National Self Portrait Collection of Ireland

To select the artist click the first letter of his/her surname below:

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A Brief history

The Collection began in 1977 when 15 self-portraits were purchased from the late John Kneafsey. Kneafsey ran the Limerick office of the Irish Independent and was a keen collector and supporter of the arts; he was Chairman of the Limerick Art Society for some years. The collection was purchased by what was then the National Institute for Higher Education, and with the support of Thomas Ryan, Dr Patrick Doran and Dr Edward Walsh, the NSPCI was founded with a Board of Trustees to manage the collection.  The current collection has over 400 Self-Portraits, mostly two dimensional, but the more recent additions have been influenced by multi-media and new technology.