Arts and souls

THERE were eight major art openings in Dublin this week, but by far the biggest was the RHA's 166th annual exhibition on Monday night with over 1,000 people in attendance. The evening was a very happy mix of formality and informality - as per tradition there was a receiving line at the top of the stairs with the president of the RHA, Carey Clarke and his wife Hilda welcoming the guests, who included the French ambassador Francois Mouton, Dutch ambassador Arnold Hermens, Attorney General Dermot Gleeson, Donal and Louise Gallagher, Barry and Caroline Erskine as well as most of the 200 plus artists on show.

Ever popular artist and academy member Tony O'Malley had one piece on show as a sort of appetiser for his show that opened in the Taylor Galleries on Thursday night.

Apart from the work by members of the academy, other selected artists included Brian Ferran, the director of Northern Ireland's Arts Council, whose wife Denise also made the very competitive selection, Una Sealy, Stephen McKenna and Maggie O'Dwyer. Maggie, whose jewel coloured paintings on silk have an extremely loyal following, has now branched out into fashion and is currently working on a wonderful collection of hand painted silk wraps and generously sized scarves.