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Despite his status as creator of Ireland’s most beloved painting, Irish nineteenth-century watercolourist Frederic William Burton is often a forgotten figure. While The Meeting on the Turret Stairs has been widely acclaimed, his other works evoke significantly less recognition. The National Gallery of Ireland’s latest major exhibition, Frederic William Burton: For the Love of Art, offers visitors an opportunity to discover the impressive career of this home-grown talent, alongside works of friends, contemporaries and masters.
Raised in Cork, Burton travelled extensively around the West of Ireland, which fostered a deep awareness of Irish history, culture, and tradition in the young man. He explored Europe before establishing himself in London, where he took inspiration from the work of the Pre-Raphaelites. Burton forged a revered reputation in the local artistic scene, eventually gaining a directorship of the city’s National Gallery. Arranged mostly chronologically, the exhibition is divided into five sections, each displaying works from a different period of Burton’s artistic path. The layout is easy to follow and the collection is as extensive as the artist’s travels, comprising of over 100 works, largely by Burton himself.
In addition to his watercolours, the well-curated exhibition features preliminary sketches and alternate versions of numerous works, giving an insight into Burton’s artistic process. A surprisingly delightful feature of the exhibition is the inclusion of glass cases displaying various objects relating to Burton’s endeavors. Aside from the typical letters and photographs, more unusual objects feature, including a strikingly large silver mace designed by Burton and the artist’s own death mask. The exhibition’s eclecticism is perhaps its strongest point.
Removed from its custom-built cabinet, The Meeting on the Turret Stairs has been temporarily freed from the typical one-hour, four-days-a-week viewing time, and takes centre stage in the Pre-Raphaelite portion of the exhibition, proving a highlight of the curation. However, as the exhibition’s advertising boasts the inclusion of works by acclaimed Pre-Raphaelites such as John Everett Millais and Dante Gabriel Rossetti, the prospective visitor may be somewhat disappointed to learn that only single works by these artists feature.
Although, that hardly matters when the exhibition succeeds in highlighting the life’s work of this treasure of Irish artistic heritage. While Burton does not have the profile of Vermeer and Caravaggio (the previous subjects of the gallery’s major exhibitions), through its eclecticism, Pre-Raphaelite connections and sheer completeness, the collection should still feature enough points of interest to hold the attention of even the most casual visitor.
Curated by Dr Marie Bourke, former Head of Education, the Frederic William Burton: For the Love of Art exhibition is on display at the National Gallery of Ireland until 14 January 2018.
