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Colin Davidson , Northern Irish, b.1968

Title

Portrait of Michael Longley (b.1939), Poet, Editor and Anthologist

Date2011-2012

MediumOil on linen

Dimensions

127 x 117 cm

Signedlower right: CDAVIDSON

Credit LinePresented, 2012

Object numberNGI.2012.19

DescriptionBorn in Belfast, Michael Longley is one of Ireland’s most celebrated poets, editors and anthologists. Having read classics at Trinity College Dublin, he taught in Dublin, London and Belfast before joining the Arts Council of Northern Ireland, where he worked for over 20 years. He has published more than a dozen collections of poetry and won various prestigious awards, among them the Whitbread Poetry Prize, the T.S. Eliot Prize and The Irish Times Literature Prize for Poetry. He was appointed CBE in the Queen’s Birthday Honours List in 2010 and the following year had the Degree of Doctor of Literature, honoris causa, conferred upon him by University College Dublin.

Colin Davidson was educated at the University of Ulster, and has won several awards, including the Ireland-US Council and Irish Arts Review Portraiture Award in 2010, and the Keating/McLoughlin Medal (ESB) at the RHA in 2009. He has held solo exhibitions in Dublin, Belfast and New York, has contributed to many group shows, and is represented in private and public collections throughout Ireland and the UK. He was elected president of the Royal Ulster Academy in 2012. This work is one of a series of oversized portrait busts by the artist of private individuals and public figures. Each portrait has been executed with painterly vigour, but also a sensitivity that belies its monumental scale.

Label TextThis work is one of a series of oversized portrait busts by Davidson of private individuals and public figures. It has been executed with painterly vigour typical of the artist, but also a sensitivity that belies its monumental scale. Born in Belfast, Michael Longley is one of Ireland’s most celebrated poets, editors and anthologists. He has published more than a dozen collections of poetry, won various prestigious awards and had several public honours conferred upon him. This painting was acquired specifically for the National Portrait Collection.