Bernard Mulrenin
Self-Portrait by Bernard Mulrenin
Born1803
County Sligo,[1][2] Ireland
Died22 March 1868(1868-03-22) (aged 64–65)
Great Brunswick Street,[3] Dublin, Ireland[2][4]
Resting placeSt. Andrew's Church, Westland Row, Dublin[5]
NationalityIrish
Known forPainting (miniature)
Spouse
Mary Quill
​
(died 1844)​
[5]
ElectedRoyal Hibernian Academy[6]
Signature

Bernard Mulrenin, RHA (1803 – 22 March 1868[3]) was an Irish painter best known for his miniatures.[2][4]

He is associated with the early Celtic Revival movement,[7][8] and is remembered for his leadership and frequent exhibitions at the Royal Hibernian Academy.[2] The subjects of Mulrenin's portraiture include individuals connected to Irish Nationalism, both Protestant and Catholic.

Biography

Mulrenin was born in County Sligo, Ireland. He developed his techniques for illustration and painting with the support of his local community, practicing primarily in portrait miniatures.[3] To supplement his work as a painter, Mulrenin found employment with the Ordnance Survey in Ireland.[9]

In 1825, Mulrenin moved to Dublin. Within the year, he was able to exhibit a selection of his works at the newly-established Royal Hibernian Academy.[10] An early friend and patron of Mulrenin's in Dublin was the novelist Lady Morgan,[9] who introduced Mulrenin to politicians and creatives including Amelia Curran,[11] Lord Charlemont, Thomas Moore, Richard Lalor Sheil, and Chief Baron Woulfe.[12] In the 1830s, Mulrenin experienced continued growth in his business, especially after the death of John Comerford in 1832 and the relocation of Samuel Lover to London in 1835,[13] since both men were viewed as Ireland's preeminent miniaturists.[3][14]

Tribute medal to Constantine Phipps, 2nd Earl of Mulgrave, 1837, bronze. Designed by Mulrenin.[15]

Mulrenin received a court appointment from the Earl of Clarendon in 1848,[16] and his first exhibition at the Royal Academy of Arts in 1851.[10] Nevertheless, he remained loyal to the RHA, exhibiting over 400 works in his lifetime.[17] External pressures on public buying power, such as the Great Famine, however, led the academy to a financial crisis in the 1850s. In March 1856, Michael Angelo Hayes was elected secretary and, with the support of the president Martin Cregan and the treasurer Joseph Kirk, pressed for reform. Mulrenin and his colleague Mulvany resisted these measures, and in December 1856, the academy elected Mulrenin and George Petrie in place of Hayes and Cregan, respectively.[18][19] The election was disputed, and appeals for resolution were made to Lord Lieutenant George Howard, but he did not intervene. The school was closed temporarily the following year.[20]

Natural landscape with palace in background, sepia tone
View of the Palace of Cloyne, from the south or garden front, lithograph[21]
Neoclassical facade of the Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland with people walking
View of the College of Surgeons, Dublin, 1828, lithograph from a drawing by Mulrenin[22]

In 1859, Mulrenin read a paper before the Royal Dublin Society's fine arts section (which included the Photographic Society of Ireland). In the speech, Mulrenin argued that photography could be used as an aide, instead of a replacement, to portrait painting.[23] He claimed to have devised a process of transferring negatives to marble and ivory, rendering the image like a miniature painting.[24] In 1864, Mulrenin's portrait of Oscar Wilde's mother exhibited at the RHA.[25] He was a witness for the Wilde's defense in the libel case brought against them by Mary Travers.[26]

Works in collections

Selected portraits

Works sorted alphabetically by surname
Portrait Subject Date Medium(s) Institution Profession Notes Ref.
 George Ensor c. 1820-1843 lithograph National Library of Ireland author [29]
 John Hogan charcoal National Gallery of Ireland sculptor purchased: 1878 [30]
 Daniel O'Connell 1836 watercolour

bodycolour

 National Portrait Gallery politician [31]
 Charles O'Conor watercolour National Gallery of Ireland historian [32]
 Lord Paget lithograph National Gallery of Ireland politician presented: 1901;

uncertain attribution

 [33]
 George Petrie oil National Gallery of Ireland antiquarian presented: 1884 [34]
 Marie Taglioni 1834 lithograph

watercolour

 Victoria and Albert Museum ballerina [35]
 Jane Wilde 1864 watercolour personal archives:

Merlin Holland[36]

 poet [37]

Other notable subjects

Scientists and Academics

Politicians and Nobility

Other

Though he preferred to depict his contemporaries, Mulrenin also drew inspiration from non-historical figures, such as Shakespeare's King Lear and the mythological Fionn-ghuala, daughter of the sea god Lir.[41][42]

