Bank of Ireland Art Collection
Regional Art Exhibition
A selection of works from the collection is exhibited annually in a local Gallery and open to the general public for a period of 4-8wks.
This year The Hunt Museum, Limerick housed the collection of works for the month of April. The opening night of the exhibition is attended by local dignitaries and members of the art community. The Bank's business customers are invited to a separate private viewing of the collection and to meet with our Group Chief Executive and regional business managers as part of a customer evening. The intention of the customer evening is not only to share our collection with the local business community, but also to encourage by example, the possibility of their support in turn with the local gallery.
The Art Collection
The Bank of Ireland Art Collection has over 2,000 pieces, comprising paintings, sculptures, photographs and ceramics. Peter Murray, Director of the Crawford Gallery in Cork has stated in his essay on the collection, that it is of museum quality. Over the years we have received positive recognition from academics in the art world regarding our support of emerging artists and the quality of the work we have collected.
A few years ago we reviewed our policies for art sponsorship and procurement to ensure that we were providing support in the most constructive and meaningful way to all of the various stakeholders involved in supporting art in Ireland. We wished to involve, schools, art colleges, galleries and arts officers across the country, not only in Dublin where most of the art procurement tends to take place.
Our new initiative is Regional and involves all of the stakeholders mentioned, but also includes our staff and customers in celebrating that support.
The Regional Art Initiative was launched in Cork in 2005 as part of the celebrations of the European City of Culture. In 2006 it was held in Galway and this year it is being held in Limerick.
The various strands of the Initiative are facilitated by the local arts officers, gallery director and college staff and are as follows:
Bank of Ireland Toradh Award €5,000
This award is for an established artist who is a graduate of the regional college or an artist living and working in the region who has consistently delivered work of a remarkable quality. With this award the bank wishes to encourage artists mid career. In our review of art sponsorship it was identified that most art awards are for young emerging artists.
This years winner is John Shinnors.
Previous winners are:
Rebecca West - 2006
Alice Maher - 2005
Bank of Ireland Student Awards €5,000 (overall fund)
These awards are intended to promote students from the College and to give them added recognition as they leave the college to commence their artistic career. The awards recognise the special relationship that tutors and teachers have in encouraging the intellectual dimension of the students work and in particular in helping them to develop a work ethos.
Students Awards Limerick 2007:
Clive Moloney 1st prize
Aidan O'Sullivan, 2nd price
Brian Fitzgerald 3rd prize
Regional Art Investment
The bank allocates a €80k of its annual art budget for investment purposes in the selected region through purchasing pieces to add to the collection from local galleries and shows.
With these initiatives the Bank provides sponsorship to all of the various people and organisations involved in supporting the Arts in Ireland, we spent a great deal of time in designing this particular approach to "get it right "and we feel that it has met with all of our objectives. In Bank of Ireland we recognise that sponsorship can be given in many ways by large organisations, the strategic and personal involvement of our staff as well as the financial support is what has made these initiatives such a success.
The venue for 2008 will be confirmed in due course.
The Tapestry Collection
The tapestries in the House of Lords in 2 College Green are the original tapestries
Designed for the space and dating from circa 1733.
There was a stipulation in the purchase contract of 2 College Green that Bank of Ireland should destroy any vestige of the buildings parliamentary function, however the bank managed to retain "virtually intact the Old House of Lords chamber and to re-install the original chandelier and tapestries."
Reference: Lyons, FSL "Origins and Consolidation 1783 - 1826" Bicentenary Essays - Bank of Ireland 1783 - 1826, Gill Macmillan, Dublin 1983, page 28.
The tapestries are unique. One represents the "Glorious Battle of the Boyne" and the other the "Glorious Defence of Londonderry". Each of the tapestries has five portrait and narrative medallions around the central scene which depict, narrate and name central characters and events in each of the battles. Both also have "trophies of arms and figures of Fame below enclosed by fringed curtains."
Reference: Sotheby's Valuation 1994.
The tapestries were the brainchild of Robert Baillie who "in 1727 presented a petition offering his services to perpetuate the late revolution by preparing suits of tapestries for the proposed New Parliament House."
Reference: Sotheby's Valuation 1994
An amended proposal from Baillie was finally accepted and this led to the installation of these Two tapestries in the House of Lords on 19 September 1733. According to Sotheby's Baillie was paid £436.6s.3d for the project.
It is thought that the designer of the tapestries was the Dutch landscape painter William Van der Hagen (born circa 1720 - died 1745). In 1728, he was commissioned by Robert Baillie to take prospects of the places to be depicted in the new House of Lords and two of his paintings from this time went on to be woven into tapestries.
Reference: www.woodward.ie/feb04-art/vanderhagen.html (Woodward's Auction Rooms Cork)
The weaver is thought to be the well-known John Van Beaver, most famous for inscribing a tapestry he wove for Weavers Hall in the Coombe, this, "The workmanship of John Van Beaver, Ye famous tapestry weaver."
Reference: Craig, Maurice Dublin 1660 - 1860, Allen Figgis Dublin, 1969
Having studied the House of Lords tapestries in 2004, Rachel Phelan (tapestry conservator) has asserted that they are some of the best examples of their kind surviving in Ireland and the UK.
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