“Everything about her is artistic,” wrote one of Sarah Purser’s contemporaries. Here’s all you need to know about one of the pivotal figures in Irish art …
“More Power to You” is a new exhibition which has just opened at the Hugh Lane Gallery in Dublin. It features almost 100 works that celebrate the achievements of Irish artist and activist Sarah Purser – an extraordinary woman who was a painter, exhibition organiser, advocate, entrepreneur and collector. For anyone interested in Irish art this is a must-visit. Highlights of the exhibition include portraits of Jane Barlow, Maud Gonne, W B Yeats among others.
Sarah Purser, Miss Maud Gonne, 1890, Collection & Image © Hugh Lane Gallery. Donated by the Friends of the National Collections of Ireland, 1944.
The exhibition was opened by Barbara Dawson, Director of the Hugh Lane Gallery and Sabina Higgins. Curated by Logan Sisley, Head of Collections at the gallery, “More Power to You” is themed across five galleries introducing visitors to her work as an artist: her connection to Sir Hugh Lane and Hugh Lane Gallery; her support of the artistic community and An Túr Gloine, the stained glass studio she founded; her salon at Mespil House and her establishment of the Friends of the National Collection of Ireland 100 years ago.
Sarah Purser, Miss Maud Gonne, 1898, Collection & Image © Hugh Lane Gallery. Donated by the Friends of the National Collections of Ireland, 1944.
Purser was born in Dun Laoghaire in 1848 and later educated at the acclaimed Académie Julian in Paris. Remarkably, aged 75, she held her first solo exhibition in 1923. A year later she would become the first female member elected to the Royal Hibernian Academy (RHA) and was renowned as a society portraitist. She painted public figures such as Douglas Hyde, Constance Markievicz, and Kathleen Behan. As a resourceful, self-made woman, Purser successfully secured numerous commissions and would quip, she “went through the British aristocracy like the measles.”
Sarah Purser, Mother and Child, 1894, Collection & Image © Hugh Lane Gallery.
Purser advocated on behalf of Irish artists throughout her life and her home at Mespil House was a meeting place for her legendary “Second Tuesday” gatherings – an early prototype of networking events – which brought together young and established artists, politicians, writers, patrons and businesspeople.
Mespil House was also a miniature art gallery where she hung works she had collected by contemporary artist such as John Everett Millais, Berthe Morisot, Wilhemina Geddes. She would later donate some of these to the gallery, while others were given posthumously in her memory through the Friends of the National Collections of Ireland, an organisation which she founded in 1924.
Logan Sisley explains: “More Power to You introduces Sarah Purser’s many achievements to new audiences. With relentless energy, she forged her own career and provided opportunities for artists to work and exhibit in Ireland. Her patriotism was coupled with an open-minded, international outlook as seen in her own collection of modern art and in the work of the Friends of the National Collections of Ireland that she founded.”
Sarah Purser, Portrait Study, 1895, Collection & Image © Hugh Lane Gallery.
One of the most important things Purser did was to establish An Túr Gloine, (The Tower of Glass) which operated in Dublin from 1903 to 1944. This pioneering stained-glass studio attracted artists such as Evie Hone, Michael Healy and Wilhelmina Geddes, promoting the medium in Ireland and employing women which was unusual for the time. The group produced beautiful stained-glass windows that can be seen in Ireland and around the world.
She also organised an exhibition of Irish artists Nathaniel Hone and John Butler Yeats in 1901. This inspired Sir Hugh Lane to establish a Gallery of Modern Art for Dublin, now called Hugh Lane Gallery. While initially sceptical of the need for another gallery, Purser was supportive of Lane’s aims writing a letter exclaiming “More power to you.” She became a loyal champion of the gallery and was the driving force behind securing Charlemont House as its permanent home.
Sarah Purser, W.B. Yeats, 1904, Collection & Image © Hugh Lane Gallery. Donated by the Friends of the National Collections of Ireland, 1944.
In August 1943, aged 95, Purser died at her home following a stroke, reportedly brought on by her disappointment at the depiction of her friend Douglas Hyde on a postage stamp, commissioned to mark the 50th anniversary of the Gaelic League. Purser is buried at Mount Jerome cemetery, Harold’s Cross, Dublin. Her epitaph is Fortis et strenua: strong and vigorous.
Summing up her achievements Barbara Dawson says: “Sarah Purser was an extraordinary woman, a doer who was indefatigable in her support for the visual arts. Her studies in Paris and her frequent return visits there saw her maintain a great interest in the younger more experimental artists whom she supported. Without Sarah Purser, would we ever have secured a permanent home for Hugh Lane Gallery? Undoubtedly, we are still enjoying the legacies of her marvellous foresight today.”
Need to Know: “More Power to You” curated by Logan Sisley, Head of Collections, Hugh Lane Gallery, is on until January 5 2025. Many of the works exhibited have been donated by the Friends of the National Collections of Ireland, which celebrates its centenary this year. www.hughlane.ie
