Edward McGuire (1932–1986) was an Irish painter.

Biography

The Irish portraitist, still-life artist and bird painter Edward McGuire was born in Dublin in 1932. He studied painting, drawing and the history of art at the

Accademia di Belle Arti di Roma The Accademia di Belle Arti di Roma is a public tertiary academy of art in Rome, Italy. It was founded in the sixteenth century, but the present institution dates from the time of the unification of Italy and the capture of Rome by the Kingdom ...

in 1953 and at the

Slade School of Fine Art The UCL Slade School of Fine Art (informally The Slade) is the art school of University College London (UCL) and is based in London, England. It has been ranked as the UK's top art and design educational institution. The school is organised as ...

in 1954. In the early 1950s he befriended artists and writers such as

Patrick Swift Patrick may refer to: * Patrick (given name), list of people and fictional characters with this name * Patrick (surname), list of people with this name People * Saint Patrick (c. 385–c. 461), Christian saint *Gilla Pátraic (died 1084), Patrick ...

(who encouraged McGuire to paint),

Anthony Cronin Anthony Gerard Richard Cronin (28 December 1923 – 27 December 2016) was an Irish poet, arts activist, biographer, commentator, critic, editor and barrister. Early life and family Cronin was born in Enniscorthy, County Wexford on 28 December ...

and

Lucian Freud Lucian Michael Freud (; 8 December 1922 – 20 July 2011) was a British painter and draughtsman, specialising in figurative art, and is known as one of the foremost 20th-century English portraitists. He was born in Berlin, the son of Jewis ...

(Slade"Freud apparently told Maguire he had little to learn from the place, and advised him to go ply his trade, which he did." - "Lucian Freud: Prophet of Discomfort", Mic Moroney © 2007 ''Irish Arts Review'
link
). He travelled in France and Italy from 1951 to 1953 and lived on the

Aran Islands The Aran Islands ( ; gle, Oileáin Árann, ) or The Arans (''na hÁrainneacha'' ) are a group of three islands at the mouth of Galway Bay, off the west coast of Ireland, with a total area around . They constitute the historic barony of Aran i ...

off County Galway from 1955 to 1956. From then until his death in November 1986 he resided in

Dublin Dublin (; , or ) is the capital and largest city of Ireland. On a bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the province of Leinster, bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, a part of the Wicklow Mountains range. At the 2016 c ...

with wife Sara (Sally) McGuire who died May 2011.

Exhibitions

Edward McGuire's paintings were widely exhibited during his lifetime. He had solo shows at the Dawson Gallery, Dublin (A Recent Painting, 1969); Taylor Galleries, Dublin (1983), and a retrospective at the Royal Hibernian Academy Gallagher Gallery (1991). In addition, he exhibited in such group art shows as: Irish Exhibition of Living Art (1953–71);

Royal Hibernian Academy The Royal Hibernian Academy (RHA) is an artist-based and artist-oriented institution in Ireland, founded in Dublin in 1823. Like many other Irish institutions, such as the RIA, the academy retained the word "Royal" after most of Ireland became in ...

(1962–86); Hendriks Gallery, Dublin (1970); Hugh Lane Municipal Gallery of Modern Art (1971); Ulster Museum, Belfast (1973); Oireachtas (1973–80); Cagnes-sur-Mer 6th International Festival of Painting (1974); Concours pour le Prix de Portrait Paul-Louis Weiller, Academie des Beaux Arts, Paris (1979). All this, notwithstanding, McGuire used a laboriously meticulous painting technique which led to the completion of only about six works of art a year. McGuire's keen interest in bird-painting stemmed from the association in his youth with a taxidermist at the

Natural History Museum A natural history museum or museum of natural history is a scientific institution with natural history collections that include current and historical records of animals, plants, fungi, ecosystems, geology, paleontology, climatology, and more. ...

in Dublin. McGuire purchased three stuffed specimens from Mr Williams, starting a bird collection whose members he painted repeatedly in intricate detail throughout his career.

Portraits

Edward McGuire was a prolific portrait artist and painted over 25 portraits of poets and writers. He first exhibited at the

(RHA) in 1962 and became an academician in 1978. His subjects included: Séamus Heaney (1974),

Pearse Hutchinson Pearse Hutchinson (16 February 1927 – 14 January 2012) was an Irish poet, broadcaster and translator. Childhood and education Hutchinson was born in Glasgow. His father, Harry Hutchinson, a Scottish printer whose own father had left Dublin to ...

