menu
Departments
.svg)
While many artists of her generation found inspiration close to home, Mary Swanzy (1882- 1978) looked overseas, absorbing avant-garde ideas in Paris, and even travelling as far as the Pacific islands in search of new ideas. The result is a collection of work that feels far-reaching and remarkably modern.
1. She Came from a Family of Scientists
Swanzy’s father, Sir Henry Swanzy, was a prominent ophthalmic (eye) surgeon and President of the Royal College of Surgeons. He received a knighthood in 1907. The family resided at 23 Merrion Square, Dublin.
2. She was Mentored by Walter Osborne
Swanzy attended the Metropolitan School of Art, Dublin from about 1897. But she found a mentor in Walter Osborne at the Royal Hibernian Academy. Osborne died in 1903 so it was a relatively short mentorship.
3. She Studied Across Europe Until the Outbreak of the First World War
Like many ambitious artists in the early twentieth century, Swanzy left Ireland to train abroad. She studied in Paris, Munich, and Rome, encountering a wide range of artistic movements that would eventually influence her distinctive style.
In 1913, shortly after the death of her father, she visited Italy and took a studio in Florence with the intention of settling there for a few years to further her studies. The outbreak of WWI forced her to return to Dublin in 1914.
4. She Lived a Very Independent Life
At a time when many women artists faced significant social constraints, Swanzy remained independent and unmarried, allowing her to travel widely and focus fully on her artistic career.
5. She Was One of Ireland’s Earliest Cubist Painters
Inspired by developments in Paris, Swanzy experimented with Cubist ideas long before they became widely accepted in Ireland. Her paintings from the 1910s and 1920s show fragmented forms, flattened perspectives, and bold structural colour techniques that were radical for Irish audiences at the time.
Her participation in exhibitions abroad helped introduce audiences outside Ireland to her distinctive blend of styles, which drew from movements such as Cubism, Fauvism, and Orphism. By exhibiting internationally, she positioned herself not simply as an Irish painter but as part of a global network of modernist artists.
6. She Travelled to the South Pacific and America
In the 1920s Swanzy travelled to Hawaii and Samoa, an extraordinary journey for an Irish woman artist of that era. The lush landscapes and intense light transformed her palette, bringing vibrant colour and rhythmic forms into her paintings.
Shortly thereafter, she set sail to California where she exhibited Samoan Scenes in the Santa Barbara Art Club Gallery.
7. Critics Didn’t Always Know What to Make of Her
Modernism was still a new and sometimes confusing idea in Ireland during Swanzy’s early career. Some critics struggled to categorise her work, but today those experimental qualities are exactly what make her paintings so compelling.
Swanzy said: ‘I am interested in everything that is life, every manifestation of life, and in all the mad things people do'.
8. Her Style Was Always Evolving
Swanzy never stayed in one artistic lane. Over the course of her career her work moved through Post-Impressionism, Cubist influences, bold Fauvist colour, and increasingly abstract landscapes, reflecting a restless creative curiosity.
9. Her Career Spanned Nearly a Century
Born in 1882, Swanzy lived until the great age of 96. She died in 1978.
During her long life, Swanzy witnessed and participated in an extraordinary period of artistic change, from late nineteenth-century traditions to the rise of modern abstraction.
10. The First Major Retrospective of her Work was held at the Irish Modern Museum of Art in 2018
Today Swanzy is widely acknowledged as a pioneering figure in Irish modernism. Institutions such as the National Gallery of Ireland, the Royal Hibernian Academy and IMMA have celebrated her work, and collectors are increasingly drawn to her bold and internationally influenced paintings.
As part of the Retrospective of Swanzy's work, a book was published titled 'Mary Swanzy, Voyages', which is an excellent record of her life, work and travels.
Want to acquire a Mary Swanzy painting?
