Guests stood in silence at the opening of Patrick Leonard's show in the Magill Fine Art gallery on Bachelor's Walk as a mark of respect to "the people who have suffered", in the words of Paul O'Kelly, of Oisin Gallery, who opened the exhibition.
Leonard, who was born in Rush in 1918, is now in his 80s. He came along with his wife, Doreen, to meet his friends and view the show. It was a fitting occasion to have champagne and strawberries.
Leonard first began to paint when he was 15. One of his paintings, Bathers at Rush, recently sold for £22,700 at auction in Sotheby's.
His daughter, Romelly Leonard, with her daughter, Addi Leonard (10), also attended.
John Hart, of Coolock, who loves Leonard's work, discussed the paintings with Carol Geraghty, of Clondalkin. "He has a preference for women who are voluptuous with big breasts, big behinds - they are the perfect kind of women: Rubenesque," Hart said. (Big women, take note - you are perfect). Jimmy Brady, a banker and cellist with the Dublin Baroque Players, who will play at the Kings Inns in November, is another admirer of the paintings.
Eddie O'Reilly, principal of Wexford Vocational College, who is currently compiling a brief history of Leonard's life, is another great fan.
"There's my childhood," said an emotional Carmel Moran, as she pointed to a picture of a beach scene painted in 1949. "You feel you're standing in it. You can almost smell the paraffin oil from the primus stove for the picnic."
The exhibition runs until Sunday, September 30th.