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Gordon Lambert Collection goes on show at IMMA

Gordon Lambert Collection goes on show at IMMA

An exhibition of some 55 works by leading Irish and international artists, drawn from the Gordon Lambert Trust Collection, opens to the public at the Irish Museum of Modern Art on Tuesday 22 January 2002. Although works from the Gordon Lambert Collection have been widely seen as part of other Collection shows at IMMA, Profile of a Collection is only the second exhibition drawn exclusively from his Collection since the donation of the works to the State in 1992.

The exhibition highlights a number of the Collection’s special characteristics. The unusually high representation of non-Irish artists, for a collection begun in 1954, can be seen in a tapestry by Josef Albers, an op-art work by Carlos Cruz-Diez, a conceptual piece by Shusaku Arakawa and prints by Picasso, Braque, Miró and others.

Many works have been added to the gift since 1992, including those by young and emerging artists, such as Mark Francis and Corban Walker, and by more established figures including Howard Hodgkin and Sean Scully. For this exhibition some of these new additions to the collection are being shown alongside familiar favourites.

Profile of a Collection spans Gordon Lambert’s 48 years as one of Ireland’s leading collectors from his first acquisition Pont du Carousel (1954) by Barbara Warren to Millennium Eye by Howard Hodgkin from 2000. It also all0ws the public an opportunity to trace the fascinating development of a unique private collection built up with obvious dedication and enjoyment over almost half a century.

An accountant by profession and former Managing Director of Jacob’s Biscuits Ireland, Gordon Lambert has been a committed member, often a leading one, of almost every organisation established to improve the status of the visual arts in Ireland. He has been a senator in the Oireachtas, a member of the Arts Council of Northern Ireland, a member of the various ROSC exhibition committees and served on the board of the National Gallery and the Hugh Lane Municipal Gallery. Recognised internationally for his advocacy of contemporary art, he was invited to join the International Council of MoMA in New York, and served as a juror for the prestigious Art Festival at Cagnes-sur-Mer. However, Gordon Lambert always saw his most important task as the establishment of a
. . .
museum for modern and contemporary art in Ireland. When that vision was finally realised in 1991 Gordon Lambert marked the event by donating much of his private collection to the Museum and through his Trust he has continued to acquire and donate art to IMMA ever since. Gordon Lambert served on the first two boards of the Irish Museum of Modern Art from 1990 to 2000 and was awarded the Business 2Arts Millennium Award in 2000.

Commenting on the exhibition and the importance of the Gordon Lambert Collection to the Museum, Catherine Marshall, Head of the Collection, said: “Gordon Lambert’s Collection is that rare thing – a truly cosmopolition Collection with a perfect balance of local and international artworks. The fact that it was given unconditionally to the people of Ireland through the Museum is an indication of this man’s generosity and his confidence in another generation. Now, nearly fifty years after the Collection was begun it remains refreshingly modern and progressive.”

Profile of a Collection: the Gordon Lambert Trust Collection at IMMA continues until 23 June 2002.
Admission is free.
Opening hours: Tue - Sat 10.00am - 5.30pm
Sun, Bank Holidays 12 noon - 5.30pm
Closed Mondays
29 March
For further information and colour and black and white images please contact Philomena Byrne or Monica Cullinane at Tel : +353 1 612 9900,
Fax : +353 1 612 9999 email press@modernart.ie
15 January 2001

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Gordon Lambert Collection goes on show at IMMA

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