Virtual Exhibits: Irish Paintings from the Collection of Brian P. Burns

The Brian P. Burns Collection About the Collection About the Collector Watch a Video Tour xxxx
The Virtual Tour Jack B. Yeats John Keating Walter F. Osborne Sir John Lavery ... and more

ABOUT THE COLLECTION
ARTSEDGE is delighted to present a virtual exhibit of paintings from the collection of Brian P. Burns, who lent more than 60 works of art to the Kennedy Center to be exhibited during the Irish Festival (May 13-28, 2000). Both exhibits include works by Jack B. Yeats, Roderic O'Conor, Paul Henry, Walter Osborne, Sir William Orpen and others that span from the mid-19th to the mid-20th century.

Mr. Brian P. Burns and The Honorable Jean Kennedy Smith The Kennedy Center

Ireland has long been known for its musical and literary traditions, but its art remains virtually unknown. The Brian P. Burns collection makes the splendors of Irish art available to new audiences in the United States, and now on the Web.

The online exhibit provides a diverse collection of styles, subject matter, and artistic influences that cover the latter part of the Victorian period through the evolution of modern Irish art in the first half of the twentieth century. The paintings give a sense of Irish life -- from landscapes and rural scenes to city life and portraits.

Click on any of the images below to view paintings by that artist or let us guide you on a tour of the collection.

Jack B. Yeats	John Keating	Walter F. Osborne	Sir John Lavery	and others...

ABOUT THE COLLECTOR

Mr. and Mrs. Brian P. Burns, The Kennedy Center

Brian P. Burns is a man of many talents - business executive, attorney, and philanthropist - but it is perhaps for his extensive and unequaled art collection that Brian Burns is best known. Through his efforts, the work of dozens of Irish artists is exhibited regularly at various locations throughout the U.S. In 1996, an exhibition titled America's Eye: Irish Paintings was shown both at Boston College Museum of Art (now the McMullen Museum) and the Hugh Lane Municipal Gallery of Modern Art in Dublin, courtesy of Burns' own private collection.

Burns is the chairman and president of BF Enterprises, Inc. a publicly-owned real estate holding and development company. A nationally regarded business executive, he has been the moving force behind some 40 corporate mergers. In March 1996, Mr. Burns was named, by Art & Antiques Magazine, as one of the 100 top collectors in America.

He is also a director of the American Ireland Fund and the founder and principal benefactor of the John J. Burns (named for his father) Library of Rare Books at Boston College. The library houses more than 100,000 rare books, three million manuscripts and has the largest archive of rare books in the United States. From 1995 to 1998, Mr. Burns served as vice chairman of the Irish American Fulbright Commission and is a member of the Trinity College Foundation Board in Dublin.

In 1990, the Burns Foundation endowed the library with a Visiting Scholar in Irish Studies chair. His Irish art collection was the subject of a major exhibition for several months in 1997 at the Yale Center for British Art in New Haven, Connecticut. Burns was a principal benefactor of the first Irish Famine memorial in Cambridge, Massachusetts, which was dedicated in July 1997 by former Irish President Mary Robinson. He currently serves as a member of the Irish Prime Minister's Economic Advisory Board.

In November 1999, Mr. Burns was named by Irish America Magazine as one of the greatest Irish-Americans of the 20th century.

Burns traces his roots to County Kerry. His wife Eileen is a member of the Advisory Board to the National Gallery of Ireland.

A VIDEO TOUR OF HIGHLIGHTS FROM THE COLLECTION

Virtual Exhibits || Storytelling || Lesson Plans || Music Exchange || Online Resources

The Irish Festival Online

a special project of

ARTSEDGE || The Kennedy Center