Business

AIB donates 39 artworks to the State

22.02.2012

AIB said today that it is donating 39 of its most valuable pieces of art to the State and making a further 1,000 artworks available for public exhibition.

The bank said today’s announcement follows discussions with the Minister for Arts, Heritage and the Gaeltacht, Jimmy Deenihan.

Twelve artworks are being transferred to the State immediately, including pieces by Jack B Yeats, Seán Keating, Paul Henry, William Scott, Roderic O’Conor, Walter Osborne and Patrick Collins. 

The other 27 works will be transferred to the State over the next two years. The bank said “the timeframe involved in transferring these artworks is determined by the practical issues of the management and care involved in dealing with such a valuable collection”.

The Minister has decided that the works will be housed in Cork's Crawford Gallery.

The partnership also includes an agreement that AIB will not sell any works from the collection and will make available additional pieces for loan to publicly funded galleries, through the aegis of the Crawford Gallery.

“Over 30 years ago AIB set out to support the development of modern Irish art and the work of Irish artists and those who have made Ireland their home,” said David Hodgkinson, chairman of AIB.

“We have worked with Minister Deenihan and his office with a view to ensuring that the artworks of historic and cultural interest are preserved and made more accessible to the Irish public.

“By donating significant artworks to the State and making the wider collection available for loan, we are achieving these important objectives. The development of the arts in Ireland has always been important to AIB and today’s announcement will result in a greater appreciation of the strength, breadth and depth of our visual arts heritage.”

The 12 works to be transferred to the State immediately:

The works that will be donated over the next two years: