Fine Art
The Fine Art collection contains a multitude of works of national and international significance, executed in a variety of styles and media. Amongst the earlier British paintings are portraits by Thomas Gainsborough and Sir Joshua Reynolds, whilst landscape artists include Richard Wilson and J.M.W. Turner. The Old Masters collection - small but significant - comprises works by Dutch, Flemish and Italian masters, with the best-known names being Jacob Jordaens and Pompeo Batoni. The Irish collection - the backbone of the entire holdings - contains works dating from the late seventeenth century to the present day, with paintings by well-known figures such as James Arthur O'Connor, Roderic O'Conor and Walter Osborne; also, by illustrious Ulster artists like Sir John Lavery, John Luke and William Conor.
The Museum also owns a highly important collection of twentieth-century and modern art, by British and foreign artists. The modern section was built up during the 1960s, at a time when such works were considered challenging and experimental. During this decade, few museums collected contemporary art and the Museum was famous for the daring of its acquisitions policy. Notable artists represented include Karel Appel, Jean Dubuffet, Francis Bacon and the sculptor Henry Moore. Of particular interest is a small but important collection of American 'Colour Field' paintings by Morris Louis, Kenneth Noland and others. The 1960s collection, one of the most important of the period outside London, includes work by Patrick Caulfield and Bridget Riley.
Image: Mrs. Fuseli in a Red Cap; verso, Pencil Sketches of Women (1794) by John Henry Fuseli, (Johann Heinrich Füssli) 1741-1825.
To contact a member of the Ulster Museum curatorial team please download:
the Division of Art Curatorial Staff List
Italian Paintings
This is a collection of about twenty-five works ranging from the 16th to the 18th century. Most notable 17th century pieces are An Allegory of Fortune by Lorenzo Lippi and St Cecilia crowned by an Angel by Giovanni Romanelli. A fine companion pair of genre scenes A Boy with a basket of Vegetables...
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Dutch Paintings
There are fourteen Dutch works, of which the most important are two acquired since 1998: A View of the Palace of the Dukes of Brabant, Brussels (poss. 1660s) by Jan van der Heyden, a highly detailed townscape and River Landscape with Figures in Boats and Church in the Distance (1664) by Salomon v...
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Flemish Paintings
Jordaens is one of the best-known figures of the Antwerp school of painting in the 17th century. During his highly successful career, his output included religious, mythological and allegorical subjects, many of which were produced with the help of his large workshop of apprentices and assistants...
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17th, 18th & 19th Century British Masters
The Ulster Museum collection has pieces from notable artists including Sir Joshua Reynolds, Thomas Gainsborough and Sir Thomas Lawrence. This section highlights some of their most famous work.
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Irish Paintings from 17th Century
Included in the Ulster Museum fine art collection is many great works from Irish painters. In this section you will see details of Thomas Bate, William Ashford, James Arthur O'Connor and Frank O'Meara.
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20th century British, European and American painting
The Ulster Museum collection of 20th century British, European and American art is important, and, taken with the Irish collection of the same period, constitutes undoubtedly the major public collection of modern art in Ireland. The Times described it as "one of the most ambitious collection...
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Sculpture
In the sculpture collection there are 18th and 19th century portrait busts and contemporary international sculptures from the USA, Europe, Britain and Ireland. These include works by Henry Moore, Barbara Hepworth, F.E. McWilliam and Kenneth Armitage from the immediate post-Second World War period...
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Works on Paper
WatercoloursNumerically, this section is much the largest in the Fine Art Division. We have a good representative collection of drawings and watercolours, mainly Irish and British, dating from the 17th century to the present day, including ten outstanding drawings by John Henry Fuseli, and work b...
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If you would like further information about this collection you may contact the
curator by following this link and
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