Louis LeBrocquy

 Louis le Brocquy was born in Dublin in 1916.

His career has already spanned several years gaining him notoriety both at home and abroad.

In 1956 he represented Ireland at the Venice Biennale winning at the Premio Acquisito Internationale with “A Family” which is now exhibited in the National Gallery of Ireland.

Le Brocquy is most well known for his series of portrait heads of poets, artists and writers which include WB Yeats, Samuel Beckett and Seamus Heaney to name a few.

His most famous collaboration with an Irish writer is his lithographic brush drawings that illustrated Thomas Kinsella’s translation of The Tain in 1969. The Tain is a legendary tale from early Irish literature. It tells of a war against Ulster by the Connacht queen Medb and her husband Ailill, who intend to steal the stud bull Donn Cuailnge opposed only by the teenage Ulster hero Cuchulainn. Le Brocquy illustrated many different scenes from the story.

Le Brocquy is honoured as the first and only living painter to be included in the Permanent Irish collection of the National Gallery of Ireland.