On the Town: The men in maroon gowns were out to greet the public this week at the opening of an annual event which has been running for 175 years. At this year's Royal Hibernian Academy annual exhibition, there are 441 new artworks for sale, including work from 196 emerging artists who are not members of the academy.
"It has changed. It was very conservative and very traditional, but the whole breadth of the show has widened. It has really gone through a seismic change," said one of the gowned artists, James Hanley RHA. "It's showing younger artists. It's a rising tide."
"It's a major survey show. It's the best barometer of what's going on in any given year in Irish art," said fellow artist Mick O'Dea RHA.
Entrance Way is the title of a piece in the exhibition by artist Patricia Chan, from Wexford, who is off to study for an MA at the Royal College of Art in London in September.
"It's a colour photographic study of a corner in the Botanic Gardens," she explained.
Artist Ruth McHugh also has a small photographic print in the show, called After Chekhov.
Patrick Pye RHA's four religious paintings were in the upper room of the RHA Gallery. A portrait by Jim Harkin of artist Jackie Stanley in her studio can also be seen in the show, as can the Cashel-based Damien McCarron's painting, Blown Away.
The 175th RHA annual exhibition runs at the RHA Gallery, Ely Place, Dublin 2, until Sat, Jun 25