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The Spectrum Bursts | Seamus Heaney & the Visual Arts

Exploring Seamus Heaney's friendships with contemporary visual artists
Date
-
Location Seamus Heaney: Listen Now Again, Westmoreland Street, Dublin, D02 VR66
Category Event
Price Free
Date
-
Location Seamus Heaney: Listen Now Again, Westmoreland Street, Dublin, D02 VR66
Category Event
Price Free
Abstract landscape painting titled Fermanagh Field I by Terence Philip Flanagan. The artwork depicts a pale, textured field rendered in muted tones of beige, grey, and white, with expressive brushstrokes suggesting land and sky. A soft blue sky with streaks of white looms over darker, indistinct shapes resembling distant trees or rocks, creating a sense of open space and quiet atmosphere.

Fermanagh Field I, Terence Philip Flanagan 
Herbert Art Gallery & Museum 

 

In Person

'...a hurled boule
travelling unpainted space'

Heaney’s poetry is deeply visual, rich with images that seem to emerge layer by layer. He found enduring inspiration in the visual arts, nourished by a circle of artists whose vision and friendship sparked his own creative imagination.

Among these were four especially close companions — Colin Middleton, Terry Philip Flanagan, Barrie Cooke, and Dimitri Hadzi — each offering a distinct perspective and creative energy that resonated with Heaney’s own sensibilities. Through friendship and collaboration, they shared a profound understanding of place, of belonging, and of how art can root itself in the landscape that shapes it.

Join us on Saturday, 29 November at 11:30am at Seamus Heaney: Listen Now Again for a talk that delves into these relationships and the ways in which art and poetry, in dialogue with one another, continue to reveal what lies beneath the surface.

bstract painting featuring bold, fluid brushstrokes in red, brown, beige, blue, black, and white tones. The composition has an organic, flowing quality, with overlapping shapes and blended colors suggesting movement and depth.

Couple, 1967 Barrie Cooke 
IMMA Collection: Gordon Lambert Trust, 1992 

Abstract painting of an elk with a large, pale antler set against a dark blue background. The elk’s body is painted in earthy reds, browns, and pinks with fluid, expressive brushstrokes that create a ghostly, ethereal atmosphere

Megaceros Hibernicus, 1983 Barrie Cooke  
IMMA Collection: Gordon Lambert Trust, 1992 

Abstract painting featuring broad horizontal bands of earthy brown tones beneath a pale sky-like area with hints of pink and gray. Black and dark gray curved lines add depth and movement, evoking a sense of landscape or horizon.

Tyrone Study, 1969 T.P. Flanagan
IMMA Collection: Gordon Lambert Trust, 1992 

Abstract landscape painting with soft horizontal layers of beige, gray, and blue tones. Broad brushstrokes suggest a calm seascape or shoreline, with dark smudges and streaks evoking distant land or reflections on water.

Ebb Tide, Lissadell, undated T.P. Flanagan  
IMMA Collection: Gordon Lambert Trust, 1992 

Abstract bronze sculpture depicting a dynamic, elongated centaur-like figure with angular, textured surfaces. The form balances gracefully on two slender legs atop a light stone base, with its upper body and arms extended upward in an expressive, energetic pose.

Centaur, 1958 Dimitri Hadzi

bstract stone sculpture composed of geometric and organic forms in shades of gray, black, and reddish-brown. The arrangement includes angular blocks and curved pieces set on an oval base, with one element featuring a bright red triangular top, evoking a minimalist landscape or architectural composition.

Landscape I, 1984 Dimitri Hadzi

Abstract geometric painting featuring overlapping dark green, blue, and black shapes with red, orange, and purple highlights. The composition includes circles, triangles, and rectangles arranged in an architectural pattern, resembling stylized buildings under low light.

Last Still Life, 1983 Colin Middleton 
IMMA Collection: Heritage Gift by Mr. Noel Smyth, 2003 

Abstract painting featuring three stylized yellow bird-like figures with elongated necks and geometric bodies, set against a textured brown background. The figures are constructed from triangular and patterned shapes, with a red and black checkered form atop the leftmost figure, evoking a totemic or symbolic composition.

Legend III, Queen With Geese, 1970, Colin Middleton 
IMMA Collection: Heritage Gift from the McClelland Collection by Noel and Anne Marie Smyth, 2003 

If our team can be of any assistance, please contact us at heaneyexhibition@nli.ie

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