Outing with artist’s daughter inspired AIB shortlisted work

A day out on the beach with her daughter, Aoife, provided Killucan artist Lorraine Dunne with the inspiration for a painting that has now landed her on the shortlist for this year’s AIB Portrait Prize.

‘Aoife on Dollymount’ is the title of the oil on canvas painting by Lorraine, one of 25 works on the shortlist for the competition, which offers a cash prize of €15,000 for the overall winner.

That winner will also be commissioned to create a work for the national portrait collection, for which they will be awarded a further €5,000.

Two additional awards of €1,500 will be given to highly commended works.

An exhibition of the shortlisted works is to run at the National Gallery of Ireland from November 9 next to March 9, 2025 and the prizewinner will be announced at a ceremony held in the National Gallery of Ireland on November 27, 2024.

Lorraine, a primary school teacher working in Kildare with children who have special education needs, has a special memory of the day that provided the inspiration for the shortlisted painting: “My daughter is in Australia, and she came home on a visit and we went to the beach – but in typical Irish style, we had to have our coats on, even though the sun was shining, and again, a typical Irish thing, we had ice-cream.”

For a long period in Lorraine’s life, she did no art, but latterly, she has returned to painting with vigour, and, in fact, is doing a six-year part-time degree in fine art in Galway.

“In my 30s, I did some night classes at NCAD (National College of Art and Design), but then when I had my children, I stopped, and I didn’t paint for 25 years,” says Lorraine.

What prompted her to pick up painting again was the death of her father-in-law during the Covid-19 pandemic. “He died during lockdown and we couldn’t get together, so I painted him.”

The feedback she received was extremely positive, and so Lorraine has been painting since, and she went into a jobshare arrangement so enable her to take up her place on the degree in Galway.

Largely, she paints in oil, and while she greatly enjoys portraiture, she is experimenting with other genres.

Later this year, Lorraine will hold an exhibition of her work in Mullingar. Judges for the AIB Portrait Prize are: Hughie O’Donoghue, artist, painter and writer. Emer McGarry, director of The Model, Sligo and Simon O’Connor, director of the Museum of Literature Ireland.

“The artists shortlisted for the 2024 prize demonstrate an incredible breadth of Irish artistic talent,” said Dr Caroline Campbell, director of the National Gallery of Ireland. “We are looking forward to the opening of the exhibitions in November and announcing this year’s winners on November 27.”

Find out more at nationalgallery.ie.