A Time of Gifts
See new acquisitions of Irish art, including paintings and works on paper, by Sir John Lavery and Sir William Orpen at the Ulster Museum.
Irish art lies at the heart of the Ulster Museum collection, and includes many best-loved and familiar paintings.
A Time of Gifts celebrates some outstanding new acquisitions, including works by Sir John Lavery (1856-1941) and Sr William Orpen (1878-1931). The works were accepted by HM Government in Lieu of Inheritance Tax from the estate of Mary Hobart (The collection of Alan and Mary Hobart,) and allocated to the Ulster Museum in 2025. The offer in lieu was negotiated with the support of the Heritage and Taxation team at Christie’s.
For collections to flourish they must evolve and develop, and it is always a cause for celebration when new acquisitions are unveiled. A Time of Gifts sets the new acquisitions in context and illustrates how they enrich and strengthen the Ulster Museum’s outstanding collection of Irish art. The allocation originally formed part of the collection of Alan and Mary Hobart who founded the Pyms Gallery, London, which specialised in Irish art. The UK Government AIL (Acceptance in Lieu) scheme is an arrangement whereby pre-eminent works of art can be accepted in Lieu of Inheritance Tax and allocated to UK museums and galleries.
Born in Belfast, Lavery donated thirty-four of his paintings to the newly opened Belfast Art Gallery, now the Ulster Museum, in 1929. Born in Dublin, Orpen kept close ties with Ireland and returned to teach in Dublin where he influenced a younger generation of Irish painters, many of whom were women and are represented in the Ulster Museum collection. Central to A Time of Gifts is a small study by Lavery Sketch of the House of Lords in Session, 15 December 1921. From early in his career, Lavery perfected the oil sketch as a means of rapidly recording a scene or event. Choosing a high vantage point, this sketch records the packed chamber of the House of Lords during the debate which followed the signing of the Anglo-Irish Treaty, on 6th December 1921, establishing the Irish Free State.
This exhibition is located on Level 4 in Spotlight Art.
Image Caption: Sir John Lavery (1856-1941) Sketch of the House of Lords in Session, 15 December 1921 BELUM.U2025.4.