Ever Present
Celebrating 100 Years of Art

Fri. 25 Oct. – Sat. 21 Dec. 2024

Exhibition Opening 3pm
With opening speech by Dr. John Turpin, President of the Friends of The National Collections of Ireland.

On the occasion of the 100^th anniversary of the foundation of the Friends of the National Collections of Ireland (FNCI), The Model presents a unique selection of artworks gifted to The Niland Collection from the 1960s to the present day. The first presentation by the FNCI to Sligo County Library and Museum was made in 1961 when the following group of works were given – Dermod O'Brien, Landscape; William Leech, No 3 Parnell Square; J. A. McNeill Whistler, Maunders Fishshop, Chelsea; Mary Swanzy, Abstract; J Crampton Walker, A Sussex Farm and Anne Yeats, Face In Distress. The Sea and The Lighthouse by Jack Butler Yeats was gifted in 1965. Bequeathed to the FNCI by Dorothea Case in 1947, this work is now a cornerstone of The Niland Collection, and continues to offer both contemporary and historical narratives to our multi-vocal curatorial vision.

The acquisition of these works is also testimony to the vision of Nora Niland, who played a significant role in attracting such important artworks to help build Sligo’s municipal collection. Niland follows in the footsteps of other inspirational Irish women, who dedicated their lives to the development of the visual arts in Ireland, notably artist Sarah Purser, who was an active collector of artworks; which she hung in the rooms of her home, Mespil House, Dublin. Purser regularly hosted artist gatherings in her home and in 1924, she and a group of friends founded The Friends of the National Collections of Ireland – for the purpose of acquiring works of art and objects of historical interest and donating them to national and regional art galleries and museums throughout Ireland.

This exhibition brings together works which are both thought-provoking and contemplative, and which mirror the thoughts, subject matter and concerns of artists throughout the twentieth century.

All works in this exhibition have been generously gifted to The Niland Collection by the Friends of the National Collections of Ireland.

Image credit: Barbara Warren (b. 1925); Girl with a Goose, N.D., oil on canvas.