Dimensions: 23 x 25cm
Pages: 120
ISBN: 978-1-910140-44-4
MARGARET EGAN – NATURAL HARMONY: 40 YEARS OF PAINTING
Contemporary Irish artist Margaret Egan’s life work has now been documented in a new book published in conjunction with Gandon Editions. The 120-page softback ‘Margaret Egan, Natural Harmony – 40 years of painting’ includes an introduction by playwright Bernard Farrell and an essay by art lecturer Mark Ewart as well as insights from the artist herself and a comprehensive display of her work spanning the last four decades.
The book was recently launched in conjunction with Egan’s latest exhibition at the Solomon Gallery of Fine Art in Dublin where Egan’s most current work is available for viewing.
In the book, Bernard Farrell describes her work as “forever mysterious, magnetic, mystical and tantalisingly muted … This is the magic of Margaret Egan’s work: it teases and it taunts, it challenges and beguiles".
At the launch, the book’s editor Niamh O’Sullivan described Egan’s work as "both absolutely contemporary, but with a plumb line to the past', referring in particular to her landscapes that Egan herself says are an attempt to peel back the layers of history and what lies beneath.
O’Sullivan went on to note that Egan was as an artist of commanding power and one of Ireland’s most important. “Those apocalyptic landscapes, emanating from a person of extraordinary delicacy and gentleness.”
Egan’s latest exhibition was recently opened by the new RTE Chairman Terence O’Rourke. O’Rourke, hailing from the same town as poet Patrick Kavanagh, likened Egan’s work to achieving what Kavanagh longed for; "the essence and beauty of Ireland, weaving together elements of tradition, nature and culture in a truly captivating manner.”
“Margaret Egan’s work is forever mysterious, magnetic, mystical and tantalisingly muted ... This is the magic of Margaret Egan’s work: it teases and it taunts, it challenges and beguiles, it constantly proffers an invitation (sometimes a challenge) to explore the artist’s mind, to find an inner story, and, in doing so, to perhaps discover an aspect of life or of nature that we have long hidden from our own inner selves. Down the years, within her devoted and dedicated artistic life, it has been a delight to witness her further development in delving deeper and deeper into the psyche of her subjects, in seeking new insights in her depiction of the conflicts between nature and human nature, thus bringing to her work a sometimes harrowing harmony of beauty and loss.”
— BERNARD FARRELL (intro)
“Acrylic paint is Margaret Egan’s medium of choice, and while it has many advantages, it can be difficult to breathe life into, due to its plasticity. Consequently, it can lack the romantic allure, richness and durability of oil paint. But Egan seems to find something deeper within acrylic. Her manipulation of the medium creates a weathered quality to the painted surface that seeps into the canvas, almost in the way that tempera does with plaster in a mural. The opacity of the paint comes from the artist’s use of the brush to caress the medium until it absorbs light and takes on extra volume. The texture, at times, can be chalky in appearance, which adds a warmth and tactility to the surface of the paintings.”
— MARK EWART (essay)
This book is published to coincide with a solo exhibition of new work by the artist – The Mythic Stories of Life and Landscape – at Solomon Fine Art, Dublin, from 7th-30th March 2024.
MARGARET EGAN – NATURAL HARMONY: 40 YEARS OF PAINTING
120pp softback book, with an introduction by Bernard Farrell and essay by Mark Ewart
editor – Niamh O’Sullivan
design – John O’Regan, Gandon
production – Nicola Dearey, Gandon
photography – Peter Moloney
printing – W&G Baird, Belfast
distributed by Gandon Distribution and its overseas agents
© Gandon Editions and the artist, 2024.
All rights reserved.
ISBN 978-1-910140-44-4
Price - €20.00
