Irish Arts Review Spring 2026

A quarterly journal of fine art, design, architecture, photography, sculpture, heritage, decorative arts and crafts.

IN THE ISSUE

In our spring edition, TERENCE REEVES-SMYTH travels to Donegal to visit Glenveagh Castle, whose gardens are amongst the finest in Ireland. Built in the mid-19th century, the castle had a series of American owners until it passed into the care of the Irish state in 1983; ROGER STALLEY addresses the issue of restoration of medieval buildings in Ireland. His principal message is that as far as possible the original fabric of a monument should be preserved – as if it was a historical document – but if the building must be restored it should have a defined purpose, and one not in conflict with the original architecture. KATHRYN MILLIGAN writes about the New Irish Salon of the 1920s, set up in Dublin with the aim of bringing modern works of art to public attention; ISABELLA EVANGELISTI looks at the work of Chinese-born painter Kwok Tsui and considers how it forges a connection between the earthly and the mystical; and SUSAN KEATING finds echoes from the Classical world in artist Colin Davidson’s new sculptural works. Artist Sinéad Ní Mhaonaigh tells AIDAN DUNNE that ‘you’re completely lost at the beginning of a painting – the white canvas, the void – and you find an anchor through painting’; JAMES HOWLEY reviews a Dublin national school designed by tún Architecture, which won the Public Building Category in the Royal Institute of the Architects of Ireland (RIAI) Awards; and STEPHANIE McBRIDE regards Dermot Blackburn’s photographs, which she notes ‘revisit and reprise the still-life genre’. RÓISÍN KENNEDY visits the latest RDS Visual Art Awards; and HILARY PYLE recalls artist Maria (née Spilsbury) Taylor’s time in Ireland. Born 250 years ago, Taylor was an accomplished portrait painter, whose notable works include one of John Wesley, the founder of Methodism, preaching to a gathering in County Wicklow. Elsewhere in the issue, there’s MARK EWART on Sarah Dwyer; CRISTÍN LEACH on Eilis O’Connell; and MARIANNE O’KANE BOAL on the drawing of Lelia Henry, in whose work she finds ‘an orchestration of mark-making’. Usual features include the Diary of Events, Art at Auction by JOHN P O’SULLIVAN and Design Portfolio by FRANCES McDONALD. There are book reviews by John Crowley, Joseph McBrinn, Roger Stalley and Conor English. And finally, a work by one of the seminal figures of the Romantic Age, William Blake, graces the front cover of the spring edition. Ahead of the Blake exhibition at the National Gallery of Ireland, JOHN HUTCHINSON explores an artist ‘whose appeal is deep and comprehensive’. Enjoy!9771649217104

Published by Irish Arts Review
Softcover
120 pages
230 x 300 mm
ISBN 9771649217104