Margaret Allen
Born1830
Died1914(1914-00-00) (aged 83–84)
County Kilkenny, Ireland
NationalityIrish

Margaret Allen (1830 – 1914) was an Irish portrait and genre painter.

Margaret Allen was born in 1830, with very little known about her early life or artistic training. She exhibited over 50 paintings with the Royal Hibernian Academy between 1853 and 1894, and went on to become the first woman to be an honorary academician of the academy. She spent a number of years in Manchester, England before returning to Ireland, where she died in 1914.[1]

Legacy

Though little is known about some aspects of Allen’s life and work,[1] her influence is gradually gaining recognition in specialist circles.[2]

Political commentary

Margaret Allen has been noted as the first Irish woman artist to deal with nationalist issues in her works.[3] Allen’s paintings provide an historical resource, particularly due to her prominent use of social commentary, which was novel in her time.[3][4][2] Political sympathies are evident in paintings such as ‘The Last Hour in the Old Land’ (1876),[5] and  ‘Bad news in troubled times: ‘An important arrest has been made of a young man named —’’ (1886) with explicit reference to the Irish nationalist cause.[2] Allen commented on Irish-British antagonism, including in paintings to exhibited in Britain.[3] Due to this open display of personal political opinion, some of such works were met with a critical response, and historians posit that this caused Allen’s lack of recognition past honorary Royal Hibernian Academy (RHA) membership.[3]

Business

Image of 18th century Georgian building
Building at 12 Westland Row, past home and business address of 19th century Irish artist Margaret Allen.

Allen’s experience with business was also notable, it was her expertise that allowed to run the family M. Allen & Co. at 12 Westland Row as an artists’ repository from 1863, followed by the opening of the photography studio in 1865.[6][7] Allen was one of the first commercial photographers in Dublin,[6] competing with over 70 studios, and adapting the business with the times during Ireland’s period of ‘photomania’.[8] Allen moved from child and animal photography [6] to engaging solely in professional photography by 1873.[7] She also maintained an interest in painting by operating the portrait studio in the same building,[7] and using this mixture of activities as a marketing advantage.[6]

Auctions and exhibitions

In recent years, several of Allen’s paintings have been up for auction,[9] with the controversial ‘Bad news in troubled times', valued at 30,000 to 50,000 Euro at the 2009 Adam’s-Bonhams Important Irish Art auction.[2] Though the painting went unsold,[10] it is currently displayed at Ireland's Great Hunger Museum at Quinnipiac University.[11]

The 2023 RHA and Irish National Gallery It took a century exhibition, also featured one of Allen’s portraits, depicting an unnamed man.[12] This work was presented alongside works by the 59 female RHA academicians, including Sarah Purser, who was awarded an honorary title following Allen, before becoming the first woman to receive official RHA recognition.[12]

References

  1. 1 2 Snoddy, Theo (2006). Dictionary of Irish artists: 20th century (2nd ed.). Dublin: Merlin Publishing. pp. 14–15. ISBN 1903582172.
  2. 1 2 3 4 O'Byrne, Robert (Spring 2010). "Lack of Recognition for Margaret Allen at Adam's-Bonhams Irish Sale". Irish Arts Review. 27 (1): 50 – via JSTOR.
  3. 1 2 3 4 Murphy, Derville (Spring 2010). "Margaret Allen, Social Commentator". Irish Arts Review. 27 (1): 89–92 – via JSTOR.
  4. ↑ Kelly, Niamh Ann (2018). Imaging the Great Irish Famine: representing dispossession in visual culture. London: I.B. Tauris & Co. pp. 242–243. ISBN 9781838608712.
  5. ↑ Kelly, Niamh-Ann (2018). Imaging the Great Irish Famine: representing dispossession in visual culture. London: I.B. Tauris & Co. pp. 72–74. ISBN 9781838608712.
  6. 1 2 3 4 Murphy, Derville (Spring 2022). "Unframing Margaret Allen, HRHA (1832-1914)". History Ireland. 30 (2).
  7. 1 2 3 Slattery, Peadar (1992). "The uses of photography in Ireland 1839-1900". Trinity College (Dublin, Ireland). Department of History. 1: 29–30. hdl:2262/84957.
  8. ↑ Hill, Myrtle; Pollock, Vivian (Spring 1994). "Images of the Past Photographs as historical evidence". History Ireland. 2 (1).
  9. ↑ "Margaret Allen auction results at Whyte's Art Auctions". Whyte's. Retrieved 12 November 2023.
  10. ↑ "08-12-2009 | IMPORTANT IRISH ART SALE IN ASSOC. WITH BONHAMS". www.adams.ie. Retrieved 12 November 2023.
  11. ↑ "Ireland's Great Hunger Museum". www.ighm.org. Retrieved 12 November 2023.
  12. 1 2 Tipton, Gemma (12 July 2023). "It Took a Century: Do we still need an exhibition dedicated to art by women? Sadly, yes". The Irish Times.{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
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