Diarmuid Larkin (1 April 1918 – 25 June 1989) was an Irish artist and art educationist. He was predominantly a painter of landscapes, although his work became more abstract over time. Larkin, Diarmuid
on

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Early life and education

Diarmuid Larkin was born on 1 April 1918 in

Dublin Dublin is the capital and largest city of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. Situated on Dublin Bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster, and is bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, pa ...

, the eldest of three children of Maura Larkin (née Noonan) and John Larkin (also known as Seán Ó Lorcáin). Despite showing early signs of talent and wishing to become an artist, his father opposed it and apprenticed him as a

lithographer Lithography () is a planographic method of printing originally based on the immiscibility of oil and water. The printing is from a stone (lithographic limestone) or a metal plate with a smooth surface. It was invented in 1796 by the German ...

with the Dublin Illustrating Company. In 1941, he entered the school of painting at the National College of Art. While there, he worked with several distinguished artists, including Harry Kernoff, Norah McGuinness, and Maurice MacGonigal. After graduating in 1945, he studied at the

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in Madrid until 1947, after which he studied briefly in Paris.

Career

Larkin returned to Dublin and set up a lithography company, but soon decided to sell it and devote himself to art. In 1953 he joined the Ballinasloe vocational educational committee as a teacher of art; in 1957 he moved to Mullingar (civil parish), Mullingar, and in 1961, he moved to Dún Laoghaire Further Education Institute, where he established a one-year course for those looking to become teachers of art – the first one-year foundation course in an art school in Ireland. The Dún Laoghaire School of Art and Design later became a constituent school of the

Dún Laoghaire Institute of Art, Design and Technology Dún Laoghaire Institute of Art, Design and Technology (), more commonly known as IADT Dún Laoghaire or simply IADT is an institute of technology with a focus on art and design located in Deansgrange near Dún Laoghaire, Ireland. It was esta ...

. In 1967, Larkin became professor of art at the teacher training college in

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, a position he held until his retirement in 1983. In 1969 Larkin became a member of the

Department of Education An education ministry is a national or subnational government agency politically responsible for education. Various other names are commonly used to identify such agencies, such as Ministry of Education, Department of Education, and Ministry of Pub ...

's advisory council, set up "to restructure the National College of Art after it had been removed from direct government control following the student sit-in which had lasted for six weeks... of that year." In August 1969, he and several colleagues resigned due to a dispute with the minister for education

Pádraig Faulkner Pádraig Faulkner (12 March 1918 – 1 June 2012) was an Irish Fianna Fáil politician who served as Ceann Comhairle of Dáil Éireann from 1980 to 1981, Minister for Defence 1979 to 1980, Minister for Posts and Telegraphs and Minister for T ...

. In 1978, he returned to the college and was appointed to the new board alongside John O'Meara, artist Muriel Brandt, and architect Patrick Shaffrey. Larkin's 1981 book ''Art teaching and learning: A Seven-year Manual for the Primary/Elementary Teacher'' (described as an "enduring contribution to art education in Ireland") details Larkin's own philosophy. He believed that art should be a "multi-sensory experience" for children, which would improve their critical thinking and ultimately enhance their adult life.Diarmuid Larkin
on Ross's As a venture and by his own choice, Larkin's creative work was rarely public or sold at auction. Many of his landscape paintings were inspired by the picturesque Atlantic region of

Connemara Connemara ( ; ) is a region on the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic coast of western County Galway, in the west of Ireland. The area has a strong association with traditional Irish culture and contains much of the Connacht Irish-speaking Gaeltacht, ...

in County Galway. Though figurative, his direct style became far more abstract after visiting the United States on a research trip in around 1970, at which point he was heavily influenced by abstract expressionism and the works of such artists as Arshile Gorky,

Jackson Pollock Paul Jackson Pollock (; January 28, 1912August 11, 1956) was an American painter. A major figure in the abstract expressionist movement, Pollock was widely noticed for his "Drip painting, drip technique" of pouring or splashing liquid household ...

, and

Willem de Kooning Willem de Kooning ( , ; April 24, 1904 – March 19, 1997) was a Dutch-American abstract expressionist artist. Born in Rotterdam, in the Netherlands, he moved to the United States in 1926, becoming a US citizen in 1962. In 1943, he married pa ...

. Larkin saw his own work as a "response to the constant flux of nature," attempting "to capture his experience of a place or scene and his emotional reaction to it." Larkin exhibited at the Aisling Galleries, New York, Robinson Gallery, Dublin and exhibited about fifty works at the Royal Hibernian Academy in Dublin. His works include ''Wolfhound'', ''Boats in the dock'', ''Wicklow'', ''Path Through the Moors'', and ''Amagedon'', which sold for $4,531 in 2006.

Personal life

Larkin had two daughters and five sons. One son,

Seán Sean, also spelled Seán or Séan in Hiberno-English, is a male given name of Irish language, Irish origin. It comes from the Irish versions of the Biblical Hebrew name ''Yohanan'' (), Seán (Anglicisation of names, anglicized as ''Shaun/Shawn (g ...

, has held senior posts at several Irish art institutions, including director of the Dún Laoghaire School of Art and Design.

Death and burial

Diarmuid Larkin died on 25 June 1989 in

Dún Laoghaire Dún Laoghaire ( , ) is a suburban coastal town in County Dublin in Ireland. It is the administrative centre of the county of Dún Laoghaire–Rathdown. The town was built up alongside a small existing settlement following 1816 legislation th ...

, Dublin. He was buried on 28 June in Shanganagh Cemetery.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Larkin, Diarmuid 1918 births 1989 deaths Painters from Dublin (city) 20th-century Irish male artists Irish male painters Irish landscape painters Irish modern painters Irish abstract painters Irish Impressionist painters Irish art educators Alumni of the National College of Art and Design Real Academia de Bellas Artes de San Fernando alumni