It is with sadness and regret that the Arts Council has learned of the death of sculptor and Aosdána member Melanie le Brocquy.
Sheila Pratschke, Chair of the Arts Council said “A sculptor renowned for the subtlety and sensitivity of her work, spare and understated. She was inspired in particular by the domestic sphere and specialised in the female form. She will be sadly missed.”
Born in Dublin in 1919, she studied at the National College of Art Design in Dublin, the École des Beaux-Arts in Geneva, and the Royal Hibernian Academy School of Art. She first showed her sculpture in 1938 at the RHA and was awarded a prize for the best bronze casting at the RHA in 1995. The RHA held a major retrospective of her work in 1999. She contributed to the Exhibition of Living Art (1943, 65, 67, 71) as well as the Oireachtas Art Exhibition (1972-75) and EV+A in Limerick (in 1984), having represented Ireland at the Salzburg Biennale in 1962. Solo exhibitions included the Taylor Galleries, Dublin (86, 91), Austin Desmond Fine Arts, London (1990), the Bell Gallery, Belfast (92, 95). Her numerous awards included two Taylor scholarships (1938 and '39); the California Gold Medal (1939) and the Claremorris Open Exhibition prize (1991).
Her workwas represented in the collections of The Arts Council / An Chomhairle Ealaíon; Dublin City Gallery The Hugh Lane; the National Self-Portrait Gallery, Limerick; in the Aer Rianta collection, St James' Hospital collection and in many private collections in Ireland, England, America and Canada.
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