John Henry Foley in Ireland, Britain and Beyond

22 - 23 November  2024
9:00 to 17:15
Woodquay Venue, Dublin City Council, D08 RF3F

For this symposium we have gathered speakers who are experts in the fields of art history, writing and sculpture to discuss Foley's public, portrait and equestrian sculpture in Ireland, Britain and India. Our keynote speakers are Paula Murphy (Emeritus Professor, UCD School of Art History and Cultural Policy) and Dr Philip Ward-Jackson. They are joined by Harriet Wheelock (Royal College of Physicians of Ireland), conservator Sophie Reynolds-Lerner, Dr Leticia Azcure Brea (Prado Museum, Madrid), Ronan Sheehan (writer, winner of the Rooney Prize in 1984), Richard Barnes (Public Statues and Sculpture Association (UK)), John Byrne (artist), and Rebecca Minch (Principal Officer, Creative Ireland).

Born into Dublin’s working class, John Henry Foley began his art education at the RDS drawing schools. Subsequent training at the Royal Academy in London was followed by his debut at its annual exhibition in 1839, and by the mid-1840s he was in receipt of significant private patronage. It is for his public monuments that he is widely known today, and his statues of statesmen and soldiers can be found as far afield as India and America. Foley died aged just 56, leaving his original cast models to the Royal Dublin Society, and the final touches to his many unfinished works to his accomplished studio assistants.

Tickets are €10 and can be bought here