A fitting tribute to Kilkenny artist Mildred Anne Butler

Lady of the Peacocks – The Life & Art of Mildred Anne Butler was recently launched in Thomastown Community Centre.

The launch was sponsored by Dúchas – Tullaherin Heritage Society. The weather warnings militated to some extent against a large attendance, but those who braved the elements were treated to a scintillating talk on this renowned Thomastown artist by the book’s author, Tom Duffy. Tom is an art historian and has recently retired as a lecturer in art history at the Institute of Art, Design and Technology, in Dun Laoghaire, where he had spent 38 years.

Many of those in attendance were at a lecture on the same lady by the same man, again in Thomastown Community Centre, some six years ago, at which time he was just two years into his research on his subject. At that stage Dúchas were delighted to accept from him an article titled ‘Mildred Anne Butler crow paintings’ which appeared in No. 13 of the society’s Journal, In the Shadow of the Steeple (2019).

His recently published book pays a fitting tribute to watercolour painter Mildred Anne Butler (1858-1941), a member of the Butler family of Kilmurry House in Thomastown.

The work is ‘a lavishly illustrated account of an exceptionally talented artist who overcame many hurdles during the latter part of the 19th and early decades of the 20th Century to become a successful and established painter at a time when men dominated the profession’.

Equally successful in Ireland and England, Butler captivated her audience with her vision of nature and the rural landscape. Domestic animals, birds, and flowers of the garden and field were her principal subjects. The book examines the various stages in Butler’s journey as an artist from her early art instruction through to accepting a royal commission to paint a work for Queen Mary in 1922. This is the first full-length study of Butler’s life and work, thereby restoring an almost forgotten figure to her rightful place in the story of Irish art. It includes a catalogue of her exhibited work from 1888 to 1938.

According to Tom Duffy, ‘Mildred Butler is Ireland’s greatest watercolour painter’. There is currently an exhibition of Mildred Anne Butler’s work in the National Gallery on Merrion Square. This runs until January 5

Coincidentally, some works of Hughie O’Donoghue, who once lived at Kilfane Glebe, are also on display in the National Gallery.

Copies of the book are available, at the reduced launch price from Dúchas – Tullaherin Heritage Society, tel 086-2229186.