A LOSS TO DUBLIN

New Zealand Tablet, 8 July 1915, Page 54

A LOSS TO DUBLIN

By the death of Sir Hugh Lane in the Lusitania disaster, the world has lost one of the most distinguished art connoisseurs. His career was one of the romances of his time. To say that he was solely an expert and dealer would be to lose sight of the. leading influences in his life. Out of nothing save his own knowledge and a charming manner, he brought together the most remarkable of all collections of modern arc. Dublin was offered an assortment from his galleries some two years ago, if only the Corporation would erect the bridge gallery at the Iron Bridge for their housing. The controversy as to the acceptance of the gift on the condition named provoked considerable feeling in the city, and ultimately the plan by Lutyens didn’t meet with the acceptance of the Corporation, and the gift was refused. An alternative site was at one time proposed in Stephen’s Green, and another in Merrion square, but Sir Hugh Lane became intent on the Bridge plan, and when he could not persuade the authorities to accede to his wishes he gathered up the collection and transferred them across the water. Sir Hugh Lane was born at Ballybrick House, County Cork, in 1875, and was a nephew of Lady Gregory. His gifts first manifested themselves in a country - saleroom, where he beheld under various coatings of foreign matter a genuine Franz Hals. That was the start of his career.