Lecture—“‘All the Reality of Life’: Osborne, People, and Portraiture”
Wednesday, November 5, 2025 5:30–6:30 PM
- Location
- DescriptionWalter Frederick Osborne (Irish, 1859–1903), Miss Mollie, Daughter of J.G. Nutting, 1893, oil on canvas, 36 x 25 ½ inches (canvas). Private Collection, Ireland. © Raclin Murphy Museum of Art. Photo: Gillian Buckley, Dublin
Please join us as we welcome Brendan Rooney who will expand on his study of Osborne’s portraits published in the present exhibition catalogue. In his presentation, Rooney will introduce Osborne as a person, examining the sometimes harsh realities of life with which he had to contend and the realist tradition on which the artist drew.
Brendan Rooney serves as head curator at the National Gallery of Ireland. He is the author/editor of numerous books, including Creating History: Stories of Ireland in Art (2016). In addition to the in-focus exhibition Walter Frederick Osborne: The Guinness Portrait presented in 2024, he has curated several exhibitions of the work of prominent Irish painters, among them Roderic O’Conor, John Lavery, Jack B. Yeats, and most recently Evie Hone and Mainie Jellett. He is currently working on a monographic study of the painter Nathaniel Hone (1718–1784).
Before the lecture in the atrium, you are encouraged to explore Walter Osborne’s work on view in the Temporary Exhibition Galleries on Level 2. The exhibition will remain open until the lecture begins.
Originally published at raclinmurphymuseum.nd.edu. - Websitehttps://events.nd.edu/events/2025/11/05/all-the-reality-of-life-osborne-people-and-portraiture-lecture-by-brendan-rooney-ph-d-national-gallery-of-ireland/