Adam's HOMAN POTTERTON A LIFETIME OF COLLECTING 7th September 2021

7 Homan Potterton brought passion, scholarship and a highly original focus to his stellar career both as a curator and museum director, as well as to his writings and memoirs and to his personal collection. His knowledge of the fine arts was deep and diverse, informed by years of academic study along with a singular curiosity and appreciation for the profound and the beautiful in the arts.With his encyclopedic knowledge of sculpture and paintings as well as arts and crafts, Homan built up a personal collection which is impressive in quality and range. His early career as Assistant Keeper in the National Gallery London saw him focus his scholarship on Italian seicento painting and, in 1979, he curated his first significant museum exhibition Venetian Seventeenth Century Paintings to tremendous success.Three year earlier, his Guide to the National Gallery’s collection was published and remained a bestseller for several decades. In late1979, Homan was ap- pointed as Director of the National Gallery of Ireland and he heralded a golden era of spectacular acquisitions. Like his predecessor, Sir Hugh Lane, over a half a century earlier, he was astute and focused in shaping and advancing the gallery’s collections. During his eight year tenure, he introduced a new focus on the avant-garde of the early 20th century acquiring splendid works by Emil Nolde, Kees van Dongen and Chaim Soutine and was most prescient in securing priceless paintings for the nation, includingVelazquez,Vermeer and Goya from Sir Alfred and Lady Beit’s collection. Also like Sir Hugh, his personal collection echoed the passion and initiative he brought to his time as Director and his homes presented a cornucopia of delights. Adopting an elegant salon hang, the familiar greeting you like old friends, including Angelica Kauffman, Charles Jervas, Robert Hunter and Batoni, while the new and sometimes relatively unknown introducing themselves and making their mark in these captivating interiors, pulsating with a low key gravitas and grace. Born in County Meath to a well established farming and auctioneering family, the youngest of eight children, Homan recounted his child- hood memories in his first of a two volume autobiography Rathcormick:A Childhood Recalled (2001); a charming account of growing up in Ireland in the 1950’s.The second volume Who do I think I am? (2017) reveals his wit and humour as well as the challenges and triumphs of his tenure in the National Gallery of Ireland. Having raised the profile of the gallery immeasurably through exhibitions, famously coining the phrase ‘Irish Impressionists’, publishing catalogues on the collection and acquiring artworks which significantly added to the stature of the collection, Homan left after eight years much to the astonishment of many, but such was his frustration at the lack of public investment desperately required to refurbish the gallery. He went on to become a highly successful Editor of the Irish Arts Review and his editorials were much anticipated. Never one to hold back on issues he held dear and on which he was thoroughly informed, he could be funny and devastating in equal measure. His choice of subjects and authors was enlightened, often bringing welcome attention to little known or forgotten excellence in Irish art and crafts. Homan with his husbandAlex Heusen, spent many years in NewYork before dividing their time between London and their rustic country house outsideToulouse, interspersed with regular and eagerly anticipated visits to Dublin.They had a wide ranging and wonderful circle of friends. As Alex remarked, wherever Homan lived he brought a unique and unmistakably Irish feel to his homes. One of the very in- teresting paintings in his Irish collection is the portrait of GuendolenWilkinson by LeoWhelan, which he purchased when living in New York. Guendolen was the daughter of Sir NevilleWilkinson renowned for his dolls house designs. Aged three, her sighting of a fairy in their garden in Mount Merrion, inspired her father to design the now famous dolls houseTitania’s Palace. It was created by the renowned furniture makers Hicks of Pembroke Street, Dublin, between 1907 and 1922 and is now on display in Egeskov Castle, Denmark. The Hicks connection would have added to Homan’s delight of acquiring this portrait give his appreciation of Irish furniture.Among the several important pieces in his collection is the very beautiful and rare Irish Georgian walnut table with Kilkenny marble top, which is included in the Knight of Glin’s book on Irish Furniture , published in 2007. Marble busts by Irish and English sculptors graced his side tables including those by Edward Foley, elder brother of the more well known John H. Foley, Joseph Robinson Kirk and Christopher Moore. Over these his impressive collection of paintings and works on paper were hung in a thoughtful but highly individual style. As only Homan could, the 18th and 19th century works mingled happily with his 20th and 21st century collection of Irish paintings seeingWillian Orpen, Henry Roberson Craig, Tom Ryan and Martin Mooney alongside Laurent de la Hyre,Thomas Frye, Roberts and Kauffmann, not to mention wonderful smaller works judiciously placed which added to the exuberance of the hang. Homan’s innate appreciation of the arts which, coupled with his encyclopedic knowledge, makes this collection a unique assemblage. It also reflects his personality – passionate, thoroughly informed, opinionated, stylish, eccentric, funny and courageous. It is the story of a life fully lived, one of determination, ambition, love and adventure. AsWalter Benjamin said “Every passion borders on the chaotic, but the collector’s passion borders on the chaos of memories” A number of Irish arts and other charities will benefit from the proceeds of the auction, thanks to the generosity of Homan and Alex. Barbara Dawson Director, Dublin City Gallery, The Hugh Lane Summer 2021