Liberty at the Barricades - Delacroix
Artist
Robert Ballagh
(b. 1943)
Date1971
MediumColoured sreenprint on paper
Dimensions50.7 x 64.2 cm
Edition35/100
ClassificationsPrint
Credit LineCollection & image © Hugh Lane Gallery.
Purchased, 1975.
Object number1390
DescriptionThis is a nine colour screenprint on paper of a painting by Robert Ballagh, which was adapted from the famous work by Eugène Delacroix (1798-1863) entited 'Liberty Leading the People' (1830, oil on canvas, 260 × 325 cm, Musée du Louvre, Paris).Together with Ballagh's adaptations of works by David and Goya, the painting forms part of a series, which refers directly to events in Northern Ireland. In interview in 1979, the artist explained that he adapted these images into a poster style, by simplifying them and keeping the original composition. "…the lines that I drew were kept a constant thickness so that they would not have any personal expressive quality. In other words, the lines could never be gestural or in any way romantic."
Ballagh studied architecture before beginning to paint in earnest around 1967 when he assisted Micheal Farrell with an important mural commission for the National Bank, College Green. Ballagh's own work from that time embraces the abstract idiom. He later found that too restricting and changed to figurative imagery, which characterises his work to-date and he is best-known for his portraits and self-portraits. He is also a noted graphic designer, photographer and designer of stage sets.
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