Irish women are among some of the most interesting figures in today's art collections. They made strides in every area from portraiture to purely abstract works, but many were also organisers, teachers and activists. Yet, in comparison to their male counterparts, they have been historically under-collected and undervalued by museums and art galleries.
Within the mass digitisation of artworks and the advent of Women's History Month however, we can answer these oversights by spotlighting the Ulster Museum's collection of women artists from North and South of the border. This curation is not an attempt to sub-categorise them, but rather to celebrate a rich tapestry of artists who are at once interwoven and independent visionaries.
An Irish Idyll c.1894
Sarah Henrietta Purser (1848–1943)
Oil on canvas
H 76.5 x W 64.7 cm
National Museums NI
The Lifting of the Fog at the Gasworks, Belfast c.1926
Georgina Moutray Kyle (1865–1950)
Oil on canvas
H 55.1 x W 73.5 cm
National Museums NI
Henry Joy McCracken (1767–1798) 1926
Sarah Cecilia Harrison (1863–1941)
Oil on canvas
H 63.5 x W 56.2 cm
National Museums NI
The Bus Queue 1948–1949
Gladys Maccabe (1918–2018)
Oil on panel
H 38.7 x W 30.7 cm
National Museums NI
Village by the Sea 1953
Norah McGuinness (1901–1980)
Oil on canvas
H 68.9 x W 91.6 cm
National Museums NI
Potato Washers, Connemara 1949
Alicia Boyle (1908–1997)
Oil on muslin on board
H 50.8 x W 60.1 cm
National Museums NI
Light Falls Within 1978
Carol Graham (b.1951)
Oil & acrylic on canvas on board
H 64.8 x W 74.9 cm
National Museums NI
Explore artists in this Curation
View all 11-
Georgina Moutray Kyle (1865–1950) -
Alicia Boyle (1908–1997) -
Gladys Maccabe (1918–2018) -
Sarah Henrietta Purser (1848–1943) -
Norah McGuinness (1901–1980) -
Carol Graham (b.1951) -
Evie Hone (1894–1955) -
Sarah Cecilia Harrison (1863–1941) -
Margaret Clarke (1888–1961) -
Rita Duffy (b.1959) - View all 11