Lines of Vision- Irish Writers on Art

Fifty-six Irish writers have contributed new short stories, essays and poems to this anthology inspired by art from the National Gallery of Ireland collection. It includes work by acclaimed figures in contemporary Irish literature such as Colm Tóibín, John Banville, Roddy Doyle, Colum McCann and Seamus Heaney. Each of the writers has selected a picture and used it as a setting-off point to explore ideas about art, love, loss, family, dreams, memory, places and privacy. Both the artworks and the literary responses to them are vibrantly diverse. The works range from paintings by old masters such as Caravaggio, Rembrandt, El Greco and Velázquez to pictures by Claude Monet, Pierre Bonnard and Gabrielle Münter, and by Irish artists such as Jack B. Yeats, John Lavery, Gerard Dillon and Paul Henry. Published to mark the 150th anniversary of the National Gallery of Ireland, this beautifully illustrated book is edited by Janet McLean, Curator of European Art 1850-1950 at the NGI. Review Handsome. --Art Book of the Year, The Sunday Times Ireland Concise essays with sumptuous prints of the paintings. Seamus Heaney's last poem is a highlight. --Sunday Telegraph A handsomely illustrated collection of literary responses to paintings in the National Gallery of Ireland. --New Statesman The editor Janet McLean has assembled an impressive roster of writers ... what comes through most strongly is the sense of intimacy between writers and paintings. --Telegraph.co.uk Turning a gimlet writer's eye upon legendary artists. --Sunday Business Post Beguiling, fascinating, illuminating. --Irish Examiner Beautifully produced ... a perceptive, original and enjoyable anthology. --Irish Arts Review From the Back Cover It includes work by acclaimed figures in contemporary Irish literature such as Colm Tóibín, John Banville, Roddy Doyle, Colum McCann and Seamus Heaney. Each of the writers has selected a picture and used it as a setting-off point to explore ideas about art, love, loss, family, dreams, memory, places and privacy. Both the artworks and the literary responses to them are vibrantly diverse. The works range from paintings by old masters such as Caravaggio, Rembrandt, El Greco and Velázquez to pictures by Claude Monet, Pierre Bonnard and Gabrielle Münter, and by Irish artists such as Jack B. Yeats, John Lavery, Gerard Dillon and Paul Henry. Published to mark the 150th anniversary of the National Gallery of Ireland, this beautifully illustrated book is edited by Janet McLean, Curator of European Art 1850-1950 at the NGI. Author Bio Janet McLean is Curator of European Art, 1850–1950, at the National Gallery of Ireland. She grew up in Co. Down and was educated at Trinity College Dublin and the Courtauld Institute of Art. She has previously been a curator at the Watts Gallery, Compton, the Palace of Westminster and the Royal Academy of Arts, London.