Sir, - Victoria White's Front Row of January 31st was somewhat confusing in its comparisons between the National Gallery of Ireland and the Hugh Lane Gallery.
The excellent exhibition, Monet, Renoir and the Impressionist Landscape, at the National Gallery of Ireland is a temporary exhibition and, like all shows of impressionist paintings, has a broad appeal and will achieve high visitor numbers, as such exhibitions do in any city.
The Royal Academy's recent Monet exhibition in London was a case in point.
The Francis Bacon Studio at the Hugh Lane Gallery is a permanent installation built to house a fascinating collection of items which provide unprecedented insights into the mind of one of the most significant painters of the 20th century.
The studio has been a major critical success and has received positive and lengthy reviews both in Ireland and abroad, the most recent being in the New York Times and the Washington Post (January 20th).
Francis Bacon's studio is a unique installation. It consists of a superb series of rooms designed by David Chipperfield which house the studio, a small cinema screening the celebrated Melvyn Bragg interview with Francis Bacon, a micro-gallery with seven touch-screen interactive terminals to allow the visitor to explore the studio contents, and a gallery of unfinished paintings which have never been previously exhibited, making it one of Dublin's top cultural attractions.
The studio has also won two prestigious awards: the Best Larger Museum Award from the Gulbenkian Foundation in association with the Heritage Council and Museums Council of Northern Ireland; and the Interpret Ireland Award from the Association for Heritage Interpretation (UK).
Contrary to what Victoria White suggests, we are very happy with our visitor numbers.
I think Dublin is fortunate to have the opportunity to host a world-class Impressionist exhibition at the same time as the superb installation of Francis Bacon's Studio. - Yours, etc.,
BARBARA DAWSON,
Director,
Hugh Lane
Municipal Gallery
of Modern Art,
Parnell Square,
Dublin 1.