Padhraig Nolan's Blog

Edward Delaney : RIP



Sad to hear of the passing of Edward Delaney, that fine Irish sculptor. I love what he did with his figuration in bronze, for pieces like his famine memorial piece and Wolfe Tone statue (above) , both of which can be seen at the northeastern corner of St. Stephens Green in Dublin. The Tone statue was blown up by loyalist terrorists in 1979 - only the head surviving, to be incorporated into the statue as it appears today. Although this piece is less abstracted than many of his figurative works from the same era, it still displays the rich texture and empathy of the sculptor to his subject - seen here in a detail of the head.

In a fitting tribute, a bronze statue, Eve with Apple, recently donated to the Irish Museum of Modern Art, is due to be unveiled there tomorrow. Hopefully I might get out to see it tomorrow for Culture Night.

I've spoken before about the possibility Delaney's approach was lurking in my subconscious when I designed the logo for the Irish theatre awards. In recent years, he had been producing work in stainless steel, which has an elegance of its own and carried on his particular fascination with proportion. But it's his cast bronzes that will remain close to my heart, for their expression, tension and sheer organic beauty. Ar dheis Dé go raibh a anam.