Contemporary Exhibitions



2014

Surreal England - Pailthorpe & Mednikoff, Austin Osman Spare, Leonora Carrington & Robin Ironside -
The Viktor Wynd Museum s of Curiosities Fine Art & Natural History
11 Mare Street, London, E8

Kenneth Clark - Looking for Civilisation
Tate Britain: Exhibition
20 May - 10 August 2014

This exhibition included three paintings by Robin Ironside.
They are views of Saltwood Castle, Clark's home.

Robin Ironside: Inner Eye
Abbot Hall Gallery, Kendal
16 April - 21 June 25th 2014

Visit the exhibition website here

2012

Robin Ironside: Neo-Romantic Visionary
Pallant House Gallery, Chichester
28th February to 22nd April 2012

Robin Ironside: Neo-Romantic Visionary
Grosvenor Gallery, Chester
October 2012 to Jan 6th 2013


Paintings Exhibited by Robin Ironside (1943 - 1966)

1943

Modern British Artists Leicester Gallery, Leicester Street, London January 1943
No catalogue or list of exhibits survives, but an exhibition review records that a miscellaneous collection of modern drawings, paintings and sculpture included two "unusual" drawings by Robin Ironside.

1944

Paul Nash, Henry Moore, John Piper, Graham Sutherland; Robin Ironside, Christopher Ironside; Francisco Goya; French & English paintings. Redfern Gallery, 20 Cork Street, Burlington Gardens, London, W1
January 6th to January 29th 1944

WATERCOLOURS. ROBIN IRONSIDE
27. Rossetti's Willow-wood.15 guineas.
28. The Tapestry. lent by the Contemporary Art Society.
29. Summer Snow. 15 guineas
29a.Vignette. lent by T.E. Lowinsky, Esq.
30. The Somnambulist. 25 guineas.
31. Vignette. 10 guineas
32. The Fountain. lent by Sir Edward Marsh
33. Vignette. 10 guineas
34. Parsival. lent by Sir Edward Marsh
35. Draped Life Study. 15 guineas

1946

Recent Drawings by Robin Ironside
Redfern Gallery, 20 Cork Street, Burlington Gardens, London, W1
June 1946
No catalogue survives, but the gallery's sales records for June include the following works by Robin Ironside.
The Church. £31.0.0.
Draped Figure. £21.0.0.
Satyr Offering an Apple to a Spaniel. £15.15.0.
The Baron Hulot and Madame Marueffe. £8.8.0.
(Pen and black ink, watercolour, bodycolour and graphite. 17.7 x 12.7 cm. Now in the British Museum)
Rose Offered in a Coniferous Wood. £15.15.0.
The Leisure of Tyrtaeus. £15.5.0.

1947


Robin Ironside. Malcolm Milne
Redfern Gallery, 20 Cork Street, Burlington Gardens, London, W1
June 5th to 28th 1947

ROBIN IRONSIDE. Coloured Drawings
1. Sketch for Rosenkavalier Act I. 12 guineas
2. Musée Lapidaire. 30 guineas
3. Herr Faninal's Garden. 15 guineas.
4. The Leisure of Tyrtaeus (large version). 30 guineas
5. The Island of Aeaea. 15 guineas
6. The Garden of Tithonus (lent by Colonel Wilberforce)
7. The Nativity on a Lace Collar (Christmas Card designed for Mr. David Horner).
8. Sophia with a Page. 15 guineas
COSTUME DESIGNS FOR ROSENKAVALIER
9. Tenor and Flutist. 8 guineas
10. Anina and Valzacchi (Anina's dress after Bustelli). 8 guineas
11. The Marschallin Acts I and III. 8 guineas
12. The Milliner and the Animal Vendor. 8 guineas
13. Octavian Act I
14. Sophie Act III. 4 guineas
15. Octavian as a Chambermaid Act I (after Bustelli). 4 guineas

1948

Robin Ironside, Fred Uhlman, Lyons Wilson, Edward Eker, W. Barns-Graham,
Peter Grimm; Picasso, Paul Nash, Miro
Redfern Gallery, 20 Cork Street, Burlington Gardens, London, W1
May 4th to May 22nd 1948