References

  1. ↑ McTernan, John C. (1965). Historic Sligo: A Bibliographical Introduction to ... County Sligo. Sligo: Yeats Country Publications. Retrieved 9 June 2022.
  2. 1 2 3 4 National Gallery of Ireland, ed. (1904). Catalogue of Pictures and Other Works of Art in the National Gallery and the National Portrait Gallery, Ireland. Alex Thom & Co. p. 101. Retrieved 9 June 2022.
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Strickland, Walter (1913). A Dictionary of Irish Artists: Vol. II, L to Z. Dublin and London: Maunsel & Company (Roberts and Gwynn. pp. 150⁠–152. Retrieved 8 June 2022.
  4. 1 2 Godwin, George, ed. (1869). "The Dead Year". The Builder. Vol. 27. London: Publishing Office at 1 York Street, Covent Garden, W.C. p. 25. Retrieved 9 June 2022.
  5. 1 2 "Libraries and Archive - Heritage Databases". Dublin City Council. Dublin City Public Libraries. Retrieved 11 June 2022.
  6. ↑ "Royal Hibernian Academy of Arts, Lower Abbey Street, Dublin: Report of the Council for 1867-68". Science and Art Department of the Committee of Council on Education. London: George E. Eyre and William Spottiswoode. 16: 445. 1869. Retrieved 12 June 2022.
  7. ↑ Sheehy, Jeanne (1980). "1980 National Gallery of Ireland, Dublin; exh: "The Early Celtic Revival."". NIVAL (National Irish Visual Arts Library). Dublin: National Gallery of Ireland. Retrieved 12 June 2022.
  8. ↑ Ringel-Ensley, Meredith (2016) [2007]. "Fine Arts in the Celtic Revival". Victorian Web. Retrieved 12 June 2022.
  9. 1 2 "Death of Bernard Mulrenin. M.R.H.A.". The Nation. Dublin. 28 March 1868. p. 510. Retrieved 9 June 2022.
  10. 1 2 Foster, Joshua James (1903). Miniature Painters, British and Foreign: With Some Account of Those who Practised in America in the Eighteenth Century, Vol. II. London; New York City: Dickinsons; Dutton. p. 145. Retrieved 9 June 2022.
  11. ↑ Clarke, Frances (2009). Curran, Amelia. Royal Irish Academy. doi:10.3318/dib.002315.v1. {{cite encyclopedia}}: |website= ignored (help)
  12. ↑ Mew, Edward (1875). "Dublin Places and Persons". Irish Monthly. Irish Jesuit Province. 3: 655. JSTOR 20501702. Retrieved 9 June 2022.
  13. ↑ Caffrey, Paul (2009). Lover, Samuel. Royal Irish Academy. doi:10.3318/dib.004892.v1. {{cite encyclopedia}}: |website= ignored (help)
  14. ↑ Williamson, George Charles; Williams, Alyn (1904). How to Identify Portrait Miniatures. G. Bell. pp. 83–84. ISBN 1436633737.
  15. ↑ Gregory, James (2022). Mercy and British Culture, 1760-1960. London: Bloomsbury Publishing. ISBN 9781350142602. Retrieved 9 June 2022.
  16. ↑ Moore, Desmond F. (1966). "The Royal Hibernian Academy". Dublin Historical Record. Old Dublin Society. 21 (1): 35. JSTOR 30104289. Retrieved 6 June 2022.
  17. ↑ Stewart, Ann (21 February 1992). "Biographical information on Bernard Mulrenin". Letter to Alf MacLochlainn. NGI: Centre for the Study of Irish Art. Retrieved 15 June 2022.
  18. ↑ Thom, Alexander (1857). "Royal Hibernian Academy of Painting, Sculpture, and Architecture, Lower Abbey-Street". Thom's Irish Almanac and Official Directory of the United Kingdom, for the year 1857. Dublin: Alexander Thom and Sons. pp. v, 634. Retrieved 9 June 2022.
  19. ↑ Minch, Rebecca (2013). Hayes, Michael Angelo. Royal Irish Academy. doi:10.3318/dib.003875.v1. {{cite encyclopedia}}: |website= ignored (help)
  20. ↑ Turpin, John (1991). "The RHA Schools 1826-1906". Irish Arts Review Yearbook, (1991/1992). Dublin: Irish Arts Review: 199. JSTOR 20492690. Retrieved 9 June 2022.
  21. ↑ Jones, Tom (2021). George Berkeley: A Philosophical Life. Princeton: Princeton University Press. p. XII. ISBN 9780691159805.
