Echo, Casino Marino, Text by Margarita Cappock, 2025

Eithne Jordan is one of Ireland’s pre-eminent painters. Since the 1980s, Jordan’s work has evolved from early emotionally-charged, neo-expressionist paintings, very much about her inner life, to work that looks at the world outside of herself, with a focus on still life, domestic interiors, landscape and urban environments. In recent years, she has turned her artistic gaze to the interiors of public and private spaces, such as museums and institutional buildings, which she has visited on her travels in Ireland, France, Italy, Switzerland and the United States. The interiors of the majestic Hôtel de Ville in Toulouse, the Musée Fabre in Montpellier, the Musée Jacquemart André in Paris, the Kunsthalle in Basel and the Villa Necchi Campiglio in Milan and further afield, Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Art in Philadelphia, feature in this current exhibition. In Ireland, buildings such as Newbridge House, the National Gallery of Ireland, the Crawford Gallery and the Anatomy Room at the Royal College of Surgeons have captured her attention.

Jordan explores the way paintings, sculptures and artefacts are displayed in museums and institutions. Many of these buildings, previously or currently, serve the causes of science, aristocracy, government and culture. The artist is drawn to the juxtaposition of sumptuous and pompous interiors, with the functionality of their use in contemporary life, and the overall impression created by the ensemble of décor. Jordan is drawn to exhibiting in unusual spaces where her work can interact with their surroundings as reflected in two recent exhibitions, ‘Mise en Scène I’ and Mise en Scène II’ at the Highlanes Gallery in Drogheda and the Crawford Gallery in Cork, in 2022 and 2023. The Highlanes exhibition took place in the space of a former church, now a gallery, while the exhibition at the Crawford Gallery took the form of an intervention in the beautiful sculpture galleries, with twenty small works by Jordan exhibited amongst the original Canova Casts. In 2023 Jordan had an exhibition at Assab One in Milan where the setting was an industrial building that previously housed the well-known art printing business, Grafiche Editoriali Ambrosiane. This exhibition, staged in collaboration with a site-specific installation by Nathalie du Pasquier, resulted in an exploration of the relationship between the exhibition and its surrounding space. Jordan’s paintings feel very at home in these diverse spaces and reflect her enduring interest in architecture and the interplay that can happen between her paintings and their environment, whether a modernist space or a historic building.

It is apposite that Jordan’s work is now on display in the Casino at Marino, a gem of neoclassical architecture and the jewel in the crown of what was once the extensive Marino demesne of James Caulfeild (1728-99), the 1st Earl of Charlemont. In 1773 Caulfeild commissioned the architect Sir William Chambers (1723-1796) to design a habitable garden temple for him in what was then the countryside of Marino. Chambers had designed Charlemont House, Caulfeild’s townhouse on Rutland Square, now home to the Hugh Lane Gallery. In 2017 Jordan had an exhibition entitled ‘Tableau’ at the Hugh Lane Gallery and some of the beautiful interior spaces of Charlemont House featured in her paintings in that show. The resonance of this new body of work – most from the last five years – displayed in the rooms of the Casino creates the ‘echo’ of an ongoing conversation with the eighteenth century, which is why the artist chose this as the exhibition title.

Eithne Jordan grew up in Clontarf, not far from the Casino, so she had an awareness of the building before it was restored and opened to the public in 1984. She states, ‘I have always loved eighteenth-century buildings because there is a kind of humanity to the space where your psyche can breathe. The Casino has an air of grandeur but it also has that sense of intimacy in the beauty of its proportions. It is one of the things that I love about it.’ Caulfeild had embarked on a nine-year grand tour that encompassed southern Europe, Asia Minor and Egypt. On his return to his native shores, the ancient temples, classical architecture and ornamental landscape design that Caulfeild experienced on his travels influenced the design of both the landscape and buildings at Marino. Simon Vierpyl, whom Charlemont had met in Rome, supervised the construction. Vierpyl carved the ornamental detail on the Portland stone including the wonderful lions, the urns that function as chimneys and the four statues of Ceres, Bacchus, Apollo and Venus. Jordan marvels at one of the most remarkable aspects of the Casino and that is the ingenuity of the building - the fact that it is three storeys and comprises sixteen rooms. Exquisitely designed and decorated, each room has its own distinct personality and ambiance from the Zodiac Room with its delicate frieze of astrological signs to the richness of the saloon and the Egyptian room. While one can get lost in the details – the stonework, the parquet floors, the gilded Ionic columns and elaborate stuccowork Jordan is more interested in the feeling and ambience of the space as she walks into it.

