Norah Allison McGuinness (7 November 1901 – 22 November 1980) was an Irish painter and illustrator.

Early life

Norah McGuinness was born in County Londonderry. She attended life classes at Derry Technical School and, from 1921, studied at the Dublin Metropolitan School of Art under Patrick Tuohy (1894–1930), Oswald Reeves (1870–1967), and Harry Clarke. Through Clarke, she obtained a commission to illustrate Sterne's A Sentimental Journey (London, 1926). She attended the Chelsea Polytechnic in London

From there, she moved to London, where she was a member of Lucy Wertheim's 'Twenties Group' and of the avant-garde London Group. From 1937 to 1939, she lived in New York, where she exhibited her paintings, created illustrations for Harper’s Bazaar, and designed windows for Altman’s department store on Fifth Avenue. After New York, she returned to Ireland in 1939, settled in Dublin, and concentrated on painting. She died in County Dublin.

Work

Although her work remained figurative, she painted vivid, highly coloured landscapes; her work shows the cubist influence of Lhote, and she was associated with the modern movement in Ireland. She helped found the Irish Exhibition of Living Art in 1943 and became its president in 1944 after the death of Mainie Jellett.

With Nano Reid, she represented Ireland in the 1950 Venice Biennale. This was the first time Ireland participated in this international exhibition. By 2017, the official list of artists representing Ireland since 1950 showed that the majority of artists chosen in the years since McGuinness and Reid's participation were women. She was elected an honorary member of the Royal Hibernian Academy in 1957 but later resigned.

Work in collections

  • Crawford Art Gallery, Cork
  • The Irish Museum of Modern Art
  • The National Gallery of Ireland
  • Portrait of Michael Scott
  • Portrait of Denis Johnston
  • The Startled Bird
  • Dublin City Gallery The Hugh Lane
  • The Victoria and Albert Museum London
  • The Arts Council of Ireland
  • The Arts Council of Northern Ireland, including
  • Inlet (1976)
  • Meath County Council, including
  • The Ochre Mines, Avoca (1955?)
  • The National Library of Ireland

References

  • S.B. Kennedy (2002), McGuinness, Norah in Brian Lalor (Ed.), The Encyclopedia of Ireland. Dublin: Gill and Macmillan.
  • David Scott (1989), The Modern Art Collection, Trinity College Dublin. Dublin: Trinity College Dublin Press, Dublin. .
  • Meath County Council biographical note
  • Norah McGuinness illustrations for a 1926 edition of Laurence Sterne's Tristram Shandy
  • Norah McGuinness works on Artnet