The Autumn 2024 edition of the Irish Arts Review features a superb selection of articles to enjoy, Renowned Japanese war photographer Akihiko Okamura moved to Ireland in 1969 and documented the conflict in Northern Ireland. His empathy with people shines through his work, as Stephanie McBride elucidates. Maeve McCarthy’s self-portrait graces the cover of the autumn edition. In conversation with AIDAN DUNNE, she tells him that, for her, ‘a large part of painting is the meditative aspect of working alone’; and NIAMH NicGHABHANN introduces a selection of this year’s art graduates. Readers are invited to view the Irish Arts Review’s online platform, ‘New Generation Gallery’, which showcases the achievements of graduating students from art colleges across Ireland.

LIAM BELTON outlines the turbulent times when he was a student at art college in Dublin in the late 1960s. His installation Homage to Paint and Protest featured at the RHA Annual Exhibition during the summer. TOM DUFFY appraises the work of 19th-century watercolour artist Mildred Anne Butler; and ANN WILSON reflects on Harry Clarke’s only stained-glass creations in Co Kerry.

The Dublin Art Club was founded by a group of artists that included Walter Osborne, John Butler Yeats and Sarah Purser. As KATHRYN MILLIGAN reveals, the club held an annual exhibition that included international artists such as Louise Breslau and Philip Wilson Steer. ANGELA GRIFFITH considers artist Ailbhe Barrett’s landscape prints; while PETER MURRAY finds that there is a Mannerist or Baroque quality to Michael Quane’s sculptures.

Elsewhere in the edition, sarah kelleher takes stock of Vivienne Roche’s survey exhibition; there’s EAMONN MAXWELL on photographer, filmmaker and writer Caoimhín Gaffney and JOHN P O’SULLIVAN on painter John Jobson; and TADHG O’KEEFFE advocates for a trip to the early Cisterican monastery Monasteranenagh Abbey in Co Limerick.  Usual features include Art at Auction, Diary of Events, and Design Portfolio by FRANCES McDONALD. There are book reviews by Andrew Tierney, Kenneth McConkey, Margarita Cappock and Conleth Manning.

And finally, one hundred and fifty years after his death, PAULA MURPHY remembers one of Ireland’s foremost sculptors, John Henry Foley, whose remains lie in the crypt of St Paul’s Cathedral in London. From Irish patriots to English generals on their steeds, Foley’s sculptures were in high demand throughout his life. Posthumously, there is even an inner-city Dublin street named after him. Enjoy!