Proposal to move Hugh Lane collection to Dublin Castle resisted by head of National Gallery

Dublin, 6 October 1922 – The Director of the National Gallery of Ireland has opposed the proposal of artist Paul Henry that the state apartments of Dublin Castle be used to house the art collection of the late Hugh Lane.

The portion of the Lane art collection that is currently in Ireland is held by the Municipal Gallery on Harcourt Street and the idea of transferring it to Dublin Castle was raised recently by the artist Paul Henry in a letter to the Freeman’s Journal.

This morning’s newspaper indicates that this suggestion has now received the endorsement of another artist, John Lavery. While unsure as to the suitability of the Dublin Castle building, Mr Lavery was firm in his agreement with Paul Henry’s criticisms of the Harcourt Street premises’ hopeless limitations. Writing from his residence in London, Lavery says that he ‘cannot imagine a more fortunate circumstance than the possibility of the castle being used to house a collection of such a high standard.’

However, Robert Langton Douglas, Director of the National Gallery of Ireland, has told the Freeman’s Journal that while he agrees that the Harcourt facility is inadequate, the aim should be to acquire a building that has been specially adapted for the showing of pictures.

‘We ought not to use for this purpose a building originally made for another purpose. Modern pictures especially demand in many cases a good top-light in the gallery. The Germans, in building the new Academy in Berlin, have given us a model of what such a building ought to be.’

And while Langton Douglas appreciated the pressures that are currently put on the public purse, he does not think that ‘we ought to be behind Belfast in giving money for the purposes of art.’ He added that in discussing the future of the Gallery of Modern Art, it was important to bear in mind the vision and aims of its founder, Sir Hugh Lane.

Writer and historian Robert O’Byrne discusses the life and legacy of Hugh Lane in a series of short films for Century Ireland

[Editor's note: This is an article from Century Ireland, a fortnightly online newspaper, written from the perspective of a journalist 100 years ago, based on news reports of the time.]