Luan Gallery to welcome home Athlone’s famous son

Luan Gallery is gearing up to launch McCormack, an exhibition featuring Portrait of John Count McCormack by Sir William Orpen on loan from the National Gallery of Ireland.

It is a very special exhibition dedicated to Athlone’s most famous musical export, John Count McCormack.

The Portrait of John Count McCormack by Sir William Orpen was acquired by the National Gallery of Ireland in 2009, purchased at Christie’s art auction in London. At the time, Christie’s described the work as one of the best paintings by Orpen to come to the market in many years. This art work, painted in 1923, represents two of Ireland’s finest artists coming together at the height of their respective careers and is a very special work.

Accompanying this celebrated piece of Irish art history will be a documentary, The People’s Tenor and a bronze portrait bust by Elizabeth O’Kane. The People’s Tenor, a 56 minute film made in 2006 by Gordon Ledbetter and Martin Dwan, looks at the life and times of Ireland’s first global superstar John Count McCormack. With over 800 recordings in his catalogue, McCormack was a colossus of the concert stage and made millions. The documentary will be shown alongside the viewing of the Orpen portrait until January 10, 2016.

A portrait bust in bronze by Irish artist Elizabeth O’ Kane will also be on display at Luan Gallery during this exhibition. The portrait bust of John Count McCormack is a detail of a large bronze sculpture in Dublin’s Iveagh Gardens, beside the National Concert Hall. Commissioned in 2008 by Peter and Martin Dwan to commemorate the tenor, the sculpture depicts McCormack performing, dressed in bow tie and formal dress coat, lost in song.

A complimentary programme of events is currently being organised by the Luan Gallery team and features a series of talks and a musical recital. Adrian LeHarivel, Curator of British Art at the National Gallery of Ireland, local history expert Gearoid O’ Brien and McCormack biographer Gordon Ledbetter are each delivering a talk during the exhibition and Peter O’Reilly and Kevin Corcoran will perform a musical recital.

Admission to the gallery is free for groups and individuals. Tours and workshops for groups and schools can be arranged by contacting the gallery in advance on 090 6442154.

Luan Gallery is open Tuesday – Saturday 11.00 – 17.00, Sunday 12.00 – 17.00 and is closed on Mondays.