"We like to look at the works of artists when they are still alive to see who may feature in the museum in years to come. The National Gallery only houses the work of dead artists. So today's gallery paintings are tomorrow's museum pictures," says Dr Sighle Bhreathnach-Lynch, curator of Irish paintings at the National Gallery. Now that may sound morbid to you, but trust me, she has a big smile on her face so I don't think the National Gallery has resorted to ambulance-chasing just yet.
Dr Bhreathnach-Lynch and her colleague, Jane MacAvock, curator of prints and drawings at the museum, are suitably impressed with the great mix of works on display at the Summer Exhibition at the Peppercanister Gallery.
Bringing a hint of the Mediterranean to this smart gathering, Dr Patrick Masterson, former president of UCD and current president of the European Institute at Florence, and his wife, Frankie, and daughter, Lucy, have come along. Masterson and Pat Murphy, chairman of the Arts Council and husband to Antoinette Murphy, owner of the Gallery, are hatching a plan to bring a permanent European collection that would include a distinguished Irish work of art to the University in Florence.
Wicklow-based sculptor, Conor Fallon, and young artist Mark de Freyne are being touted around. Collectors Countess Kathleen Plunkett, Eimear O'Donoghue-Murphy and Pam Rafferty of St Lucia are all eagerly eyeing the range of paintings, prints, sketches and sculptures. And by early evening most of the works had a little red sticker attached - sold!
The Japanese ambassador to Ireland, Kazuko Yokoo, paid a flying visit earlier in the evening as she dropped in to view the work of fellow countrywoman Maikiko Nakamura, who is now standing shyly in the corner with friend Orla McGrath. Recently returned from the UK after 12 years, including a spell at the Arnolfini Gallery in Bristol, the director of the new Model Art Centre in Sligo, Una McCarthy, is still very taken back and excited with the vibrancy of the arts scene here in Ireland. The Cork woman is set to open Sligo's new centre in early autumn with a collection featuring early 20th-century artists.