Evelyn Hofer
, German, 1922-2009
Title
'Mulligan’s' James Joyce’s Pub, Dublin, 1966Date1996
MediumGelatin silver print
Dimensions
Image: 39 x 31 cm
Sheet: 50 x 40 cm
Credit LinePurchased, 2019
Object numberNGI.2019.187
DescriptionGerman-American documentary and portrait photographer, Evelyn Hofer spent her early years studying photography, eventually landing a role working for Alexey Brodovitch of Harper's Bazaar when she moved to New York in 1946. Hofer used a four-by-five-inch view camera to make orderly and well-constructed portraits and scenic photographs. Hofer visited Dublin in 1966 to capture scenes of everyday life, which informed her book 'Dublin: A Portrait' (1967) made in collaboration with author V.S. Pritchett. In colour and black and white, her work depicts Ireland at the tipping point between an older, more conservative culture and the emerging modern world. Hofer is represented by 7 photographs of Dublin in the NGI collection.Here, she captures a cat sitting atop a bar counter in Mulligan’s Pub, which has hosted Judy Garland, Seamus Heaney, Con Houlihan, James Joyce and John F. Kennedy among many others throughout its history. Bright artificial light beaming from a bulb in the upper left-hand corner of the work creates a stunning contrast between darkness and light.
ProvenancePurchased, Estate of Evelyn Hofer, through Galerie m, Bochum, Germany, 2019Exhibition HistoryNew Perspectives. Acquisitions 2011 - 2020, National Gallery of Ireland, Dublin, 11 May - 2 August 2021