We are offering two Mary Swanzy paintings in our upcoming Important Irish Art Auction, taking place on Wednesday 25th March:
Lot 7
Mary Swanzy HRHA (1882-1978)
Cathedral, Semur
Oil on canvas, 45 x 53.5cm (17¾ x 21'')
Signed, titled on aper verso
Provenance: with Eakin Gallery, Belfast, label verso
€20,000 - 30,000
Lot 14
Mary Swanzy HRHA (1881-1978)
Le Rêve (The Dream)
Oil on board, 23.5 x 36cm (9¼ x 14¼'')
Provenance: Sale, Christie's London, Studio Sale; With Peppercanister Gallery, Dublin; Private Collection
€1,800 - 2,500
.jpg)
Works Sold at Adam’s Now in the Irish National Collection
A great opportunity to purchase both established and lesser-known artist’s work at an accessible price point, the Online Picture Auction is the first of many sales to be hosted at Adam’s in 2026. It is perfect for those looking to start a collection and the discerning collector alike.
Through this article, let our expert Adam Pearson guiding you to the (re)discovery of the once established Irish painter Richard O’Neill.
Buying at Auction and the Role of Antiques in a Modern Home
Important Irish Art Auction Highlights
Oliver Dowling Collection by Aidan Dunne
2024 is a year in which Adam’s wants to recognise the key role buying antique furniture and furnishings at auction contributes greatly to the sustainable initiative. In 2019 the Environmental Protection Agency reported stark figures that each year in Ireland 1.2 million reusable bulky items, primarily furniture goes into landfill. Similar to the problem of ‘fast fashion’, the constant production and consumption of new items is leading to rapidly growing waste problem. We want to acknowledge those who are already buying second hand or antique furniture at auction and to encourage new buyers by highlighting the benefits of acquiring affordable, well-made quality items that are built to last.
Irish author, recipe creator and lifestyle influencer, Indy Parsons, selects her favourite pieces from our upcoming Fine Jewellery & Watches auction
.jpg)
Cork-born Irish actress, Sarah Greene, selects her favourite pieces from our upcoming Fine Jewellery & Watches auction
Yvonne Aupicq had met Orpen, we understand, while working as a nurse during the war. He had been admitted to hospital with a suspected case of scabies which ended up being a far more serious case of blood poisoning as he recounts in his wartime memoir ‘An Onlooker in France’. Their relationship continued after 1918 when Orpen was appointed as the official artist to The Paris Peace Conference. They relocated to capital and over the following decade he painted her numerous times, often nude as in Amiens 1914, or The Rape and Nude Girl Reading (1921). Working with her as his model during these early years after the war allowed Orpen an opportunity to re-fuel his creativity.
Editor-in-Chief of IMAGE Publications, Lizzie Gore-Grimes, selects her favourite pieces from our upcoming Fine Jewellery & Watches auction
Our upcoming Fine Jewellery & Watches auction on September 13th features a prime example of Van Cleef & Arpel's renowned 'Mystery Setting'
Our June auction offers a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to acquire one of the great masterpieces of Irish art and icons of Dublin’s history.
Georgia Chiesa selects some of her favourite lots in the upcoming Vintage Wine & Spirits Auction
"Beating the bounds is a tradition that can be traced back to the medieval period. At this time, land was divided into parishes and the clergy and church wardens held the responsibility for its upkeep and management. It was up to the Church to ensure that its parishioners knew the local boundary lines and, before maps became commonplace, this had to be kept as a mental record."
Adam’s in conjunction with Suzanne MacDougald are proud to host an online timed auction of artworks to aid the Irish Red Cross’s humanitarian work in delivering vital services to millions of people impacted by the conflict in Ukraine. With no buyers premium 100% of the hammer price will go directly to the Irish Red Cross.
Ros Drinkwater writes of Jack B Yeats' 'The Boat' in the Business Post:
With a consolidated result of €320,000,the At Home sale in Stephan’s Green, was a great success.
James Adam & Sons Ltd, Fine Art Auctioneers and Valuers, 26 St. Stephen’s Green, Dublin 2,
D02 X665, Ireland
