Sarah Cecilia Harrison and Sir Hugh Lane Collection

Part of the Irish Archive

Description

Hugh Lane and Sarah Cecilia Harrison were friends for a number of years. It is not known exactly when they met, but they had similar Irish backgrounds and artistic friends. It is possible they knew of each other from 1901. They met and corresponded frequently. Harrison was instrumental in helping Lane establish and run the Municipal Gallery of Modern Art. She was on the committee for the gallery, wrote the 1908 catalogue for the Municipal Gallery for Modern Art, offered to give money to help keep it open and updated Lane on what was happening in Dublin while he lived in London. Sarah Cecilia Harrison (1863-1941) came from a political Protestant family background in Co Derry. She was a talented portrait painter who studied under Alphonse Legros and was committed to social reform. She was the first female councillor, and served in Dublin Corporation to help the unemployed and those living in tenements. She painted many of the leading individuals in Irish society such as Michael Collins, George Moore, Alderman Kelly and Hugh Lane. She was a suffragist and became close friends with Mr and Mrs Thomas Haslam who were key founders of the women’s right to vote movement in the United Kingdom. Her epitaph reads, ‘Artist and Friend of the Poor’. This collection is composed of two series: letters from Hugh Lane to Sarah Cecilia Harrison from 1905 to 1915, and documentation compiled by Harrison after the death of Lane concerning his will and codicil. The original chronological order has been kept.

Creator

Lane, Sir Hugh, Harrison, Sarah Cecilia

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Lane, Sir Hugh Harrison, Sarah Cecilia