Item IE LMOD 468 - 1922 Michael Collins and Arthur Griffith portraits by Sir John Lavery

Paper, ink. 49 x 37 cm

26/07/2011

Black and white portrait prints of Michael Collins and Arthur Griffith by John Lavery captioned respectively as Chairman Provisional Government and President Dáil Eiréann.

These famous portraits of Michael Collins and Arthur Griffith by Sir John Lavery were painted during the Civil War. Collins and Griffith were members of the delegation that signed the Anglo-Irish Treaty in 1921. The Treaty did not provide full independence from Britain, Northern Ireland would remain part of the UK and an oath to the King would have to be sworn by all members of the Dáil. The Civil War broke out, which the anti-Treaty side eventually lost. Collins and Griffith were both dead by the end of the war – Collins killed in an ambush, Griffith succumbing to heart failure.

Some discolouring from age