The Crawford Art Gallery () is a public art gallery and museum in the city of

Cork "Cork" or "CORK" may refer to: Materials * Cork (material), an impermeable buoyant plant product ** Stopper (plug), or "cork", a cylindrical or conical object used to seal a container *** Wine cork an item to seal or reseal wine Places Ireland * ...

, Ireland. Known informally as the Crawford, it was designated a 'National Cultural Institution' in 2006. It is "dedicated to the visual arts, both historic and contemporary", and welcomed 265,438 visitors in 2019. The gallery is named after William Horatio Crawford.

History

The Crawford is based in the centre of Cork in what used to be the Cork Customs House, built in 1724. The Customs House became home to the

Royal Cork Institution Royal Cork Institution was an Irish cultural institution in the city of Cork from 1803 to 1885. It consisted of a library of scientific works, a museum with old Irish manuscripts and stones with ogham inscriptions, and lecture and reading rooms. ...

(RCI) in the 1830s, and the RCI was involved in opening the Cork School of Design on the site in 1850. In the early 1880s, the Cork School of Design was extended with funds and patronage from members of the Crawford family, who were local landowners and brewers. For this reason the school was renamed as the Crawford School of Art in 1885. In 1979, the art school transferred to another site, and the Crawford building used primarily as a gallery and museum. The museum buildings were substantially extended in 2000.

Collections

Among the earliest acquisitions in the gallery's collection are casts of classical Greek and Roman statues by

Antonio Canova Antonio Canova (; 1 November 1757 – 13 October 1822) was an Italians, Italian Neoclassical sculpture, Neoclassical sculptor, famous for his marble sculptures. Often regarded as the greatest of the Neoclassical artists,. his sculpture was ins ...

. These were brought to Cork from the

Vatican Vatican may refer to: Geography * Vatican City, an independent city-state surrounded by Rome, Italy * Vatican Hill, in Rome, namesake of Vatican City * Ager Vaticanus, an alluvial plain in Rome * Vatican, an unincorporated community in the ...

in 1818. The Royal Cork Institution acquired these works from the Society of Fine Arts in Cork, who had been given the casts by the Prince Regent (later

George IV of the United Kingdom George IV (George Augustus Frederick; 12 August 1762 – 26 June 1830) was King of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland and King of Hanover from 29 January 1820 until his death in 1830. At the time of his accession to the throne, ...

). He in turn had received them from

Pope Pius VII Pope Pius VII (; born Barnaba Niccolò Maria Luigi Chiaramonti; 14 August 1742 – 20 August 1823) was head of the Catholic Church from 14 March 1800 to his death in August 1823. He ruled the Papal States from June 1800 to 17 May 1809 and again ...

, who had commissioned Antonio Canova to make a set of plasters from statues in the Vatican. Among the works are casts of the

Belvedere Torso The Belvedere Torso is a fragmentary marble statue of a male nude, known to be in Rome from the 1430s, and signed prominently on the front of the base by "Apollonios, son of Nestor, Athenian", who is unmentioned in ancient literature. It is now ...

Apollo Belvedere The ''Apollo Belvedere'' (also called the ''Belvedere Apollo'', ''Apollo of the Belvedere'', or ''Pythian Apollo'') is a celebrated marble sculpture from classical antiquity. The work has been dated to mid-way through the 2nd century A.D. and is ...

and

Laocoön and His Sons The statue of ''Laocoön and His Sons'', also called the Laocoön Group (), has been one of the most famous ancient sculptures since it was excavated in Rome in 1506 and put on public display in the Vatican Museums, where it remains today. The st ...

. Due to the gallery's association with the Cork School of Art (later known as the Crawford College of Art and Design), some items in the museum collection are by staff and students of the school. These include works by James Brenan (who was headmaster of the school from 1860 to 1889) and students such as

Henry Jones Thaddeus Henry Jones Thaddeus (1859–1929) was a realist and portrait painter born and trained in County Cork, Ireland. Life and career Born Henry Thaddeus Jones in 1859, he entered the ''Cork School of Art'' when he was ten years old. There he studie ...

and William Gerard Barry. Other items in the collection include works by sculptors such as John Hogan and Eilis O'Connell, stained-glass artists like

Harry Clarke Henry Patrick Clarke (17 March 1889 – 6 January 1931) was an Irish stained-glass artist and book illustrator. Born in Dublin, he was a leading figure in the Irish Arts and Crafts Movement. His work was influenced by both the Art Nouveau ...

and

Evie Hone Eva Sydney Hone RHA (22 April 1894 – 13 March 1955), usually known as Evie, was an Irish painter and stained glass artist.Nicola Gordon Bowe (May 2009)Hone, Eva Sydney (1894–1955) ''Oxford Dictionary of National Biography'', online editi ...

, painters including

William Orpen Major (United Kingdom), Major Sir William Newenham Montague Orpen, (27 November 1878 – 29 September 1931) was an Irish artist who mainly worked in London. Orpen was a fine draughtsman and a popular, commercially successful painter of portrai ...

(a student of James Brenan), Jack B. Yeats, and

Nano Reid Nano Reid (1 March 1900 – 17 November 1981) was an Irish painter who specialised in landscape, figure painting and portraits. Early life and education Nano Reid was born Anne Margaret Reid on 1 March 1900, in Drogheda, County Louth. She w ...

, as well as photographer

Bob Carlos Clarke Robert Carlos Clarke (24 June 1950 – 25 March 2006) was a British-Irish photographer who made Erotic photography, erotic images of women as well as documentary, portrait, and commercial photography. Carlos Clarke produced six books during ...

. The gallery hosts education and outreach programmes, and manages temporary and travelling exhibitions.

Redevelopment

In March 2023 planning permission was granted for the redevelopment of the gallery. If completed as proposed, the redevelopment would increase the size of the gallery by and involve the refurbishment and reconfiguration of of existing space. The works, which include the reorientation of the gallery to face Emmet Place, are scheduled to begin in Autumn 2024.

References

External links

Crawford Art Gallery website
{{authority control Art museums and galleries in the Republic of Ireland Buildings and structures in Cork (city) Museums in County Cork Government buildings completed in 1724 Art museums and galleries established in 1979 1979 establishments in Ireland Tourist attractions in Cork (city)

History

Collections

Redevelopment

See also

References

External links