RHA Gallery

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One of Dublin's leading public art galleries. Founded in 1823. Home to the RHA School. Visit the 196th RHA Annual Exhibition in association with McCann FitzGerald. rhagallery.ie

‘My current work on exhibition at the RHA Annual Exhibition takes its reference from Pieter Breugel’s The Harvesters (1565) from a cycle of the seasons shows the peasant laborers in a sympathetic yet idealized light, while accurately documenting the stages of harvest, foregrounding the mechanisation, industrialisation of labour all set in a pastoral landscape. ‘Here I attempt to weave together a look at harvesting in the world of Broligarchs in Trumptown. From the harvesting of ICE raids, state surveillance, harvesting of data, canvassing votes and clicks for Far Right movements the Charlie Kirks et al. To the cosy meet ups pageantry and propaganda deals in The Oval Office to Starbase colonised towns and back to the harvesting of blood minerals, land grab and destruction with the contemporary peasant worker entrapped as slave labourer, migrant, child worker and mercenary in a complex well oiled global harvesting machine.’ Image: Claire Halpin, The Harvesters (Long after Breugel). Oil on canvas, 76 x 90cm. Image used courtesy of the artist. #RHAGallery #RHAAnnualExhibition #RHA196 #McCannFitzGerald #GoFurther #ArtsCouncilSupported #ArtsIreland #AlwaysFreeAdmission
Our Sunday featured work from the 196th RHA Annual Exhibition in association with McCann FitzGerald is by Niall McCarthy. Niall is featured in an article in today’s Sunday Independent: ‘McCarthy swims all year round (in Garryvoe, East Cork) and hones his skills, "painting mainly in a photorealistic, sometimes hyperrealistic style", he says. Subject matter includes his sister's flower field, barley waving in the high field, calla lilies, Brent geese and French soldiers at The Ravine of Death, Verdun, 1916. And there are surreal works, too, including a laburnum tree painting exploring suicide in Ireland. ‘"In the past, I considered myself very private," he says. "Paintings were windows, not mirrors. Only recently, following exploration of personal issues, has a more public role with my art emerged. "His painting Mam's Hands in Hospital - made with water mixable oils on aluminium composite - is a very personal, beautiful and moving work. His mother's hands "unposed, just lying on the bed" is all the more poignant, capturing as it does her last stay in hospital before being brought home where she spent her final weeks.’ Read more from an interview that Niall gave to Niall MacMonagle in today’s Sunday Independent, either in the print edition or online at independent.ie (€). Image: Niall McCarthy, Mam’s Hands in Hospital. Water mixable oils on aluminium composite, 40 x 40cm. Image used courtesy of the artist.
A painting of a red and yellow metal lifeguard hut container with a yellow railing on top against a gray textured background. Image: Paul Newport, September. Oil on wood panel, 40 x 30cm. Image used courtesy of the artist.
A photo of a wooden sculpture featuring four abstract animal faces stacked vertically on a black pedestal against a gray background. Image: Cansu Guvenkaya, Fairytale of Bremen. Wood, 61 x 20 x 15cm. Image used courtesy of the artist.
Image: Inés Pesado Catrufo, Portrait of Reidín from “All Flowers Lost In Time”. Photography, 42 x 30cm. Image used courtesy of the artist.
‘This is a piece I felt compelled to make, it is everything that I feel about the changing state of the world. This is Ukraine, it is Palestine, It is Iran, it is Greenland, it is Europe, it’s Venezuela, it’s Cuba, it’s Africa, it is people, it is abuse, it is suffering, it is avoidable wars, it is purely profit, it is bare faced greed, it is facilitators, it is players, political animals, war lords and wannabe Emperors, it is indifference to the destruction of all common, decent morals.’ Laurence O’Toole. Laurence is one of over five hundred artists in this year’s exhibition. His piece is available for purchase. Visit rhagallery.ie or enquire at our front desk for details. Image: Laurence O’Toole, The hen house. Oil on sculpted wood (triptych), 80 x 80cm. Image used courtesy of the artist.
A photograph of artists working in one of the RHA Studios. The RHA is accepting applications for a one year studio opportunity from September 2026 – exact dates to be confirmed. Applications close on the 10th August. Applicants should clearly state on a cover letter that they are applying for RHA Studio 2.
Image: Rae Perry, Mirror. Oil on panel, 70 x 50cm. Image used courtesy of the artist.
Nathalie Weadick discussed work by GKMP Architects, Cormac Adams, Ros Kavanagh, OPW Architectural Services, and Matthew Gammon. Nathalie was joined by Melissa June Alexandra O’Donnell who talked about her work Decoding Painting_04_Latent Creative Data.
Image: Andrew Folan RHA, Flowers that Steal Nectar from the Night. Archival digital print with pyrography and pearls, museum archive frame with AR70 glass, 77 x 60cm. Edition of 3, 3 available. Image used courtesy of the artist.
A photograph of two young Nigerian-Irish brothers in matching pink outfits and blue patterned shawls sit on a couch, one pouring rhubarb juice into a glass beside bread and olives on a table. Image: Merve Sagat, Ritual Study I. Archival pigment print. 85x60cm. Edition of 5 + 2 AP, 5 available.
