Kathryn Milligan considers the cityscapes of artist Norah McGuinness, from her Baggot Street surrounds in Dublin to the Hudson in New York
In a short catalogue preface for Norah McGuinness’ 1957 exhibition at the Leicester Galleries, London, the writer Elizabeth Bowen (1899–1973) noted how the artist’s work was filled with ‘lyricism, deepened by something harsher, as are the purples of her Dublin evening streets, quays and squares. There is a brilliant elation, not purely nervous; and, in the still lifes and interiors, a tingling note struck from objects – like the ring from a glass.’ A prolific figure in 20th-century Irish art, McGuinness’ work is familiar to many, but to date, her interest in and depiction of cities and urban life have been little considered, despite the centrality of this theme to her work from the mid-1930s onwards. As Bowen’s description suggests, these are often richly coloured, expressively executed works, forming a notable collection of urban landscape paintings.
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