Louis le Brocquy is one of Ireland’s most prized exports in the field of modern art. TCD owns a number of his artworks, but a particularly intriguing one is Being, a painting from 1962. Having hung on a display panel in the Arts Block foyer for the past academic year, it has recently been moved to a less visible location, on a staircase in the West Theatre office of the Exam Hall. Le Brocquy’s Being closely echoes his Isolated Being of the same year, which is on permanent display at the Hugh Lane Gallery. Both of the paintings emit a profound feeling of isolation. In Being, the striking white figure on a deep red background screams out a heavy set of emotions to its viewer, while Isolated Being is an ethereal silhouette of psychological solitude. Viewed side by side, these images comprise a pleasingly balanced pair, the positions of the figures mirror each other, but radiate contrasting sensations. In both, le Brocquy uses the impasto technique. The layered white paint gathers in the centre of the silhouette, giving its spine a certain solidity, and fades out around the edges of the figure, creating a sense of uncertainty and vulnerability – two constants of the human condition.
Being was purchased from The Arts Council, and has been owned by The Trinity College Dublin Art Collections since 1976.
