John Trotter was a bright star in the Dublin Society’s drawing school in the mid-18th century, but his failure to achieve the success expected of him remains something of a mystery, writes Peter Murray
On 9th July 1800, amidst anxious deliberations on the Act of Union, the Hibernian Journal contained a review of an exhibition organised by the newly founded Society of the Artists of Ireland, which was held at 32 Dame Street. While exhibitors included well-known figures such as William Ashford, Hugh Douglas Hamilton and George Chinnery, the reviewer also singled out works by the late John Trotter (1740-92) and his two daughters, Mary and Eliza, commenting: ‘A girl and cat – Miss E H Trotter. We need only observe here, that this young lady and the former are daughters of the late Mr Trotter, whose juvenile genius they both inherit.’
The legacy of stained-glass artist Helen Moloney is in the vibrancy of her colours and her use of coloured glass and lead lines in an abstract manner, writes Bart Felle
Tom Climent’s recent paintings appear to edge more and more away from pure abstraction, writes Mark Ewart
Margo Banks is so instinctively attuned to her subject that her energetic approach and her subject matter are inseparable, writes Isabella Evangelisti
