The National Gallery of Ireland has announced its latest exhibition – Mainie Jellett and Evie Hone. The Art of Friendship. The fascinating new exhibition, which opens on Thursday April 10th, is the first joint exhibition of the two artists since they showed together in Dublin in 1924.
The exhibition offers visitors a chance to explore Mainie Jellett (1897–1944) and Evie Hone’s (1894-1955) friendship and shared experiences while studying in Paris during the early 1920s, and follow their careers back to Ireland. The exhibition will include over 90 fascinating works by the two pioneering Irish modernists.
Jellett and Hone studied with the French Cubists André Lhote and Albert Gleizes in 1920s Paris and the south of France. The two remained close friends until Jellett’s death in 1944. Hone specialised in stained glass design but continued to paint, while Jellett allowed Cubist principles to inform her work, from abstract paintings to religious subjects to landscapes throughout her career.
The two artist’s work will be displayed side-by-side, providing the public with an opportunity to consider what connected these hugely gifted figures, but also what set them apart from one another, based upon the evidence of their art and of supporting scholarship.
Featuring paintings, stained glass, and preparatory drawings, the exhibition reveals how both women were pioneers in modern Irish art through traditional themes such as religion and landscape.
Dr Caroline Campbell, Director of the National Gallery of Ireland, said, “It is very exciting to bring together Mainie Jellett and Evie Hone, marking the first joint exhibition of the two artists since 1924. Jellett and Hone remained lifelong friends and were equally influential in pioneering modern art in Ireland. Mainie Jellett and Evie Hone. The Art of Friendship is not just a display of their work, it is an invitation to discover the power of friendship. My thanks to The Klesch Collection our Lead Sponsor, Friends of the National Gallery of Ireland and the Art of Friendship Giving Circle. We hope that this exhibition will delight visitors throughout the spring and summer.”
Amparo Martinez-Russotto, Curator of The Klesch Collection, added, “We are delighted to support this landmark exhibition celebrating Mainie Jellett and Evie Hone—two artists who helped shape modern Irish art. Their bold innovation continues to inspire, this exhibition offers a unique opportunity to explore their legacy. At The Klesch Collection, we are committed to the principles of accessibility, preservation and scholarship of artistic treasures for generations to come, and are proud to collaborate in sharing the remarkable story of these two trailblazers, bringing their significant achievement to a wider audience.”
The exhibition will showcase work by both artists of various forms and purpose – preparatory and schematic drawings, cartoons, paintings and glass panels – and in variety of media, including watercolour, gouache, oils and stained glass.
Highlights of the exhibition include Evie Hone’s gouache cartoon for the East Window of Eton College Chapel. With its deep colours, the Crucifixion at the centre, and the Last Supper below, the finished window is considered by many to be one of the masterpieces of modern stained-glass art. Before her death in 1955, Hone became a stained-glass artist of the first rank.
Already an established painter, she studied stained-glass design before joining An Túr Gloine (The Tower of Glass) in 1933—the stained-glass collective in central Dublin co-founded in 1903 by artist Sarah Purser.
Mainie Jellett’s Decoration (1923) is regarded as one of the most important paintings in the history and development of Irish art in the 20th century. It shows the external influences of Jellett’s training and involvement in European art.
Though essentially abstract, the format, colour range and media of this work strongly recall early Renaissance depictions of the Madonna and Child.
Feature Image: Mainie Jellett, The Virgin of Éire, 1940s Photo, National Gallery of Ireland
Mainie Jellett and Evie Hone. The Art of Friendship will open to the public on 10 April 2025 and run until 10 August 2025.
Friends of the National Gallery of Ireland receive free unlimited entry to all exhibitions. Tickets are also free for children (18 and under), international protection applicants, refugees and carers. There is free entry for all to the exhibition on Wednesday mornings and tickets are €5 on Thursday evenings. This exhibition is kindly supported by The Klesch Collection as Lead Sponsor, Friends of the National Gallery of Ireland and the Art of Friendship Giving Circle. The Gallery would like to thank the Department of Arts, Culture, Communications, Media and Sport for their ongoing support.
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