A photograph of the artist lying on a wooden floor with stockinged legs raised, covered by a pile of various sneakers and shoes in different colours and styles. Image: Amanda Coogan, Falling, after F.E. McWilliam. Photography, Jos Mc Gookin, 70 x 60cm. Edition of 3 + 1 AP, 2 available. Image used courtesy of the artist.
A photograph of a round decorative bowl with a deep blue exterior and a shiny gold interior, casting a soft shadow on a white surface. Image: Michael Foley, Ciotola Inclinata. Bronze and stainless steel, 17 x 47 x 47cm. Edition of 6 + 2 AP, 6 available. Image used courtesy of the artist.
Image: Erin Lawlor, Silver Screen 2023. Oil on linen, 180 x 120cm. Image courtesy of the artist.
A photo of former RHA Interim Director Nathalie Weadick above text that advertises an Art Form Tour of the 196th Annual Exhibition in association with McCann FitzGerald, focusing on Architecture. The tour takes place this Wednesday 22 July at 5.30pm.
A photograph of three abstract curved stone sculptures in black, green, and reddish tones displayed on a dark wooden platform. Image: Jason Ellis, Osselets. Connemara marble, Cork red limestone, Kilkenny limestone, ebonised pearwood, 18 x 25 x 25cm. Image used courtesy of the artist.
A nighttime photograph of the exterior of the RHA. Underneath are written the words: Artists & Buyers - Collection of Stored Artwork.
Eoin Mac Lochlainn, An ghaoth aniar / eroded fence post no.1. Watercolour on birch panel, archival fixative, 45 x 30cm. Image courtesy of the artist.
Image: Alicia Ruiz Lopez, Scroll. Concrete and steel, 26 x 15 x 25cm.
Image: Richard Gorman RHA, rust spin. Oil on linen, 150 x 150cm.
‘Cheval en Scène forms part of my ongoing photographic series Mise en Abyme, developed during residencies in Paris. Photographed at the Musée des Arts Forains, the image depicts a carousel horse isolated within a theatrical darkness, illuminated as though suspended between performance and memory. ‘Drawing on the concept of mise en abyme — a recursive image within an image — the work explores illusion, repetition, and the unstable boundary between the fictive and the real. The riderless horse becomes both stage prop and psychic presence: poised in perpetual motion, caught between enchantment and stillness.’ Sharon Murphy. Image: Sharon Murphy, Cheval en Scène. Photography, 60 x 74cm. Edition of 5 + 2 AP, 5 available. Image used courtesy of the artist.
A crowd of people listening to Elaine Byrne RHA giving a tour of the RHA Annual Exhibition.
A poster advertising a tour this Saturday at 1pm of the 196th RHA Annual Exhibition with Colin Martin RHA Head of School, as he presents some of his favourite works in the show.
Image: Julianne Guinee, Interior with Bath. Oil on canvas, 50 x 50cm. Image courtesy of the artist.
Image: Eileen Mac Donagh RHA, Pinch Point 2. Stone, 20x10x6cm. Image courtesy of the artist.
Mollie Douthit, Prequel to ‘The day of the Black Banana’. Oil on linen panel, 40 x 51cm. Image courtesy of the artist.
Abigail O’Brien PPRHA, Labyrinth I, Archival print of hand embroidery framed under UV protected acrylic glass, 120 x 120cm. Image courtesy of the artist.
Installation photo from Selma Mäkelä's 2024 Ashford Gallery exhibition, When the birds gather, you know there is something you must do. Photo: Ros Kavanagh Photography.
Image: Stephen Doyle, Our Nest. Oil on canvas, 105 x 120cm. Image courtesy of the artist
A photograph of a large puddle on a dark volcanic landscape in Iceland with distant green mountains under a cloudy sky. Image: Adrian O’Carroll, Puddle 1, Iceland. Archival pigment print, 67 x 100cm. Edition of 10 + 5 AP, 10 available. Image used courtesy of the artist.
Image: Nickie Harrington, Kinked Logic. Acrylic on hand-cut shaped plywood panel, 56 x 43cm. Image used courtesy of the artist.
A photograph of a bronze sculpture of a mountain goat with curved horns standing on a plain surface. Image: Cheryl Brown, Irish Goat. Bronze, 40 x 10 x40cm. Edition of 9, 7 available. Image courtesy of the artist.
Two photos showing the front and back of the Clare Island Studio Residency building.
A painting of a young man wearing a cap standing on a rural roadside with a backpack under a moody sky. Image: Martin Gale RHA, Arrival. Oil on linen, 35 x 45cm. Image used courtesy of the artist.
Image: Helen Merrigan Colfer, Cloud Gazers. Clay resin, steel, ink pigments, 45 x25 x 25cm. Image used courtesy of the artist.
A digital collage of colourful spheres of various sizes float above a serene mountain lake surrounded by pine trees and snow-capped peaks under a clear blue sky. Image: Elinor O’Donovan, Dig a Pony. Digital collage on aluminium dibond, 48 x 60cm. Image courtesy of the artist.
A painting of a crumpled blue paper bag with brown edges hanging against a plain wall by its handles. Image: Martin Redmond, Blue bag. Oil on linen, 60 x 75cm. Image used courtesy of the artist.