Friends and family gathered in the Solomon Gallery on Tuesday night to celebrate the life and work of painter Richard Kingston, who passed away two weeks ago.
The exhibition of his paintings had been planned some time and, Jennifer Kingston, the late artist's wife, said it felt appropriate to go on with the show.
"He had everything in order before he died. He saw the catalogue, gave it his approval and died the next day."
An artist herself, she was always deeply impressed by the passion of her husband's work. "When we met in 1960, I was just out of college and he was painting so differently from everyone else. His energy was wonderful, his use of colour was just so fresh. That was the tone through all of his life."
Kingston's artistic spirit was handed down to his three children: Cyane, his daughter, is a fashion designer, while his two sons, Richard and Steven, became a photographer and an actor respectively.
"His painting was the ultimate medium to grow up in and our lives were invented daily through his work," Cyane says.
Unlike most parents, Kingston never wished careers in medicine or accountancy upon his children. "Even if we had wanted that we wouldn't be let," says Steven who appeared in the film, This Time Round, shown last week on RTÉ1. "It was very important to him that we had creative outlets and didn't get bogged down in work. He used to try to teach us anything creative and pushed us away from academics."
Their father's artistic skills reached far beyond painting, says Richard. "He was an incredibly inventive craftsman. He could make you a cabinet, he could weld, he could turn his hand to anything. We ended up doing everything he did and he taught me everything I know."
Eithne Healy, chairwoman of the Abbey, took time out from the theatre to attend the exhibition. "I love his stuff, particularly the Causeway series, the way he does the sea is lovely."
Kingston's paintings of the Giants Causeway were also a favourite of sculptor Corban Walker.
For designer Suki Stuart it was his darker work that appealed. "It's a really diverse collection. It's rare to find oils, pastel and watercolour all in the one exhibition. It's the smaller darker pieces I prefer to the big colourful stuff."