The Royal Hibernian Academy (RHA) is delighted to host a talk by Professor John Turpin HRHA. The RHA in the early 20th century saw itself as modern.

This outlook was challenged by new international avant garde trends. From the 1950s the RHA became isolated. Abstraction was patronised by the Arts Council.

Matt Gallagher’s offer to build a new gallery for the Academy in Ely Place with a powerful modernist design forced the Academy to rethink its role.

The return of figure painting internationally assisted in the re-emergence of the Academy with a wider range of membership and of exhibitions of contemporary art.

Note: Booking essential.