Patrick Hennessy RHA, 1915-1980

Cork artist Patrick Hennessy is one of the most important Irish artists of the 20th Century. He won a scholarship to Art College before travelling to study in Paris and Rome. He exhibited at the Royal Scottish Academy in 1939, returning to Ireland at the outbreak of the Second World War, exhibiting at the Royal Hibernian Academy from 1941 onwards. In Ireland, he divided his time between Dublin and Co Cork and became closely associated with the artist Harry Robinson Craig RHA. He exhibited extensively with almost 100 works shown in the Royal Hibernian Academy. His first one man show was at Thomas Agnew & Sons, Old Bond Street, London, in 1956 and the following year at the Ritchie Hendriks Gallery in Dublin. He continued his association with the Hendriks Gallery in subsequent years, exhibiting in Chicago in 1966. He travelled regularly in Cork, Kerry and Connemara and to France, Spain, Italy, Belgium and Holland, before moving to live in Morocco in his later years. His work is include of the collections of the National Gallery of Ireland, the National Self Portrait Collection, the Hugh Lane Municipal Gallery, the Crawford Art Gallery and the Ulster Museum. An artist of true substance, he has been considerable force in 20th Century Irish Art.