Jordan begins her creative process by taking photographs in the spaces, with certain compositional decisions made in situ. The prerequisite is that the space must speak to the artist on an emotional level, and inevitably, certain places attract her more than others. The fact that the titles provide no identification as to their location adds to their enigmatic and intangible quality of the mood of a space. What follows is an editing process to identify what has piqued her interest in terms of space, light, colour, perspective and subject. The photographs operate as the springboard and it is in the studio where the image is transformed, through the painting process, into a work that provokes an emotional and psychological response in the viewer. She describes her paintings as ‘emotional landscapes’. Although she also works in gouache, working in oil on canvas or board allows the artist to work more slowly and contemplatively.

Jordan creates a theatrical tableau within her paintings but it is one in which the figure is absent or merely implied. Instead, her interest is in what happens in the space. Many of Jordan’s paintings feature sculpture, which she sees as serving a multitude of purposes in her work, but principally as a way of introducing the human figure into the institutional space. Her admiration for Van Eyck’s majestic Ghent Altarpiece from the fifteenth-century with its virtuoso rendering of grisaille sculptures was one of the influences that invoked a desire in Jordan to depict sculpture in paint. The artist reminds us that there are many layers of historical reference and interpretation distancing us from the real humanity of the figure depicted. The introduction of display elements into the modern museum – rope stanchions, plinths, vitrines, text panels, fire exit signs – imposes interpretations on how the visitor looks at art through a mediated and carefully curated lens.

Jordan’s work has the complexity of seventeenth-century Dutch paintings, such as those of Pieter de Hooch (1629-1684), where the device of the open door is utilised so that the eye is inevitably drawn into the space beyond. One can observe this in the paintings ‘Collection I’, ‘Collection II’ and ‘Niche II’ with a picture within a picture and the suggestion of the interior life of the building unfolding. In ‘Museum XXV’ a tantalising glimpse at the world beyond the picture is provided by the angle of the architrave drawing the viewer’s eye into the space. By using this device of a door opening into another room, the artist also has an opportunity to demonstrate her virtuosity in the depiction of contrasting light. One observes this facility in the shimmering chandeliers in ‘Hôtel de Ville II’ and the harshness of the artificial light cast by the cylindrical uplights contrasts with the subdued vista in the room beyond In ‘Museum XXV’. Another beautiful example of the depiction of light can be observed in the small painting ‘Collection II’, where the muted light created by the desk lamp softly illuminates the fabrics of the walls and floor.

It is evident that the artist enjoys the challenge of rendering different surfaces, for example, the depiction of tapestry, wood, plaster and stone in ‘Collection IV’ is exceptional. Furthermore, the painting ‘Collection V’ indicates how the artist selects her viewpoint to create inter-relationships between the different artworks, be they sculptures or paintings. While the works are sometimes identifiable, the artist argues that the details of the artworks are largely irrelevant – these are not ‘copy’ paintings of paintings. It is the formal interconnections, resonances and echoes in their placement in particular settings that is of concern to the artist rather than any documentary aspect.

Although Jordan professes an attraction to the eighteenth century, other architectural spaces attract her eye too. More recent works include the paintings ‘Villa I’, ‘Villa II’ and one beautiful acrylic and gouache on paper ‘Villa IV’ that take as their inspiration the Villa Necchi Campiglio another architectural gem but this time from the 1930s and located in Milan. Built in 1935 by the modernist architect Piero Portaluppi (1888-1967), who fully embraced the rationalist and art deco styles of the era, this iconic house has attracted the attention of filmmakers including Luca Guadagnino who filmed ‘I am love’ (2009) and Ridley Scott who filmed ‘House of Gucci’ (1921) there. One can see how the aesthetics of this space with its hybrid of styles would attract Jordan’s eye and ‘Villa I’ is a magnificent painting. The architect conceived this space as an enclosed veranda or type of green salon and this sense of ‘the outside coming in’ is beautifully captured in this painting with it’s delicate rendering of verdant foliage through the window.

The inclusion of the bronze of ‘Il Puro Folle’ by Italy’s leading symbolist sculptor Adolfo Wildt (1868-1931) – painted from two different angles in ‘Villa I’ and ‘Villa IV’ – introduces an element of dynamism into the paintings. Structure and depth is provided by the verticals and horizontals of the window, the strikingly modern doors and the design of the floor. As Jordan states, ‘Often the busts on plinths, the antique casts or copies are so familiar to us, that we barely look at them anymore, and they become part of the furniture. I treat them as props in a stage set, and the paintings the staging of an inanimate performance.’

Taken together, this exhibition at the Casino is a series of exquisite paintings of intimacy, emotional resonance and silence, that are reflective too of Jordan’s lifelong preoccupation with light and colour; how shadows fall and how light can be softly diffused or harshly spot-lit. This body of work is very much an examination and meditation on the way objects are presented and perceived. Similarly, the curation of Jordan’s paintings within the Casino, an uniquely beautiful architectural space is, in itself, an exercise in public presentation and display with reference to their surroundings. Over the centuries, the Casino and its original demesne has inspired many renowned Irish artists and it continues to influence the best of contemporary artists.

