19 August – 7 December 2025
Raclin Murphy Museum of Art, University of Notre Dame, Indiana, USA
Crawford Art Gallery is delighted to be one of the lenders to the first monographic exhibition in forty years of the work of Walter Osborne (1859-1903), one of Ireland’s most-heralded artists.
The exhibition, HOMECOMING, charts Osborne’s trajectory from his student days in Dublin and Antwerp through his sojourn in Brittany and his early practice in England before returning to his native city to care for his niece and aging parents following the death of his beloved sister Violet in 1893. Through his depictions of Dublin’s streets, parks, public spaces, domestic interiors and gardens, countryside, and most importantly its people, a vision of a vibrant––if divided––Ireland emerges. Osborne’s experiences abroad and his commercial acumen helped establish Dublin’s unique brand of Modern painting rife with the possibility of change.
Joining loans from private collections, as well as the National Gallery of Ireland, Hugh Lane Gallery, and Hunt Museum, Crawford Art Gallery’s own The Goldfish Bowl (c.1900) features in the exhibition. This charming work, which has been in the collection since 1925, depicts the artist’s young niece, Violet Stockley (1893-1971), seated with an older companion in front of the eponymous pets.
Crawford Art Gallery wishes to thank and congratulate Cheryl Snay, Aoife-Marie Buckley, the Directors and team at the Raclin Murphy Museum of Art.
Featured artwork:
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