Famous Irish Artists: Who to Start With
If you want to know who the famous Irish artists are, start with six: Frederic William Burton, John Lavery, William Orpen, Roderic O'Conor, Mainie Jellett and Harry Clarke. Between them they cover Victorian romance, society portraiture, French-trained modernism, pure abstraction and stained-glass-inspired illustration, and every one of them is available as a print in our Irish art prints collection.
That list is a starting point, not a canon. Irish art is a younger and more scattered tradition than most people expect, because so many of its best painters worked abroad: in London, Paris, Brittany, even Calcutta. Here is who to look at first, and what each is good for if you are choosing something for a wall.
Frederic William Burton: the one everyone has already seen
Burton's watercolour Hellelil and Hildebrand, the Meeting on the Turret Stairs (1864) was chosen as Ireland's favourite painting in a national vote at the National Gallery of Ireland. It shows a knight and a lady in a stone stairwell, caught in a moment from a Danish ballad. If you have only ever known one Irish painting, it is probably this. It suits a hallway or bedroom, and it is the safest first purchase on this list. We tell its full story in the story behind Ireland's favourite painting, and there is more on Burton's artist page.
John Lavery: the Belfast painter of light and society
Born in Belfast in 1856, Lavery became one of the most sought-after portraitists in Britain and painted scenes of the Irish Treaty period as well as sunlit leisure in gardens and on terraces. His pictures are bright, relaxed and easy to live with. Good ground for a living room or dining room. See Lavery's artist page or browse the John Lavery collection, including the garden scene Summertime (1904).
William Orpen: portraits with edge
Orpen was a Dubliner who trained at the Metropolitan School of Art and became a celebrated portraitist in London. His sitters include Augusta, Lady Gregory, the co-founder of the Abbey Theatre, whose portrait we print as Augusta Lady Gregory. A sharper, more psychological choice than Lavery, suited to a study or a hall. More on the Orpen artist page.
Roderic O'Conor: the Irishman in France
O'Conor, from Roscommon, spent most of his career in France and worked in the circle of the Pont-Aven painters in Brittany. His colour is bold and his brushwork is strong, which makes his still lifes and portraits good for modern interiors. Start with his 1903 self-portrait, and read the O'Conor artist page.
Mainie Jellett: Irish abstraction begins here
Jellett is the artist to know if you like modern, geometric work. She studied in Paris and brought cubist ideas back to Dublin, where they caused a stir. Her prints suit a clean contemporary room. Sea Rhythm is a good first choice, and the full range is in the Mainie Jellett collection. For the background, see our guide to how Cubism reached Ireland.
Harry Clarke: the strangest of them all
Clarke is best known for stained glass, but he also produced richly detailed book illustrations and textile designs. His work is dark, intricate and unmistakable. The Harry Clarke collection is large, and his butterfly textile design is a lighter way in. Read the Harry Clarke artist page for more.
Where to go after the first six
Walter Osborne and Sarah Purser, both of the generation before Jellett, are worth finding next, along with Aloysius O'Kelly, Mildred Anne Butler and Rose Barton. Our full list, with links to each, is on the Irish artists we print page. If you prefer scenery to portraits, the Irish landscape and seascape prints are a different route in, and our short history of Irish art fits all of these names together.
How to choose
Pick by room and mood, not by fame. Burton for something quiet and romantic, Lavery for light, Orpen for character, O'Conor for colour, Jellett for modern lines, Clarke for drama. All of them are old enough that the paintings themselves are in public collections, which is why a good print is the practical way to live with them.