Jessica Fahy Art Historian

Image: Mainie Jellett (Irish, 1897-1944), The Virgin of Eire, 1940s, oil on Canvas, 64 x 92 cm, National Gallery of Ireland

In 1923, Mary Harriet "Mainie" Jellett (Dublin, 1897 – 1944) exhibited two cubist paintings at the Dublin Painters' Exhibition. The response was hostile, with the Irish Times publishing a photograph of one of the paintings and quoting their art critic as saying of them 'to me they presented an insoluble puzzle' and ‘freak pictures’. AE (George Russell) described Jellett as "a late victim to Cubism in some sub-section of this malaria". The following year, Jellett and Evie Hone (Dublin, 1894 – 1955) had their first joint exhibition, just over a hundred years later a joint retrospective of these groundbreaking artists is currently being held at the National Gallery of Ireland entitled Mainie Jellett and Evie Hone. The Art of Friendship. This large exhibition of around 90 works in various mediums including oil, watercolour and stained glass demonstrates the versatility of both artists while illustrating their similarities and differences.