ROBIN IRONSIDE. RECENT PICTURES
35. The lake of Wallenstadt. 25 guineas
36. Les Moissoneurs (Couperin). 20 guineas
37. "The earth will swing us, as she goes Beneath our cover-lid of snows". 15 guineas
38. Valediction. 25 guineas
39. Lullaby. 25 guineas
40. Anteros slain by Eros. 25 guineas
41. The castle by night. 15 guineas
42. The castle in the morning. 15 guineas
43. The castle in the afternoon. 15 guineas
44. The death of the Poet Cinna (Julius Caesar Act III. Sc. I.). 50 guineas
45. Rest on the Flight ("Voyez ce beau tapis d'herbe douce et fleurie"). 25 guineas
46. Hellenistic shepherd. 18 guineas
47. Dying Rose. 35 guineas
48. Orpheus at the tomb of Eurydice. 35 guineas
49. Crusader's castle. 10 guineas
50. Summer dawn (William Morris). (Lent). 10 guineas
51. Portrait. 15 guineas
52. Spring Thaw. 10 guineas
53. Danäe. 18 guineas
54. Pastoral. 8 guineas

1949

Francis Bacon paintings. Robin Ironside coloured drawings
The Hanover Gallery, 32A St George Street, Hanover Square, London, W1
8th November – 10th December 1949

ROBIN IRONSIDE
1. Air pour la suite du trophée. 25 gns
2. The Nightingale victorious over musical instruments. 25 gns.
3. The mysterious barricades. 25 gns
4. La Marche des Gris-vêtus. 18 gns
5. The Gondolas of Delos. 25 gns.
6. Gardens in the rain, with a flock of deer. 25 gns
7. The traumatic barricade. 50 gns.
8. Carillon de Cythère. 18 gns
9. Negro page
10. Apollo and Daphne: Design for a carpet. 11. La Terasse des audiences au clair de lune. Lent by Mr and Mrs Hamish Hamilton
12. Design for the Keats-Shelley Memorial Society. 10 gns
13. Disintegration of the Zodiac. 18 gns
14. House showing the relative value of musical notes. 18 gns
15. Traces in the snow. 18 gns
16. The Lark with Divisions. 18 gns

1951

Genia Green. Robin Ironside
The Hanover Gallery, 32A St George Street, London, W1
17 January to 10 February 1951

ROBIN IRONSIDE
1. In the Tea Room at Victoria Station. 30 gns
2. Escaping from the Hospital. 20 gns.
3. Wounded Man in a bed-sitting room. 18 gns.
4. Kafka's 'The Castle'. 25 gns
5. In the Cathedral (Illustration for Kafka's 'The Trial'). 25 gns
6. Florence Dombey struck by her Father. 20 gns.
7. The Black Tram. 40 gns
8. Unbalanced Persons waiting for the Lift. 20 gns
9. Nude. 40 gns
10. Gluck's 'Orpheus, Act I'. 50 gns
11. Carillon de Cythère. 20 gns
12. Backcloth Detail: 'Rosenkavalier'. 18 gns
13. Illustration for Theophile Gautier. 15 gns
14. Deathbed. Lent by Mrs Hankey.
15. The Gondolas of Delos, II. Lent by Miss Rose Macaulay
16. Palaeontological Serenade. Lent by W.A. Brandt, Esq.
17. Country Church. 50 gns.

1952

Keith Vaughan. Robin Ironside
Durlacher Bros., 11 East 57th Street, New York
January 29th through February 23rd 1952

IRONSIDE
1. Listening to the Indian nightingale
2. Paysage choisi
3. Wounded man in a bed sitting-room.
4. Conversation piece
5. Auprès de cette grotte sombre (Debussy – L'Hermite)
6. The Assyrian came down like a wolf on the fold
7. Escaping from the hospital.
8. The drowned leading the drowned
9. Nude
10. Florence Dombey struck by her father.
11. Street entertainer playing threatening music to a cinema queue
12. Orpheus at the tomb of Eurydice
13. The petit pince-sans-rire (Couperin)
14. Man praying for money

1953



Ironside
Hanover Gallery, 32a St George Street, London, W1
9 June to 3 July 1953

PICTURES BY ROBIN IRONSIDE
1. The Septet from Berlioz's 'Les Troyens à Carthage'
2. Man in a state of light narcosis
3. Break for music.
4. Royal Hunt and Storm
5. Musical Performance by mental patients in a condition of hypomania
6. Circe's Lovers
7. Fish-herds gathering their flocks
8. Queen's Gate by moonlight
9. Street violinist at Victoria Station.
10. Death and apotheosis of a legendary heroine
DESIGNS BY ROBIN AND CHRISTOPHER IRONSIDE
11. For 'Sylvia': Rocky Coast
12. For 'Sylvia': Diana's Temple
13. For 'Sylvia': Orion's Grotto
14. For 'Sylvia': Eros in Orion's Grotto
15. For 'Sylvia': The Forest at night
16-24. For 'Sylvia': Costume designs
25. Preliminary Designs for the Coronation Feature in Whitehall
26. Designs for the 'Time-Life' Clock.

