Hugh Lane, the Municipal Gallery & Provenance

Hugh Lane was born in Cork in 1875. He started his career in art dealing as an apprentice at the Marlborough Gallery in London, before establishing his own business as an art dealer where he built a reputation as an expert in Old Masters. In 1900, he went to Ireland to visit his aunt Lady Gregory and began to develop an interest in Irish art—an interest that was boosted by his meeting of W. Yeats and other artistic friend's of Lady Gregory at Coole Park, as well as his attendance at an exhibition of work by John Butler Yeats and Nathaniel Hone that was organised by Sarah Purser. He quickly became a leading figure in the Irish art scene and was appointed to the Board of the National Gallery in 1903. In 1904, he helped stage an exhibition of Irish Art at the Guildhall in London. From this experience and success, he was spurred to create a modern art gallery in Dublin. A gallery needs a nucleus of a collection to start, and Lane had works from his private collection that he agreed to donate. In addition, Lane also reached out to a number of artists asking them to contribute works to the project and many responded with promises of paintings. 

He organised a circular to be published highlighting the benefits of a permanent collection and calling for a suitable building to house them. The letter starts, “We are anxious to form a Permanent Collection of Modern Paintings for Dublin.” Included is a list of artists who have agreed to contribute pictures to the collection such as Jack B. Yeats, Roderic O’Conor and Nathaniel Hone.

Within the NLI collections Sir Hugh Lane's correspondence and other papers (MS 13,071-13,072) and the Sir Hugh Lane Additional Papers 1900-1932 (MS 27,736-27,793), we can find letters and documents from these artists to Lane confirming their contributions.  

This material demonstrates all the work and collaboration occurring behind the scenes before the circular was made public. It also substantiates and highlights the provenance of these pictures, with a direct line from the artist to the gallery.  

On August 16, 1904, Jack B. Yeats wrote to Lane, 

“Your note and circular about the gallery of Modern Art in Dublin just came. I am delighted of course to present one or more pictures to the Gallery. I hope you will be able to make a great success of the whole thing. The Guildhall exhibition has done a lot I think.” (MS 13,072/2/82/1)

The Guildhall exhibition opened on May 30th, 1904, and ran for 8 weeks. Yeats’ letter, dated from so soon after the Guildhall exhibition closed, shows how quickly Lane moved to forge ahead with his plans for a Dublin gallery in the wake of the Guildhall exhibition’s popularity.    

Soon after, another letter arrived from Yeats confirming the pictures he sent to Dublin. On August 23, 1904, he wrote, 

“I have just sent Egan three pictures. The Rogue, The Melodian Player, The Day of the Sports. I think they are good examples of my work. Egan has to frame the pictures. So when you want them let me know and where they are to be sent to…”. (MS 13,072/2/82/2)

All three pictures are included in the Hugh Lane Gallery collection today, albeit The Melodian Player is now titled The Accordion Player. The credit line on these works state, “Donated by the artist.” While this line gives viewers the essential information regarding the provenance and how the pictures came to be in the collection, when combined with the letters from Yeats in the NLI collection, it feels more personal. We experience the casual tone between the two men, Yeats' ready acceptance of the gallery plan, and minutiae such as where the pictures were framed before passing into Lane’s care. 

You can view these works on the Hugh Lane Gallery Catalogue here: The Rogue | The Accordion Player | The Day of the Sports 

Another letter, this time from Roderic O’Conor, confirms the transferral of his work The Breton Peasant Girl (or Une Jeune Bretonne) to the collection for the proposed Municipal Gallery. He wrote:  

“Dear Mr. Lane, I must apologise for my culpable neglect in leaving your flattering letter too long without a reply. I shall be very glad to contribute the picture you mention (the Breton peasant girl) to the collection you speak of as being formed for Dublin. I do not know what has been done with my pictures, but they have not been fetched from the Guildhall to my knowledge…In any case you are authorised to take the abovementioned picture for the proposed collection.” (MS 13,072/1/60/3)

As we learn from the letter, Hugh Lane had selected this work by O’Conor for the Guildhall exhibition in London and now was keen that it be included in the new gallery. O’Conor’s mention of Lane’s ‘flattering letter’ leaves readers intrigued as to how Lane asked O’Conor to part with the piece, and wishing we could read the other side of the correspondence. Again, the Hugh Lane collection catalogue notes this work as being donated by the artist and also points out that it was placed in Gallery One while at the Guildhall exhibition, where the most significant works were hung. 

You can view O’Conor’s painting online at the Hugh Lane Gallery catalogue: Une Jeune Bretonne 

Lastly, there are documents relating to Nathaniel Hone’s work held in the Municipal Gallery collection. Hone’s handwriting is the most difficult to decipher. A previous cataloguer had unravelled that, while they were mainly discussing which pictures would go to the new gallery, Hone was also writing to let Lane know that his umbrella had been found in the drawing room after a recent visit. (MS 27,769) 

For one of Hone’s donations, the NLI also has the agreement form. Nathaniel Hone signs with a flourish that he is “prepared to present the above work to form part of the nucleus in the collection of Modern Art for Dublin.” (MS 13,071/3/42/3) The work listed on the form is Sunset, Malahide Sands now listed on the Hugh Lane Gallery catalogue as Evening, Malahide Sands and of course designated as donated by the artist in 1904.

As mentioned previously, Lane also agreed to donate works from his own private collection to the Gallery. The NLI also has correspondence that gives provenance details of how Lane came by certain works—in particular a set by Walter Frederick Osbourne.  

Stephen Catterson Smith was a painter and the secretary of the Royal Hibernian Academy for around twenty years. Within Lane’s correspondence are letters from Smith in November 1904 confirming the hire of the RHA exhibition rooms for the opening of the collection of the Gallery of Modern Art—which would have included the works that Lane was gathering from willing artists. However, a year later, in December 1905, another letter appears from Smith. (MS 35,823/5/6/3) He writes:  

Dear Mr Lane / Your offer to purchase – No 26 “Fishmarket” – No 15 “Mother and Child – + No 116 “Teatime, – pictures by the late Walter Osborne P.H.D. at present on exhibition here, has been accepted, they have accordingly been marked as sold to you for the stipulated sum, sixty pounds. / Yours truly, / S Catterson Smith 

Both The Fishmarket and Mother and Child are in the Hugh Lane Gallery collection today. The credit line marks them as part of the Lane Gift, 1912—the grouping of paintings that Lane gave to the city of Dublin for the gallery with the proviso that the works must always be free to view for the public. The above letter from Smith helps researchers trace the trail—from an exhibition display at the RHA, to Hugh Lane’s purchase for sixty pounds in 1905, and then their inclusion in the 1912 Lane Gift to the municipal gallery collections.  

These documents allow researchers to go beyond the credit line of a picture in the Hugh Lane Gallery, to trace the provenance one step further back, and see the active participation of the artist in where their work would be displayed.  

You can view the items discussed in this article digitally through our online catalogue. You can also consult additional material onsite.  

A reader’s ticket is required to access all reading rooms and research spaces. You may apply for a reader’s ticket by using our online application form. 

Sources from the NLI 

Sir Hugh Lane's correspondence and other papers [MS 13,071-13,072] 

Sir Hugh Lane Additional Papers 1900-1932 [MS 27,736-27,793} 

Sir Hugh Lane and Ruth Shine Papers, ca.1880 – ca. 1970 [MS 35,822-35,828]  

Other Sources 

Dictionary of Irish Biography 

Hugh Lane Gallery – Online Catalogue | You can view the works by Yeats, O’Connor, Hone and Osbourne.