Edward Onslow Ford, British, 1852-1901
Title: Sir Walter Armstrong (1850-1918), Art Historian and Director of the National Gallery of Ireland
Medium: Bronze
Dimensions:
41 cm
Signed: on reverse: E. Onslow Ford
Credit Line: Presented, Mr C.F. Armstrong, the Sitter's son, 1924
Object Number: NGI.8143
DescriptionSir Walter Armstrong, a distinguished art historian and critic, was Director of the National Gallery of Ireland from 1892 to 1914. During his Directorship he published books almost yearly. These include biographies of Reynolds (1900), Raeburn (1901) and Gainsborough (1904). He oversaw the acquisition of oils, drawings and engravings for the National Portrait Collection, as well as the collection of Irish and British paintings. Among the Continental works purchased for the NGI by Armstrong were a number of fine Dutch pictures, a work by Mantegna (NGI 442) and one by Rubens (NGI 437). The sculptor Onslow Ford studied painting for a short time at the Antwerp Academy in 1870 but decided to take up sculpture while in Munich between 1871-4. On his return to London he exhibited annually at the Royal Academy from 1875. This bust was included in the 1894 exhibition.