Design Portfolio

The elegance of choice
Catherine Marshall investigates the benefits of Arts Council bursaries as seen in the practice of a number of contemporary artists

Dual performance
Colin Davidson's portrait of Duke Special querys the notion of image, writes Medb Ruane of this year's winner of the Ireland-US Council/Irish Arts Review Portraiture Award

Still life with ...
Opening this month at the Hunt Museum, Limerick, Cleary & Connolly's 3D film in collaboration with art teachers is intended to have a positive effect on future generations of children, writes Sarah Finlay

Rhythmic forms: The constructions of Tony O'Malley
Angela Griffith previews the Butler Gallery's forthcoming exhibition in August on Tony O'Malley's idiosyncratic 'constructions'

Stephen Ahern: Close to home
Stephen Ahern, winner of the Gallery of Photography and Irish Arts Review Artist's Award celebrates the everyday moment over the profound, writes Chris Clarke

Cathy Carman dreamworks
'Sculpture is always about solving a problem', Cathy Carman tells Brian McAvera ahead of her exhibition this September at the Dock Arts Centre, Co Leitrim

Art that consoles
Are Irish patrons more at ease with images of sentimentality and anecdote than confrontational art? asks Brian McAvera

Jason Ellis authentic modernist
Riann Coulter visits the Sligo studio of sculptor Jason Ellis whose Black Pool, White Water, was recently unveiled at the Garda Memorial Garden in Dublin Castle

Maritime Painting in Ireland
As an island community we are surrounded by the sea; in the first of two essays on maritime painting, Peter Murray (Navigator and Voyages) looks at contemporary interpretations of this genre; while Denise Ferran (From Belfast Harbour to the open seas) recalls the glory days of Belfast's expansion of its port and its heroic ships' portraits as seen in the collection of the Belfast Harbour Commissioners

Hazel Lavery model, muse, mask
John Lavery's obsession with his wife led him to paint her likeness an estimated 400 times, but asks Philip McEvansoneya, was the reality behind the mask ever revealed?

Reynolds' Irish beauties
John Coleman gives an insight into Joshua Reynolds' methods of enhancing the status of his female subjects by learned allusions to Classical ideals

Aloysius O'Kelly: The Scarlet Pimpernel of Irish painting
Niamh O'Sullivan's publication on Aloysius O'Kelly breaks new ground in Irish art history, writes Catherine Marshall

A missing album of watercolours
Conleth Manning suggests an author and patron for a 19th-century collection of watercolours now believed to be in the USA

William and Joan Roth: a history of art
Peter Murray applauds the philanthropy of the Roths, a family who have given generously to their homeland of America and their adopted country, Ireland

Bantry's Elysian fields
Nigel Everett gives an authoritative account of Lord Berehaven's plans for his 'grand project' – the gardens of Bantry House, Cork

Bellamont Forest, Co Cavan
Kevin Mulligan examines the Palladian purity of Bellamont Forest, while John Mulcahy recounts the rapid advancement of the Coote family from modest beginnings to ennoblement

Bendhu
Andrew Cowser's publication on Bendhu House, Co Antrim prompts Paul Larmour to recall the single-minded vision of its creator, Newton Penprase