Hugh Lane Closure

Dublin City Council have stated that the city's famous Hugh Lane Gallery is to close for three years in order to facilitate a refurbishment. The work will also coincide with the construction of a new library for Dublin that will be linked to the gallery. Hugh Lane Gallery will close on 28 September, to ensure the "safe removal" of its collection. 

The Hugh Lane Gallery is an art museum operated by Dublin City Council. The gallery was founded by art collector Sir Hugh Lane on Harcourt Street in 1908, and is the oldest public gallery of modern art in the world. Since 1933 it has been housed in Charlemont House, Parnell Square. Lane's will bequeathed the collection to London, however, an unwitnessed codicil, which bequeathed the 39 paintings to Dublin. London's National Gallery did not recognise the codicil, the paintings form the Lane Bequest in their collection.

Taoiseach Seán Lemass successfully declared a compromise agreement in 1959: half of the Lane Bequest would be lent from London and displayed in Dublin every five years. In 1993, the agreement was altered: 31 of the 39 paintings would have permanent residency in Ireland. The remaining eight were divided into two groups, four would be lent for six years at a time to Dublin. These eight include works by Manet, Monet, Pissarro, Renoir, Morisot, Vuillard and Degas.

The Hugh Lane Gallery Collection is valued at €231.08 million and includes over 2,100 artworks composed of paintings, drawings and sculptures. In 2008, The National Gallery in London arranged for the entire collection to be on display in Charlemont House, Dublin together for the first time. This Georgian building was built in 1763 and designed by architect William Chambers. The art collection including works by Francis Bacon, Monet, Harry Clarke, Sean Scully and Degas at the Hugh Lane Gallery in Dublin have a combined value of €441 million.

Charlemont House was converted into the Municipal Gallery of Modern Art in the early 1930s. The  conversion was carried out by Horace O'Rourke, then Dublin City Architect. O'Rourke demonstrated  respect for Chambers' design, 'sensitively complementing what was already there.'

To the rear of the house, there is an enfilade of galleries with finished details with brass and bronze door fittings. Their construction meant the loss of Lord Charlemont's library suite (in part designed by James Gandon), although one small room can still be found in the space containing Francis Bacon's studio. 

Now called Dublin City Gallery, Charlemont House 'admirably represents how a building can be sympathetically adapted and extended without disrupting its integrity.'  It was opened as a museum in 1933. The gallery was closed for reconstruction in 2004, and reopened in May 2006.

The Hugh Lane possesses an invaluable collection of modern French art, from the Lane Bequest. These pictures including works such as The Umbrellas by Auguste Renoir; Portrait of Eva Gonzalès by Édouard Manet, Édouard Manet's Music in the Tuileries, Jour d'Été by Berthe Morisot and View of Louveciennes by Camille Pissarro. The Eve of St. Agnes, a stained glass work by Irish artist and illustrator Harry Clarke are displayed.

The collection is owned by the National Gallery, London, but most of the paintings are now displayed at the Hugh Lane. Since 1959, both galleries have arranged rotations of works. In 2008 the whole bequest was exhibited together in Dublin for the first time in several decades.  A fresh agreement was reached in 2021, for 10 years, exchanging two groups of five paintings after five years. Two works are kept permanently in London, the other 27 are housed in Dublin.

With regard to the semi-permanent closure, "The Hugh Lane Gallery conservation team is working hard to safely pack and transport the gallery's renowned collection to museum standard storage facilities."

The state has a poor record with regard in artifacts held in storage. In 2012, an official found a painting in state care on an auction website. When staff from the relevant Department, inspected the facility where the painting was supposed to be., they found many artworks had been stolen. The paintings were from a historic house. The paintings had been moved to a warehouse for safekeeping.

"Three weeks ago, one of the staff at the department was looking on the internet and came across one of the paintings up for sale. When they checked out the warehouse, everything was cleaned out."

The gallery is to be closed for at least three years, possibly considerably longer. The economic situation is deteriorating, this should raise obvious questions about why this closure is happening at this point. The gallery collection is one of the most significant collections of modern art in Europe, and its loss to Dublin would be a cultural disaster.

Why are these works being held in storage instead of being displayed at some other Dublin gallery such as the National Museum of Modern Art or the National Gallery? The state's record of holding artifacts in private facilities is questionable, and will be highly expensive in its own right. 

It appears that no planning permission has been made for this development, so it will be delayed further and there is no timeline for completion of works. The building was already refurbished in 2006,  Dublin City Council have not stated what condition the building is in or why the collection needs to be scattered in various locations at this time. Architects William Chambers and Horace O'Rourke's legacy deserves more respect, not to mention Hugh Lane.