Mise en scène Text by Margarita Cappock 2022

Eithne Jordan is one of Ireland’s pre-eminent painters.  Since the 1980s, Jordan’s work has evolved from early emotionally-charged, expressionist paintings, very much about her inner life, to work that looks at the world outside of herself, with a focus on still life, domestic interiors, landscape and urban environments.  In recent years, the artist has turned her artistic gaze to the interiors of public and private spaces, such as museums and institutional buildings, which she has visited on her travels in Ireland, France and the United States.  The interiors of the majestic Hôtel de Ville in Toulouse, the Musée Fabre, Montpellier, the Musée Jacquemart André, Paris and further afield, the Philadelphia Museum and Pennsylvania Museum of Art, feature in this body of work. In Ireland, buildings such as Newbridge House, the National Gallery and the Anatomy Room at the Royal College of Surgeons have captured her attention.

For these current solo exhibitions at the Crawford Gallery, Cork and the Highlanes, Drogheda, Jordan presents a new body of paintings that date from 2020 to 2022.  In both exhibitions, Jordan explores the way paintings, sculptures and artefacts are displayed in museums and institutions, in particular eighteenth- and nineteenth- century edifices. Many of these buildings, previously or currently, serve the causes of science, aristocracy, government and culture.  The artist is drawn to the juxtaposition of sumptuous and pompous interiors, with the functionality of their use in contemporary life, and the overall impression created by the ensemble of décor. As Jordan notes, ‘What interests me is the display of these artworks in an interior setting with all that goes with it- the rich colours on the walls, the gilt frames of the paintings, the ropes preventing us entering, the plinths, and the lighting. It is really a staging of an inanimate performance – a mise en scène.’

Jordan begins her creative process by taking photographs, where certain compositional decisions are made, and then examined at length in her studio. This is followed by an extensive editing process to identify what has piqued her interest in terms of space, light, colour, perspective and subject.  The prerequisite is that the space must speak to the artist on an emotional level, and inevitably certain places attract her more than others. Thus she describes her paintings as ‘emotional landscapes’.  Although she also works in gouache, working in oil on canvas or board allows the artist to work more slowly and contemplatively.

Jordan creates a theatrical tableau within her paintings but it is one in which the figure is absent or merely implied. Instead, her interest is in what happens in the space.  Many of Jordan’s paintings feature sculpture, which she sees as serving a multitude of purposes in her work, but principally as a way of introducing the human figure into the institutional space. The artist reminds us that there are many layers of historical reference and interpretation distancing us from the real humanity of the figure depicted.   The introduction of display elements into the modern museum – rope stanchions, plinths, vitrines, text panels, fire exit signs –imposes interpretations on how the visitor looks at art through a mediated and carefully curated lens. The artist casts herself in the role of the visitor.

The exhibition at the Crawford Gallery takes the form of an intervention in the beautiful sculpture galleries, with twenty small works by Jordan exhibited amongst the original Canova casts.  This seems particularly apposite and the artist notes,

‘I like the idea of doing a show in a space where a conversation can happen between my paintings and works from the collection that is on display. Here there are all kinds of echoes and connections with the Canova casts and the sculptures represented in my paintings…’

It is evident that the artist enjoys the challenge of rendering different surfaces, for example, the depiction of a glass surface such as the vitrine encasing the sculpture in the foreground of Museum XVII. Furthermore, this painting indicates how the artist selects her viewpoint to create inter-relationships and cross-references between the different artworks.  While the works are identifiable, the artist argues that the details of the artworks are largely irrelevant – these are not ‘copy’ paintings of paintings.  It is the formal interconnections, resonances and echoes in their placement in particular settings that is of concern to the artist rather than any documentary aspect. 

The result is a series of exquisite paintings of intimacy, emotional resonance and silence, that are reflective too of Jordan’s lifelong preoccupation with light and colour; how shadows fall and how light can be softly diffused or harshly spot-lit.  This body of work is very much an examination and meditation on the way objects are presented and perceived. Similarly, the curation of Jordan’s paintings within interesting architectural spaces such as a former church and a classical sculpture gallery is, in itself, an exercise in public presentation and display with reference to their surroundings.  Both exhibitions running concurrently provides a unique opportunity for visitors to see the work of this artist in two very different contexts.

Text by Margarita Cappock 2022, originally published in the exhibition booklet

Exhibition curated by Margarita Cappock

CRITIQUE | EITHNE JORDAN, 'MISE EN SCÉNE, PART I' - The V.A.N.

