John Maloney, a third generation blacksmith from County Clare heats the iron so it can be beaten into shape.
Copyright David Shaw-Smith
John Maloney, a third generation blacksmith from County Clare heats the iron so it can be beaten into shape.
Copyright David Shaw-Smith
Copyright David Shaw-Smith
John Maloney, a third generation blacksmith from County Clare heats the iron so it can be beaten into shape.
Copyright David Shaw-Smith
Up until the 18th century most artists would have trained as an apprentice. This included metalworkers, sculptors, painters and scribes. In many cases, these skills would have been passed down through families.
From the 15th century, this way of training began to change. Many different craft guilds, or clubs, were set up for the different types of art. These were mainly the larger cities, such as Dublin, Cork and Galway.
The guilds managed the apprenticeships. They also controlled the quality and amount of goods that were created. As well as this, the guilds set the artists' wages and the prices of their goods.
A more formal education for artists began in Ireland in the 18th century. This was based on the Royal Academies of Art in London and Paris. Students had to become skilled at drawing before they could move onto painting. An important part of the students' education was copying the works of old masters. They also learned to draw from sculptures and live models.
The main school of art in Ireland was the Dublin Society Schools. This eventually became the National College of Art and Design in 1971.
In the 19th century, the Royal Hibernian Academy was set up. Its main aim was to make sure there was a high standard of art education. However, art students began to protest against this in the 1960s. They did not agree with the amount of control over art education and exhibitions. Since there have been many new ways of teaching art. Students have much more freedom to create their own style of art.