Anne Madden (artist) facts for kids

Anne Madden, born in 1932, is a famous painter from England. She is well-known in both Ireland and France, where she has lived since she married Louis le Brocquy in 1958.

Anne Madden's Early Life

Anne Madden was born in London in 1932. Her father was Irish, and her mother was from England and Chile. Anne spent her first few years in Chile, where her father had a farm. When she was ten, her family moved to Corrofin, Ireland. Later, she moved back to London and studied art at the Chelsea School of Arts and Crafts.

Anne faced several sad losses in her family when she was young. Her father died in a car accident. She also lost her sister and brother-in-law in a plane crash, which meant Anne became the guardian for their three young children. Her brother also passed away at a young age from injuries. In the 1950s, Anne had to stop painting for three years because she needed several operations on her spine after a riding accident. During this time, she met the painter Louis le Brocquy. They got married in Chartres Cathedral in 1958. They then made their home and art studio in Carros, in the south of France, where they lived until 2000.

Anne Madden's Art Journey

Starting as an Artist in the 1950s

Anne Madden started showing her paintings in group exhibitions in London when she was eighteen. One of her first shows was with the New English Art Club. Her early paintings were inspired by The Burren in Ireland and other quiet, lonely places she loved.

In 1956, Madden visited an important art show called Modern Art in the United States at the Tate Gallery. This exhibition helped her learn about American art from after World War II, especially a style called abstract expressionism. This style began to influence her own work. In the late 1950s, she was very impressed by the paintings of Sam Francis and Jean-Paul Riopelle after seeing them at the Royal Academy. She later met these artists in Paris, along with Joan Mitchell, and they traded artworks. Anne started using tools like palette knives and letting paint flow on her canvases. She also began using multiple canvases together to create interesting art pieces.

From 1954, Madden regularly showed her art at the Irish Exhibition of Living Art. In 1964, at their 21st anniversary show, she won a painting prize of £150 for her work called Promontory.

Growing as an Artist in the 1960s

In 1960, Anne Madden had her own art show at the Dawson Gallery in Dublin, which was a big success. A reviewer from Irish Times wrote that Anne's paintings showed the "bones" of the land, revealing its simple beauty, like in winter snow or when wind blows away leaves.

In the mid-1960s, Anne and Louis's quiet life in Carros changed when the Fondation Maeght opened nearby in Saint-Paul. There, they often met other painters, sculptors, writers, and musicians. They formed friendships that continued in Paris and other places. Madden was the first person to receive the Carroll Prize in 1964. She also had a solo exhibition at the New Gallery in Belfast in the autumn of 1964.

In 1965, Anne Madden represented Ireland at the Paris Biennale. After this, she regularly showed her art in Paris. From the 1960s, she started painting a series of abstract landscapes. These were inspired by her childhood in the west of Ireland, near the Burren in County Clare. In 1966, Madden was one of four artists invited to show their work at the 9th annual exhibition of the Ulster Society of Women Artists in Belfast.

Art in the 1970s

Between 1970 and 1979, Madden painted many tall, vertical artworks. Their size was based on her own height and how far she could reach. These paintings were inspired by ancient stone monuments called megaliths. They were her thoughts on life and death. These works often had sharp edges and dark colors. Madden explained that they also showed her feelings about the difficult times in Northern Ireland, known as The Troubles. She said they were "reflections of grief" and a search for light in darkness.

Madden showed her work at the Oireachtas Exhibition in 1971. She had three solo exhibitions in 1974: at the Ulster Museum in Belfast, the New Art Centre in London, and the Dawson Gallery in Dublin. Madden also had another solo show at the Arts Council of Northern Ireland Gallery in 1979.

Art from the 1980s Onwards

In the 1980s, Madden stopped painting for a while and focused on drawing. This led to a series of large drawings made with graphite and oil paint on paper, called Openings. These drawings were the main part of an exhibition at the Fondation Maeght in 1983. Three of these works were also shown as part of ROSC '84, where Madden was one of nine Irish artists invited to exhibit. A self-portrait by Madden was among 15 new artworks added to the National Self Portrait Collection of Ireland in a show in Limerick in 1987. Madden also had a solo show of new works at the Taylor Gallery in Dublin in 1987.

In 1990, Madden had a solo show at the Kerlin Gallery in Dublin. She returned there in 1992 with an exhibition called Drawings of Masters. Madden then went back to painting on canvas. She continued to create many artworks, which were shown in a special exhibition by the Arts Council of Ireland in 1991, at the Royal Hibernian Academy in Dublin.

In 1994, Madden was asked by architect Ronald Tallon to paint one of ten large paintings for the O'Reilly Hall at University College Dublin. In 1999, the French village of Carros asked Madden to paint a huge vaulted ceiling for its medieval castle, which was becoming an international modern art center. The painting, called Empyrius, measures 54 square meters. Anne created it in her nearby studio before it was put up permanently. The castle also has a room dedicated to Madden's work.

In 2000, Madden moved back to Dublin, Ireland, to live and work in a building that used to be the studio of artist Sarah Purser. Madden loves nature and had grown grapevines and olive trees in France. This inspired her to create a collection called The Garden of Love, which she showed at the Taylor Galleries in 2002. Madden also had another show at the Hugh Lane Gallery in 2017 called Colours of the Wind. This series of new works was inspired by the story of Ariadne's golden thread, which she gave to Theseus to help him find his way through the Minotaur's labyrinth.

Madden has been a member of Aosdána, a group that honors Irish artists, since 1986. In 1994, she wrote a book about her husband called Louis le Brocquy: Seeing His Way. Anne and Louis had two sons, Pierre and Alexis, born in 1961 and 1963. In 2004, she received an honorary degree from University College Dublin. In the same year, the French Government made her an Officier de l'Ordre des Arts et des Lettres, which is a special award for people who have contributed to arts and literature.

Her husband, Louis, passed away on April 25, 2012.

Anne Madden's Legacy

Anne Madden's artwork can be found in many public and private collections around the world. These include the Ulster Museum, the Arts Council of Ireland collection, the Arts Council of Northern Ireland, Arts Council of England, Centre National d'art Contemporain Georges Pompidou (in Paris), Museu Picasso (in Barcelona), Musée d’Art Moderne de la Ville de Paris, Musée du Louvre (in Paris), Hugh Lane Municipal Gallery (in Dublin), Trinity College, Dublin, and the National Self-Portrait Collection of Ireland.