CRITIQUE | EITHNE JORDAN, 'MISE EN SCÉNE, PART I'

Highlanes Gallery; 27 August - 1 October 2022

The French term mise en scéne is most often associated with cinemaphotography, referring to whatever is purposefully placed – sets, props, actors, and so on – before the film camera. It's a term dedicated to the artifice of appearance, and the ways in which the world might be organised to tell a story. As a title for this exhibition of 16 oil paintings - with individual titles like Display, Collection, and Museum - it could refer to the situation of these objects within the distinctive gallery setting, as much as to the interior spaces depicted within the paintings themselves.

Occupying a former Catholic church, the Highlanes Gallery retains a sanctuary at one end, with ornate carvings and two light-lofting angels intact. There are corresponding figures within Jordan's canvases, carved and cast intermediaries in silent communion. This preponderance of inanimate figures, alongside the inevitable anachronisms of historical preponderance of inanimate figures, alongside the inevitable anachronisms of historical display, made me think of Jean Cocteau's, Orphée (1950), a film whose half-dead ciphers reprise the myth of Orpheus in post-war Paris.(1) The film's atmosphere of tainted innocence, of seemingly benign surfaces haunted by death, finds many parallels in the studied equanimity of Jordan's careful compositions. In one memorable scene from the film, Jean Marais (playing Orpheus) dons rubber gloves to walk through a mirror and into the afterlife. Like the painter, he reaches beyond the seen world, but only so he can come back to it.

Jordan paints from her own photographs, taken, for the most part, in unidentified galleries and museums. Fixed in time, a photograph calls back to us from an increasingly distant past. Working within this poignant register, her recent paintings give account of how objects are gathered, preserved and re-presented, using recording and painterly methods that are themselves examples of these processes. Consider a painting like Collection IV (2022), a medium-sized work showing an oblique view of antiquities lined up against a wainscoted wall. At the centre of the wall, the loose folds of a heavy tapestry echo the cloak draping the outstretched arm of the Apollo Belvedere, standing before it. Not the real 'Apollo', but a smaller copy which, along with other ancient figures, makes up a cast of pale characters in the room. This deftly painted scene is thick with allusions to different materials and epochs, and most especially, to the enduring value of the hand. It's how each of these objects was fashioned, not least, the handmade artifact of the painting itself.

In a further complication, the plinth supporting Apollo is painted to resemble marble, and this illusion of grandeur is redoubled by Jordan's subsequent rendering. In touching the surface of the linen support – and by reaching beyond it – the painter references numerous ideas of tactility. Though seemingly innocuous in their period setting, these figures enact a quiet frisson of touching. We might say they are aroused by light - and the artist has gorgeous control of this - but caught, like Orpheus, between two worlds, between warm-blooded life and what Rainer Maria Rilke calls, “the strange unfathomed mine of souls." (2)

Not directly represented in the paintings, the human figure appears by proxy, both as sculptural form and within the material traces of the paintings themselves. Jordan's world is sensuous, but archaic; tactile, yet untouchable. Display 1 (2021) shows a life-sized statue of a figure hugging a cloak around herself. Though not named, for me, she is Eurydice, the wife of Orpheus, and like her, vulnerable to the overly determined gaze. In Rilke's poem, Orpheus. Eurydice. Hermes (1907), as Eurydice is halted along the path from the underworld and guided to go back, her cloak envelopes her completely, becoming an unambiguous shroud. In the painting, whether by happenstance or deliberate irony, the paused figure is surrounded by exit signs.

Jordan paints thinly. The brushmark is visible, but discreet, with little sign of revision or overworking. In Anatomy Room V (2022) the ghostly presence is more visceral – discreetly sheeted bundles within the gently modulating whites and greys. Here and there, the cool palette is punctuated by yellow, the buckets and bins indispensable to the anatomist's trade. The columns in the painting play peek-a-boo with the supporting columns in the gallery. There are similar, pleasing correspondences throughout. Intelligently curated by Margarita Cappock, this presentation of the paintings brings their inner worlds and outer surroundings to life.

John Graham is an artist based in Dublin.

'Mise en Scéne, Part I' was presented at Highlanes Gallery, while 'Mise en Scéne, Part Il' continues at Crawford Art Gallery (9 September - 4 December).

highlanes.ie

1 Jean Cocteau, Orphée, 1950, black and white film, 95 mins.

2 Rainer Maria Rilke, Orpheus, Eurydice, Hermes, first published in New Poems: First Part (Leipzig: Insel, 1907); quote from trans. J.P. Leishman, Selected Poems (Harmondsworth: Penguin, 1964).

Published in the VAN November 18th 2022