Evin Nolan facts for kids

Michael Evin Nolan (born July 21, 1930 – died July 22, 2016) was a famous Irish artist. He was known for his unique abstract paintings and sculptures. Abstract art uses shapes, colors, and lines instead of showing things exactly as they look. Evin Nolan's art often used bright colors and cool geometric shapes. He was inspired by other famous artists like Henri Matisse, Piet Mondrian, Amedeo Modigliani, Pablo Picasso, and Jacques Lipchitz.

About Evin Nolan

Evin Nolan was born in 1930 in a place called Curragh Camp in County Kildare, Ireland. His dad was a soldier and a teacher. In 1933, his family moved to Dublin. Evin went to school at Terenure College and later studied art at the National College of Art.

He was very talented from a young age! In 1954, he won two special awards called Taylor Awards from the Royal Dublin Society. One was for his watercolor paintings, and the other was for his landscapes (pictures of nature). He started showing his art in big exhibitions like the Irish Exhibition of Living Art in 1955. He also showed his work at the Royal Hibernian Academy, which is often called the RHA. After this, he lived in London for a few years.

His Artistic Journey

By the early 1960s, Nolan was back in Dublin. He started drawing cartoons for magazines like Dublin Opinion. Around this time, his art began to change. He moved from painting landscapes to creating abstract art and sculptures. His very first solo art show was in 1963 at the Dublin Painters Gallery. He also helped start the Project Arts Centre in Dublin in 1966–67.

Over many years, Nolan continued to show his art. He had solo exhibitions in different galleries, including the United Arts Club in Dublin and the Kenny Gallery in Galway. In 1976, the President of Ireland, Cearbhall Ó Dálaigh, even opened one of his shows! His last big show was in 1999, where he displayed many of his works from 1984 to 1999.

Important Works and Teaching

Evin Nolan created some important art pieces for public places. For example, he made an 18-foot long artwork for University College Galway. He also created an outdoor sculpture for Mayo County Council. In 1975, he won first prize in an art competition called "Art in Context" from the Arts Council of Northern Ireland. For a while in the 1970s and 1980s, he also taught art at the Dún Laoghaire College of Art and Design.

Nolan's art can be found in many important collections. These include the Arts Council of Ireland and the Irish Museum of Modern Art. His sculptures are also on display in public places like Dublin Airport and in towns like Castlebar and Navan.

Nolan's Thoughts on Art

Evin Nolan once said about his own art, "My works are a unity of painting and sculpture: spatial-colour-structure. It is of real space and colour, as opposed to illusory space." This means he wanted his art to feel like real space and color, not just a flat picture. A critic named Cyril Barrett noted that Nolan often used strips of colored paper for his relief sculptures. These strips created cool effects with light and shadow, making the colors look even richer.

Other Interests

Besides art, Evin Nolan loved physics and astronomy (the study of stars and space). Two of his uncles, JJ Nolan and PJ Nolan, were famous physicists. He even wrote a funny play that was never published. It was about an ancient Greek scientist named Eratosthenes who tried to figure out the size of the Earth, but Nolan set the story in Dublin!

Awards

• 1975: Art in Context, Arts Council of Northern Ireland. First Prize.
• 1954: Royal Dublin Society: Taylor Art Award.
• 1984: Oireachtas festival: Arthur Young Award.