T.P. Flanagan facts for kids

Terence Philip Flanagan (born August 15, 1929 – died February 22, 2011) was a famous landscape painter and teacher from Northern Ireland. He was known for his beautiful watercolour paintings of landscapes and people. He also held important roles in art groups like the Royal Ulster Academy.

Early Life and Education

Terry Flanagan was born in Enniskillen, County Fermanagh, on August 15, 1929. He was the oldest of seven children. After his mother passed away when he was young, his two aunts raised him and his siblings.

Terry went to St Michael's College, Enniskillen from 1943 to 1949. He started painting as a teenager. He learned how to paint with watercolours from a local artist named Kathleen Bridle during evening classes at Enniskillen Technical College. From 1949 to 1953, he studied art at Belfast College of Art. There, he learned from talented teachers like Romeo Toogood, John Luke, and Tom Carr.

After finishing college, Terry taught art at schools such as the Convent of the Sacred Heart of Mary in Lisburn and the Assumption Convent in Ballynahinch, County Down. In 1955, he got a full-time job at St. Mary's College of Education, where he taught for 29 years until he retired in 1984. He became the Head of Art at St. Mary's in 1965.

In 1959, Terry married Sheelagh Garvan, an actress from the Lyric Players theatre.

Art Career Highlights

Terry Flanagan started showing his paintings in public exhibitions. In 1953, he showed an oil painting called Deirdre in Dublin. He later won a painting prize in 1974.

In 1954, Terry joined two other artists for a show at Belfast's CEMA Gallery. He also showed his work for the first time at the yearly Royal Ulster Academy of Arts exhibition. He continued to show his art there in the following years.

Terry had his first solo art show in November 1958 at the Piccolo Gallery in Belfast.

Art and Poetry Connections

By the 1960s, Terry was a successful artist. His family became good friends with the famous poet Seamus Heaney. In 1967, Terry painted Boglands (for Seamus Heaney). This painting was part of his Gortahork Series. Seamus Heaney wrote a poem called Bogland: for TP Flanagan in return, which was published in 1969.

Seamus Heaney once said that Terry Flanagan's paintings were full of "radiance" and showed a "painterly hedonism," meaning they were joyful and beautiful to look at.

Exhibitions and Recognition

In 1960, Terry became one of the trustees for the new Lyric Players Trust, helping to guide the theatre for five years. That same year, he showed his work at the new CEMA Gallery alongside other well-known artists like Colin Middleton and Gerard Dillon. In 1961, he had another solo show at CEMA's Chichester Street Gallery. A newspaper critic, Kenneth Jamison, wrote that Terry's paintings were all about light and how it changed over landscapes, showing the "mood and poetry" of nature.

Terry also designed the set for the Lyric theatre's play Deirdre of the Sorrows in 1963. He had exhibitions in Dublin and Bristol in 1964.

In 1970, Terry joined a committee that helped young artists by providing money for travel and art supplies. His work was shown in an international exhibition in Dublin in 1971. In 1973, he had a special touring exhibition with his former teacher Kathleen Bridle and fellow artist William Scott.

In 1977, the Arts Council of Northern Ireland held a solo exhibition of his work from the past ten years. Terry became an Associate of the Royal Hibernian Academy in 1983. In 1984, the National Self-Portrait Gallery bought a self-portrait painted by Terry.

In 1991, Terry was an artist-in-residence at the Sligo Art Gallery. He created thirty paintings inspired by the Sligo landscape, which he had visited often as a child.

The Ulster Museum held a big exhibition of Terry's work in 1995, covering fifty years of his art. The famous poet Seamus Heaney wrote the introduction for the exhibition's book. Terry also had a similar exhibition in Sweden.

In 2000, Terry returned to the Sligo Art Gallery for a joint exhibition with his daughter Catherine and son Philip, who are also artists. Before he passed away, he showed paintings about the Troubles (a period of conflict in Northern Ireland) at the Ormeau Baths Gallery.

Special Art Projects

Terry Flanagan completed many important art projects.

In the 1970s, he was asked to create a design to celebrate the 50th anniversary of Northern Ireland in 1970. He also painted a large mural in County Fermanagh the next year.

The Arts Council of Northern Ireland asked Terry to paint a portrait of Saidie Patterson in 1975. She was a famous woman from Belfast who worked for peace and workers' rights.

In 1977, Terry drew a portrait for a music album by a musician named John Doherty.

Terry also contributed to The Great Book of Ireland, a special hand-drawn book with works by many poets and artists. It was shown at the Irish Museum of Modern Art in 1991.

In 1999, the BBC asked him to make a film about his painting style, called The Painted Landscape.

Awards and Honors

Terry Flanagan received many awards for his art:

• Royal Ulster Academy: In 1960, he became an Associate of the Royal Ulster Academy of Arts. Just four years later, he was made an Honorary Academician. He became the President of the RUA in 1978 and was re-elected for three more years. In 1976, he won the Royal Ulster Academy Gold Medal for his painting Study of Castlecoole, Theme, which was praised for its "subtle, blurred colours and soft light."
• Royal Hibernian Academy: He became a member of this academy in 1983.
• University of Ulster: In 2010, Terry received an honorary degree of Doctor of Fine Art from the University of Ulster. This was a special award to recognize his amazing contributions to art.
• MBE: In 2011, he was awarded an MBE (Member of the Order of the British Empire) for his services to art around the world.

Death and Legacy

Terence P Flanagan passed away in Belfast on February 22, 2011, at the age of 82. He was survived by his wife Sheelagh, his two sons, and his daughter.

His paintings are now in many public and private art collections. You can find his work in places like the Ulster Museum, the Arts Council of Northern Ireland, the Hugh Lane Gallery, the the National Self-Portrait Collection of Ireland, the Irish Museum of Modern Art, and the Herbert Gallery.

Biography

• S.B. Kennedy (2013) T.P. Flanagan: Painter of Light and Landscape (Featuring a foreword by Séamus Heaney), Lund Humphries.