Laurence Fagan: Pen and Ink

An exhibition marking the 200^th anniversary of the birth of the artist.

Robert Armstrong, Vivienne Byrne, Gilly Clarke, Marthe Donas, Brian Fay, Joy Gerrard, Michael Healy, Thomas Markey, Flora H. Mitchell, Richard Moore, William Orpen.

Laurence Fagan was born 200 years ago in Drogheda, Co. Louth. Fagan, was one of seven children, born deaf, and lived with his family in Trinity Street until he was sent to Dublin to be educated at the Claremont Institute. During his time there receiving a broad education including sign language, his draughtsmanship and drawing talent was encouraged and on return to Drogheda, he began making drawings and etchings of local historic sites and locations and copies of engravings to sell commercially, a flourishing trade in the 1860s.

In this exhibition marking the 200^th anniversary of the birth of the artist, Highlanes Gallery presents a number of his most important works in the Collection including his magnificent study of The Boyne Viaduct which boasts precise perspective in terms of scale of the arches, accented by the large vessels sweeping up the river in full sail and the train crossing the bridge, pulling three large carriages. This is Drogheda as a bustling, commercially successful town, the work dating just after the viaduct was built in 1851.

Also included in the exhibition are lithographs of historic sites in Co. Louth and Meath like Mellifont Abbey, Monasterboice, and Duleek, and in Drogheda – The Magdalen Tower and the iconic St Mary’s Bridge. There are a number of works on loan from a collector and community deaf historian, David Breslin, and other works from the Collection and by invited artists, each exploring pen, ink, pencil on paper and various fine art printmaking techniques. Artists included in the exhibition are Vivienne Byrne, Gilly Clarke, Marthe Donas, Brian Fay, Joy Gerrard, Michael Healy, Thomas Markey, Flora H. Mitchell, Richard Moore, William Orpen. It will be the first time we will exhibit a work by Marthe Donas, a Belgian artist who came to Ireland and made an etching of a couple deep in conversation at a gate in Beauparc c.1916 which was donated by a private collector in 2024. 

The exhibition opens to the public Saturday 8^th November and continues until Saturday 10^th January.

Main Image:

Laurence Fagan The Boyne Viaduct, Ink on paper, Purchased by the Drogheda Municipal Art Gallery & Museum Committee, 1952, DMAC