The Handkerchief Tree
Dublin, Art Ruth Griffin Dublin, Art Ruth Griffin

The Handkerchief Tree

If you go down to Merrion Square today you are in for a big surprise. Not only are the Street Performance World Championships on this weekend but there is an exquisite outdoor art installation by artist Miriam Mc Connan.

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Stella with a Flowered Hat
Art, History Ruth Griffin Art, History Ruth Griffin

Stella with a Flowered Hat

‘Stella with a Flowered Hat’ by Kees van Dongen (1877-1968) is one of my favourite paintings in The National Gallery. I love the coquettish look on Stella’s face and that incredible Edwardian hat worked in strokes of vibrant colour. The National Gallery tells me ‘The artist Van Dongen painted the nightlife of Montmartre and Stella is probably a ‘demi-mondaine’. She is portrayed in the violent, dissonant colours that are the hallmark of the powerful fauve portraits of women executed by the artist between 1905 and 1910. ‘

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