The Olympics are almost upon us, and the Waterford Gallery of Art is hosting an exhibition entitled Muscles and Mind: Irish Art Olympians (July 26th — November 26th), which “features artists from the Waterford Art Collection who competed for Ireland in the Olympic Games from 1924-48 including Jack B Yeats, Letitia Hamilton, Séan Keating, Mainie Jellett, Fr. Jack P Hanlon, John Lavery and more”.
One of the main focuses of the exhibition is to highlight how integral art was to the early Olympics, showcase works and artists from the Waterford Art Collection that exhibited as Irish art Olympians, and question art as competition, representation and nationhood, says Luke Currall, visual arts co-ordinator, Waterford City & County Council, Waterford Gallery of Art. “The records and artworks overall are very hard to locate. The National Gallery of Ireland have the Yeats’ Liffey Swim, but a lot of the works are lost, renamed, destroyed or painted over, or are in private collections.
“We have made some exciting discoveries including Mainie Jellett’s The Bathers/Baigneurs artwork that was painted in1922 but only recently has been identified as featuring in the 1928 Amsterdam Olympics.”
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Enigmatic, (eccentric) artist, Flora Vere O’Brien (Limerick born but based in Clare) was featured twice in the 1948 Olympics for poetry (A Song for the Road) and art with a woodblock print, assumed lost, entitled The Hurler. “Through the family, we have not only managed to locate one of the original editions of the print but the woodblock has now also been located,” says Currall.
The granddaughter of Desmond Broe (Sonachú O’Callaghan-Broe) has located a treasure trove of his work including his 1948 London Olympic Medal, Competing Certificate, images of his sculpture submitted in the 1948 Olympics and Race of the Gael, his sculpture which featured in the 1952 Helsinki Olympics.
The gallery also has works to display by Sir John Lavery (who represented Ireland and then changed allegiance to Britain) and a sketch and letter by Sir William Orpen of himself playing snooker — Orpen represented Britain and served as a part of the organising committee and judge in 1924.