(1970),

Michael Hartnett Michael Hartnett ( ga, Mícheál Ó hAirtnéide) (18 September 1941 – 13 October 1999) was an Irish poet who wrote in both English and Irish. He was one of the most significant voices in late 20th-century Irish writing and has been called " Mu ...

(1971),

(1977), John Jordan,

Seán Ó Faoláin Seán Proinsias Ó Faoláin (27 February 1900 – 20 April 1991) was one of the most influential figures in 20th-century Irish culture. A short-story writer of international repute, he was also a leading commentator and critic. Biography Ó ...

(1978), Ulick O'Connor (1978), James White (1981), John Montague (1983) and Liam Cosgrave (1982).

Awards

A member of

Aosdána Aosdána ( , ; from , 'people of the arts') is an Irish association of artists. It was created in 1981 on the initiative of a group of writers with support from the country's Arts Council. Membership, which is by invitation from current member ...

from 1984, McGuire won numerous awards during his distinguished career, including the 1974 Festival International de la Peinture, Cagnes-sur-Mer; the

Douglas Hyde Douglas Ross Hyde ( ga, Dubhghlas de hÍde; 17 January 1860 – 12 July 1949), known as (), was an Irish academic, linguist, scholar of the Irish language, politician and diplomat who served as the first President of Ireland from June 1938 t ...

Gold Medal (1976) and the Marten Toonder Award (1978). He received honourable mention in the Concours Paul-Louis Weiller (1979). His paintings are held in many private and public collections, including: Ulster Museum, Belfast; the

National Gallery of Ireland The National Gallery of Ireland ( ga, Gailearaí Náisiúnta na hÉireann) houses the national collection of Irish and European art. It is located in the centre of Dublin with one entrance on Merrion Square, beside Leinster House, and another on ...

; the Hugh Lane Municipal Gallery of Modern Art in Dublin; The National Museum;

Trinity College Dublin , name_Latin = Collegium Sanctae et Individuae Trinitatis Reginae Elizabethae juxta Dublin , motto = ''Perpetuis futuris temporibus duraturam'' (Latin) , motto_lang = la , motto_English = It will last i ...

;

University College Dublin University College Dublin (commonly referred to as UCD) ( ga, Coláiste na hOllscoile, Baile Átha Cliath) is a public research university in Dublin, Ireland, and a member institution of the National University of Ireland. With 33,284 student ...

; University College Cork; Dublin City University, Among his awards were the Prix National from the Cagnes-sur-Mer 6th International Festival of Painting (1974); the Douglas Hyde Gold Medal (1976); the RHA Award (1976), and the Marten Toonder Award (1978). He received honourable mention in the Concours Paul-Louis Weiller (1979).

Collections

His work is included in the collections of the Limerick City Gallery of Art, Limerick;

Ulster Museum The Ulster Museum, located in the Botanic Gardens in Belfast, has around 8,000 square metres (90,000 sq. ft.) of public display space, featuring material from the collections of fine art and applied art, archaeology, ethnography, treasure ...

, Belfast; the

; the Hugh Lane Municipal Gallery of Modern Art in Dublin; National Museum of Ireland;

;

University College Cork University College Cork – National University of Ireland, Cork (UCC) ( ga, Coláiste na hOllscoile Corcaigh) is a constituent university of the National University of Ireland, and located in Cork. The university was founded in 1845 as one ...

; PJ Carroll and Co.,

Dublin City University Dublin City University (abbreviated as DCU) ( ga, Ollscoil Chathair Bhaile Átha Cliath) is a university based on the Northside of Dublin, Ireland. Created as the ''National Institute for Higher Education, Dublin'' in 1975, it enrolled its ...

Dublin Writers Museum The Dublin Writers Museum was opened in November 1991 at No 18, Parnell Square, Dublin, Ireland. The museum occupies an original 18th-century house, which accommodates the museum rooms, library, gallery, and administration area. The annexe behin ...

and the

Irish Museum of Modern Art The Irish Museum of Modern Art ( ga, Áras Nua-Ealaíne na hÉireann) also known as IMMA, is Ireland's leading national institution for the collection and presentation of modern and contemporary art. Located in Kilmainham, Dublin, the Museum pr ...

References

External links

Irish Arts Review

Dictionary of Irish People

Sailing to Byzantium: The Portraits of Edward McGuire

Arts Council

AskArt.com

Adams.ie
{{DEFAULTSORT:McGuire, Edward 1986 deaths 1932 births 20th-century Irish painters Irish male painters Modern painters Painters from Dublin (city) People from County Kildare Alumni of University College London Alumni of the Slade School of Fine Art 20th-century Irish male artists