallery |url=http://www.lmp.ie/newbuild/hughlane.html |access-date=2015-06-09 |publisher=Lee McCullough Consulting Engineers}}</ref> The gallery is completely wheelchair-accessible.

== Collection ==
[[File:Ricostruzione delle studio di francis bacon di 7 reece mews, londra, usato dal 1961 al 1992, 03.jpg|thumb|Reconstruction of the Francis Bacon Studio at the Hugh Lane Gallery|alt=]]
The museum has a permanent collection and hosts exhibitions, mostly by contemporary Irish artists. It has a dedicated [[Sean Scully]] room. [[Francis Bacon (artist)|Francis Bacon]]'s studio was reconstructed in the gallery in 2001 after being dismantled and moved from London starting in 1998.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2013-04-03 |title='Francis Bacon's Studio' lecture at Tokyo MOMAT |url=http://www.francis-bacon.com/blog/francis-bacons-studio-lecture-at-tokyo-momat/ |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150314060626/http://www.francis-bacon.com/blog/francis-bacons-studio-lecture-at-tokyo-momat/ |archive-date=2015-03-14 |access-date=2015-06-09 |publisher=Estate of Francis Bacon}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Paul Tuthill |date=April 2007 |title=Francis Bacon's studio, Hugh Lane Gallery, Dublin |url=http://whitehotmagazine.com/articles/studio-hugh-lane-gallery-dublin/337 |access-date=2015-06-09 |publisher=Whitehot Magazine}}</ref>

The Hugh Lane is notable for its collection of French art, the Lane Bequest pictures including works such as ''[[The Umbrellas (Renoir painting)|The Umbrellas]]'' ''(Les Parapluies)'' by [[Auguste Renoir]];<ref>{{Cite web |title=Renoir, Pierre-Auguste (1841 - 1919) |url=http://emuseum.pointblank.ie/online_catalogue/artist-detail.php?id=549 |access-date=10 April 2020 |publisher=Dublin City Gallery |archive-date=26 March 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220326190311/http://emuseum.pointblank.ie/online_catalogue/artist-detail.php?id=549 |url-status=dead }}</ref> ''Portrait of [[Eva Gonzalès]]'' by [[Édouard Manet]],<ref>{{Cite web |title=Manet, Édouard (1832 - 1883) |url=http://emuseum.pointblank.ie/online_catalogue/work-detail.php?objectid=1233 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201027071935/http://emuseum.pointblank.ie/online_catalogue/work-detail.php?objectid=1233 |archive-date=27 October 2020 |access-date=10 April 2020 |publisher=Dublin City Gallery}}</ref> [[Édouard Manet]]'s ''[[Music in the Tuileries]]'', ''[[Summer's Day]]'' by [[Berthe Morisot]]<ref>{{Cite web |title=Morisot, Berthe (1841 - 1895) |url=http://emuseum.pointblank.ie/online_catalogue/artist-detail.php?id=753 |access-date=10 April 2020 |publisher=Dublin City Gallery |archive-date=30 March 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220330053700/http://emuseum.pointblank.ie/online_catalogue/artist-detail.php?id=753 |url-status=dead }}</ref> and ''View of Louveciennes'' by [[Camille Pissarro]].<ref>{{Cite web |title=Pissarro, Camille (1830 - 1903) |url=http://emuseum.pointblank.ie/online_catalogue/artist-detail.php?id=771 |access-date=10 April 2020 |publisher=Dublin City Gallery |archive-date=31 March 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220331031813/http://emuseum.pointblank.ie/online_catalogue/artist-detail.php?id=771 |url-status=dead }}</ref>

There is a permanent display of stained glass at the museum which features ''The Eve of St. Agnes'' by Irish artist and illustrator [[Harry Clarke]].<ref>{{Cite web |title=Online Collection, Dublin City Gallery The Hugh Lane, free admission |url=http://emuseum.pointblank.ie/online_catalogue/works.php?id=219 |access-date=2021-05-29 |website=emuseum.pointblank.ie |archive-date=3 June 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210603081416/http://emuseum.pointblank.ie/online_catalogue/works.php?id=219 |url-status=dead }}</ref> As well as a previously banned, "scandalous" work of his, which was purchased in 2015 for £35,000.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Kelly |first=Olivia |title=Scandalous Harry Clarke window goes on display in Dublin gallery |url=https://www.irishtimes.com/culture/art-and-design/visual-art/scandalous-harry-clarke-window-goes-on-display-in-dublin-gallery-1.2135844 |access-date=2021-05-29 |website=The Irish Times |language=en}}</ref>

In June 1992, the painting ''In The Omnibus'' by French artist [[Honoré Daumier]] was stolen.<ref name="BBC News 2014">{{Cite web |date=2014-05-13 |title=Stolen painting returned to Hugh Lane Gallery |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-27394001 |access-date=2022-09-06 |website=BBC News}}</ref> The theft took place in the afternoon during the hours when the gallery was open to the public.<ref name="independent 2015">{{Cite web |date=2015-04-24 |title=One of Lane's paintings 'missing' for 20 years |url=https://www.independent.ie/life/one-of-lanes-paintings-missing-for-20-years-31168497.html |access-date=2022-09-06 |website=independent}}</ref> The [[Criminal Assets Bureau]] (CAB) recovered the painting during an investigation in 2013, more than 20 years later. Director [[Barbara Dawson]] expressed her delight that the painting had been found. She said, "It was such a shock when it was stolen and we had messages of sympathy from galleries and museums in Ireland and around the world."<ref name="BBC News 2014" />

