Drawn to the Page

Title of artwork:

Entrance and courtyard, Bank of Ireland

Artist:

French, Ethel Kathleen Armytage-Moore

Materials:

Paper (fiber material), Ink

Techniques:

Photoengraving

Engraver:

Photographic process

Author:

Whitton, Herbert Goldsmith

Title of Publication:

Handbook of Irish parliamentary houses

Publisher:

Alexander Thom

Publication place:

Dublin

Publication date:

1891

Curator Comment:

This handbook was produced as an anecdotal guide to the Irish Houses of Parliament, College Green, Dublin, which at the time of the publication in 1891 functioned as the headquarters of the Bank of Ireland (it remains a functioning bank today). The primary text was written by Herbert Goldsmith Whitton (1869 – 1921) with contributions by W. Percy French (1854 – 1920) and an A J Fleming. Illustrations were by Ethel Kathleen French (1871-1891) wife of Percy French (1854-1920), and Richard Caulfield Orpen (1863-1938). Orpen, an architect and artist, was a brother of the painter and was an active participant of the Irish cultural revival.

Note on artwork:

This photoengraved illustration by Ethel Kathleen French is a detail of Edward Lovett Pearce’s Houses of Parliament on College Green Dublin. The building, the first purpose built parliament in the Western world, dates from the late 1720s and is an early exponent of Palladian classicism in Ireland. French presents a sparse, yet softly tonal, representation with few figures - drawing attention the austere grandeur of the structure.