Bram Stoker remembered in art exhibition

A MAJOR national art exhibition that is taking place on the Southside this month is featuring the famous Dublin author Bram Stoker.

The creator of Dracula was celebrated with the presentation of a specially commissioned portrait to the Irish Writers Centre by the Dublin Painting & Sketching Club.

It marked the launch of the club’s 134th annual show, which opened to the public in Dun Laoghaire on Monday, April 16.

To mark the centenary of the death of Stoker, a founder member of the Dublin Painting & Sketching Club, this year’s exhibition features special commemorative highlights, including his portrait in oil by artist Aidan Hickey.

The portrait was presented by the club’s president Tom Scott to Jack Harte, chairman of the Irish Writers Centre. Also attending the event was Bram Stoker’s great-grand-nephew, Dacre Stoker, who came over from the US for the occasion.

The Bram Stoker portrait will be on show at the Dublin Painting & Sketching Club’s 134th annual exhibition, which is staged at the Concourse Gallery, Dun Laoghaire County Hall until Sunday, April 29.

It is then being donated to the Irish Writers Centre and will be on permanent show at their museum on Parnell Square.

Sketches attributed to Stoker have also come to light. Reproductions of a set of three equestrian drawings in ink will be on public display for the first time as a highlight of the sketching club’s 134th exhibition.

Donated to the club by a relative of Bram Stoker, Ivan Stoker-Dixon of London, the originals were in the estate of Bram Stoker’s brother, Sir William Thornley Stoker, who lived at 8 Ely Place, Dublin, from 1890 – 1911.

The Dublin Painting & Sketching Club staged its exhibition in April to coincide with the centenary of Bram Stoker’s death.

He was one of the 12 founder members, along with his great friends Walter Osborne and John B Yeats, of the Dublin Sketching Club, as it was known when set up in 1874. Now a national artists’ organisation, it is one of Ireland’s oldest.

Sponsored by Whyte’s and supported by Dun Laoghaire Rathdown County Council Arts Office, the exhibition features fine art by 74 well-known contemporary Irish artists from Dublin and counties throughout Ireland, including Royal Hibernian Academy artists.

A number of attractive artistic events in which the public can participate are being held again this year. They include painting critique sessions for non-members to have samples of their works evaluated, oil and watercolour painting demonstrations by exhibiting artists, guided tours of the exhibition and a

‘plein air’ painting session, where members of the public can join exhibiting artists painting on site in Dun Laoghaire. All events are admission free and details are available on the club’s website: www.dublinpaintingandsketchingclub.ie

It is open to the public, admission free, daily until Sunday, April 29 from 10am to 5pm on weekdays and 11am to 5pm on Saturdays and Sundays.