Paintings by John Lavery and William Orpen acquired by National Gallery of Ireland

Two paintings by John Lavery and William Orpen have been acquired by the National Gallery of Ireland.

The Bathing Hour, the Lido, Venice (1912) by Lavery and Young Ireland (1907) by Orpen were described as “significant additions to the national collection” by “two of Ireland’s most beloved and influential artists” in an announcement by the National Gallery on Friday.

Young Ireland (1907) by William Orpen

Grace Evelyn Gifford, the subject of William Orpen’s portrait, was an Irish cartoonist, caricaturist, illustrator, and political activist. She would go on to marry Joseph Mary Plunkett in Kilmainham Gaol just hours before his execution. Joining the Sinn Féin executive in 1917, Gifford would serve time in Kilmainham jail during the Civil War. She was a sister-in-law of another one of the leaders of Easter Rising, Thomas MacDonagh.

Gifford enrolled at the age of 16 at the Dublin Metropolitan School of Art. She studied there under William Orpen, who considered her to be one of his most talented and promising pupils.

Orpen and Gifford developed a close friendship and she was the subject of several of his works, most notably, Young Ireland (1907), in which he focuses on Gifford’s youthful strength and bohemian character, with bright eyes and an enigmatic smile.

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Born in Stillorgan, Dublin, in 1878, Orpen was appointed an official war artist in 1917, and travelled to the western front, an experience that had a traumatic and lasting effect on him.

His war landscapes are among the more arresting records of the first World War.

Young Ireland (1907) was bequeathed to the gallery by Mary and Alan Hobart last year.

The Bathing Hour, the Lido, Venice (1912) by John Lavery

The Bathing Hour, the Lido, Venice (1912) by John Lavery (oil on canvas. 45.6 x 76.2cm). Photograph: The National Gallery of Ireland

In his lifetime, Lavery is thought to have completed four Lido canvases, and The Bathing Hour, the Lido, Venice is likely to be the last of those.

The painting depicts the titular “bathing hour”, during which the newly constructed bathing platform at the Excelsior Hotel in Venice sprang to life.

Lavery is known for his sweeping, fluid strokes. In The Bathing Hour, the Lido, Venice, children play on the sand, guests swim far out into Adriatic Sea, and women, holding parasols, sit and recline on the beach.

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Born in north Belfast in 1856, Lavery was a student of the Haldane Academy of Art in Glasgow before enrolling at the Académie Julian, in Paris. In 1888, he received a commission to paint the visit of Britain’s queen Victoria to the Glasgow International Exhibition.

The acquisition of The Bathing Hour, the Lido, Venice was made possible by Section 1003 of the Taxes Consolidation Act, 1997, providing tax relief in respect of the donation of important national heritage items to Irish national collections.

The two works are now on display in The National Gallery of Ireland at Merrion Square West, in Room 16. Entry is free and booking ahead is not required.

Gallery director Dr Caroline Campbell said: “ Our Irish art rooms house some of the most popular works in our collection, so we know that our visitors – from home and afar – will love The Bathing Hour, the Lido, Venice and Young Ireland.

“Acquiring these beautiful pictures by John Lavery and William Orpen for the national collection deepens public understanding of the range and legacy of these artists, and expands our collection of works depicting key moments and figures in the history of Ireland.”