  22. ↑ Mulrenin, Bernard. Prints & Drawings, ID: ET C98; ET C98a. National Library of Ireland. Retrieved 11 June 2022.
  23. ↑ Mulrenin, Bernard (1860). "On a Process by which Photographic Portraits may be transcribed into bonda fide Miniature Paintings on Marble, Ivory, and other Surfaces". The Journal of the Royal Dublin Society. Dublin: Hodges, Smith and Co.; M. H. Gill. 2.
  24. ↑ Hannavy, John, ed. (2013). "Ireland". Encyclopedia of Nineteenth-Century Photography: Volume 1, A-I. London: Routledge. p. 751. ISBN 978-1135873264. Retrieved 12 June 2022.
  25. ↑ Sloan, John (2003). Authors in Context: Oscar Wilde. Oxford: Oxford University Press. p. 2. ISBN 9780191587597. Retrieved 9 June 2022.
  26. ↑ "The Extraordinary Libel Case in Dublin". The Glasgow Herald. Glasgow. 1864. p. 3. Retrieved 12 June 2022.
  27. ↑ Mulrenin, Bernard; Brown, G. "Medal" (1837). Coins and Medals, ID: BNK,EngM.434. British Museum. Retrieved 15 June 2022.
  28. ↑ Mulrenin, Bernard. "Lady Jane Francesca Elgee Wilde, circa 1850s; William Wilde, circa 1846". Oscar Wilde: An Inventory of His Art Collection at the Harry Ransom Center, Series: Series II. Other Portraits, 1840s-1870s, Box: Wilde, O., Box 1. Flat Files: Harry Ransom Center. 65.78.2a; 65.78.3a. Retrieved 9 June 2022.
  29. ↑ Mulrenin, Bernard. "George Ensor" (bet. 1820 and 1843) [graphic]. Prints & Drawings, ID: EP ENSO-GE (2) II. National Library of Ireland.
  30. ↑ Mulrenin, Bernard. "John Hogan (1800-1858), Sculptor" (Purchased, 1878) [graphic]. Objects of: Bernard Mulrenin, ID: NGI.2197. National Gallery of Ireland.
  31. ↑ Mulrenin, Bernard. "Daniel O'Connell" (1836) [graphic]. Primary Collection, ID: NPG 208. National Portrait Gallery.
  32. ↑ Mulrenin, Bernard. "Charles O'Connor (1710-1791), Historian and Antiquary" (unknown) [graphic]. Objects of: Bernard Mulrenin, ID: NGI.2196. National Gallery of Ireland.
  33. ↑ Mulrenin, Bernard. "Portrait of Henry William Paget, 1st Marquess of Anglesey (1768-1854), Lord Lieutenant of Ireland" (presented 1901) [graphic]. Objects of: Bernard Mulrenin, ID: NGI.11233. National Gallery of Ireland.
  34. ↑ Mulrenin, Bernard. "Portrait of George Petrie (1790-1866), Artist and Archaeologist" (Presented, 1884) [graphic]. Objects of: Bernard Mulrenin, ID: NGI.408. National Gallery of Ireland.
  35. ↑ Mulrenin, Bernard. "Mademoiselle Taglioni" (1834) [print]. Theatre and Performance Collection. Victoria and Albert Museum.
  36. ↑ Fitzsimons, Eleanor (2017). Wilde's Women: How Oscar Wilde Was Shaped by the Women He Knew. New York City: ABRAMS, Incorporated (Ignition). p. 2. ISBN 9781468313260.
  37. ↑ Grant, Roger (2015). "Speranza's Visit to Scotland Summer 1847". The Wildean. East Molesey, Surrey, UK: Oscar Wilde Society. 46 (46): 106. JSTOR 48571630. Retrieved 8 June 2022.
  38. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Mulrenin, Bernard. Prints & Drawings: Irish Archaeologists, ID: PD 4302 TX. National Library of Ireland. Retrieved 7 June 2022.
  39. ↑ Gaul, Liam (2014). Johnstown Castle: A History. Dublin: The History Press Ireland. ISBN 9780750959018.
  40. ↑ Clarke, Frances (2009). Ball, Mary Teresa (Frances). Royal Irish Academy. doi:10.3318/dib.000343.v1. {{cite encyclopedia}}: |website= ignored (help)
  41. ↑ Pérez, Marta Palacio (2014). Renacimiento Irlandés: La Imagen de una Nación [Irish Renaissance: The Image of a Nation] (PDF) (Thesis) (in Spanish). Universidad Zaragoza. Retrieved 12 June 2022.
  42. ↑ Maclise, Daniel (2008). Murray, Peter (ed.). Daniel Maclise, 1806-1870: Romancing the Past. Crawford Art Gallery. p. 130. ISBN 9780948037665.
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