==Selected past exhibitions==

''Offside'' was a 2005 project in The Hugh Lane curated by [[Pallas Projects/Studios|Pallas Projects]] and included works by Albano Afonso, Antistrot, Anna Boyle, Rhona Byrne, Mark Cullen, Brian Duggan, John Dummet, Brendan Earley, Andreas Gefeller, [[Niamh McCann (Irish artist)|Niamh McCann]], Alex McCullagh, Nina McGowan, [[Nathaniel Mellors]], Clive Murphy, Adriette Myburgh, Cris Neumann, Paul O’Neill, [[Garrett Phelan]], [[Abigail Reynolds (artist)|Abigail Reynolds]], [[Mark Titchner]], Rich Streitmatter-Tran.<ref>{{Cite web |last=adminPF |date=2005-09-01 |title=Dublin: Offside and Offsite Live at Dublin City Gallery The Hugh Lane • Circa Art Magazine |url=http://circaartmagazine.website/backissues/autumn-2005-dublin-offside-and-offsite-live-at-dublin-city-gallery-the-hugh-lane/ |access-date=2019-10-28 |website=Circa Art Magazine |language=en-US}}</ref>

The Golden Bough was a series of exhibitions curated by Michael Dempsey in 2010. It included solo shows by Ronnie Hughes, [[Corban Walker]] and [[Niamh McCann (Irish artist)|Niamh McCann]].<ref>{{Cite web |title=Visual Art |url=https://www.irishtimes.com/culture/art-and-design/visual-art/visual-art-1.649049 |access-date=2021-04-15 |website=The Irish Times |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Niamh McCann : The Golden Bough |url=https://www.newexhibitions.com/e/43346 |website=www.newexhibitions.com}}</ref>

''Sleepwalkers'' (2012–15) curated by Michael Dempsey and Logan Sisley was a two-year project in which six artists (Clodagh Emoe, Lee Welch, [[Sean Lynch (artist)|Sean Lynch]], Linda Quinlan, [[Jim Ricks]], and Gavin Murphy) were invited to use the museum's resources, reveal their artistic process, and to collaborate with each other in this "unusual experiment in exhibition production".<ref>{{Cite web |title=Sleepwalkers: Production as Process, Dublin City Gallery The Hugh Lane free admission |url=http://www.hughlane.ie/past/720-sleepwalkers-production-as-process |access-date=2019-10-25 |website=www.hughlane.ie |archive-date=6 February 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230206104627/https://hughlane.ie/past/720-sleepwalkers-production-as-process |url-status=dead }}</ref> This process culminated in each artist developing a solo exhibition at the Hugh Lane<ref>{{Cite web |date=23 August 2013 |title=Lee Welch "Two exercises in awareness..." at Hugh Lane, Dublin — Mousse Magazine |url=https://www.moussemagazine.it/magazine/lee-welch-hugh-lane |access-date=2021-08-12 |website=www.moussemagazine.it |language=en-US}}</ref> and a publication.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Dempsey |first=Michael |title=Sleepwalkers |last2=Sisley |first2=Logan |date=2015 |publisher=Hugh Lane Municipal Gallery of Modern Art |isbn=978-1-905464-98-2 |publication-place=London |oclc=894611255}}</ref>

Kennedy Browne, consisting of Gareth Kennedy and [[Sarah Browne]], exhibited 3 films as the ''Redaction Trilogy,'' 2019–20.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Dunne |first=Aidan |title=Playful experiments on the serious business of data |url=https://www.irishtimes.com/culture/art-and-design/visual-art/playful-experiments-on-the-serious-business-of-data-1.4076730 |access-date=2021-01-23 |website=[[The Irish Times]] |language=en}}</ref>

The largest [[Andy Warhol]] show to ever come to Ireland opened in October 2023 at The Hugh Lane. Tilted ''Andy Warhol Three Times Out'', it is the first Warhol exhibit in the country in 25 years.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Dublin gallery to host country’s largest ever Warhol exhibition |url=https://www.irishtimes.com/life-style/fine-art-antiques/2023/07/22/dublin-gallery-to-host-countrys-largest-ever-warhol-exhibition/ |access-date=2023-11-22 |website=The Irish Times |language=en}}</ref>

==Bibliography==
* {{Cite book |last=Dawson |first=Barbara |title=Hugh Lane : founder of a gallery of modern art for Ireland |date=2008 |publisher=Scala |isbn=978-1-85759-575-8 |publication-place=London |oclc=298595691}}
* {{Cite book |last=Cross |first=Dorothy |title=The golden bough : Dublin City Gallery The Hugh Lane |last2=Duggan |first2=Brian |last3=Holten |first3=Katie |last4=Phelan |first4=Garrett |last5=Walker |first5=Corban |last6=Weir |first6=Grace |date=2011 |publisher=Dublin City Gallery The Hugh Lane |isbn=978-1-901702-38-5 |publication-place=Dublin |oclc=1008432727}}
* {{Cite book |last=Dempsey |first=Michael |title=Sleepwalkers |last2=Sisley |first2=Logan |date=2015 |publisher=Hugh Lane Municipal Gallery of Modern Art |isbn=978-1-905464-98-2 |publication-place=London |oclc=894611255}}

==References==
{{reflist}}

==External links==
{{commons category|Hugh Lane Gallery, Dublin}}
* {{official website}}

{{Museums and Galleries in Ireland}}
{{authority control}}

[[Category:Art museums and galleries in the Republic of Ireland]]
[[Category:Arts in Dublin (city)]]
[[Category:Contemporary art galleries in Ireland]]
[[Category:Museums in Dublin (city)]]
[[Category:Art museums and galleries established in 1908]]
[[Category:1908 establishments in Ireland]]
[[Category:William Chambers buildings]]
[[Category:Parnell Square]]
[[Category:Art museums and galleries in Dublin (city)]]

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Hugh Lane Gallery