Title
Study for Portrait of Norah McGuinness (1901-1980)Date1924
MediumGraphite on paper
Dimensions
38.8 × 25.5 cm
Signedlower right: P.Dodd
Credit LinePurchased, 2021
Object numberNGI.2021.44
DescriptionPhyllis Dodd produced this study in graphite, along with a corresponding drypoint, both dated 1924, of the Derry-born artist Norah McGuinness (1901-1980). McGuinness attended the Metropolitan School of Art, Dublin, and Chelsea Polytechnic, London. On Mainie Jellett’s advice, she moved to Paris in 1929 to study with the Cubist painter André Lhôte. After a period of time in London, she returned to Ireland in 1937. A founder member of the Irish Exhibition of Living Art in 1943, she succeeded Mainie Jellett as president in 1944, a position she held for over twenty years. McGuinness, together with Nano Reid, represented Ireland at the Venice Biennale in 1950. A major retrospective exhibition of her work was held at Trinity College, Dublin, in 1968. This is one of a group of six works on paper by the artist Phyllis Dodd, acquired by the National Gallery of Ireland in 2020, which came directly from the artist’s studio. This group of portrait drawings and etchings depict people whom the artist knew well, including fellow art students and friends Norah McGuinness and Kathleen Bridle, together with Geoffrey Phibbs, the English-born Irish poet who was married for a time to the artist Norah McGuinness. The artist’s fine drypoint self-portrait also forms part of this group.
Inscriptionlower left: Norah McGuinness/McGuinness
ProvenancePurchased, 2021