Eight British Painters
The Arts Club of Chicago. Exhibition Loaned by Durlacher Brothers, New York
December 4 to December 31, 1953

ROBIN IRONSIDE
31. The Drowned Leading the Drowned – watercolour
32. The Castle at Evening – watercolour
33. Listening to the Indian Nightingale – watercolour
34. Conversation Piece – watercolour

1954



Robin Ironside. Helen Marshall
Durlacher Bros., 11 East 57th Street, New York
February ninth through March sixth 1954

ROBIN IRONSIDE
1. Agnus Dei.
2. This is the garden (e.e. cummings)
3. Auprès de cette grotte sombre, no.2 (Debussy – L'Hermite)
4. Reception of the Trojan princes at the Carthaginian court from Berlioz'
'The Trojans at Carthage'Archaeological Finds:
5. Sculptured fragments.
6. Secret burial.
7. Musical performance by patients in a condition of hypomania
8. Man in a state of light narcosis
DESIGNS BY ROBIN AND CHRISTOPHER IRONSIDE
9. Preliminary design for 'Sylvia', act II
10. 'Sylvia', act II
11. 'Sylvia', act III
12. Sylvans (Costume design for 'Sylvia')
13. Peasants (Costume design for 'Sylvia')
14. Apollo (Costume design for 'Sylvia')
15. Diana (Costume design for 'Sylvia')
16. A bacchante (Costume design for 'Sylvia')
17. Preliminary design for the coronation feature in Whitehall (1)

1955


Trompe l'Oeil from the XVIIIth century to the present day
Arthur Jeffress (Pictures), 28 Davies Street, London, W1
18 January – 19 February 1955

41. Robin Ironside. Alexander and Bucephalus (after Bambaia).
Oil on canvas, 16" x 20". 60 guineas

1956

Recent Paintings and Drawings by Richard Chopping, Robin Ironside and Kenneth Rowell
Arthur Jeffress (Pictures), 28 Davies Street, London, W1
24th April – 25th May 1956

ROBIN IRONSIDE
22. Visitor to a Museum posing on a vacant plinth
23. The god Hercules abandons Antony ('Antony and Cleopatra' Act 4, Scene 3.)
24. Catullus asleep on the threshold of Lesbia's villa
25. Le Naufragé (Heredia)
26. Ancient Harbour Town
27. Man collapsing on a public flight of steps.
28. Diana and Endymion (adapted from a Hellenistic relief)
29. The Palace of Hephaestus
30. Famous statues visiting a Museum of human beings
31. Crowd waiting for a portent I.
32. Italo-Japanese Garden
33. Musical Reeds
34. Crowd waiting for a portent II.
35. The Garden of Hypnos
36. Talisman for averting the Evil Eye (from a classical relief)
37. Patients suffering from waxy inflexibility

1957

Robin Ironside. Ossip Lubitch
Durlacher Bros., 11 East 57th Street, New York
October 29th through November 23rd 1957

IRONSIDE
1. Crowd waiting for a portent.
2. Matthew, Mark, Luke and John. More accurately, this picture should be called:
"Matthew, Mark, Luke and John refusing to bless the bed that I lie on."
3. Hypnus. Hypnus was the God of Sleep and is usually represented carrying
an inverted torch.
4. The emissaries of Julian the Apostate at Delphi. As part of his endeavours
to restore the pagan religion, Julian sent an embassy to consult the oracle
at Delphi. They found the place to be in a state of decay, and the priestess
was unable to work herself into the state of frenzy requisite for soothsaying.
According to the legendary account of this occasion, a mysterious voice
from underground was heard to declare that the Delphic Shrine had long
ago been abandoned by Apollo.
5. Dionysus on the way to Naxos. The God, having discovered that the ship on
which he was a passenger was manned and owned by pirates whose plan was to
sell him into slavery, transformed the crew into dolphins, the mast into a vine
and the oars into snakes. Simultaneously, the sound of flutes was heard.
6. Dido and Aeneas at Carthage.
7. Apollo and Marsyas
8. Musician training a cat. Suggested by a Hellenistic relief but radically
elaborated and modified.
9. The Muses forsaking poetry beneath the bosom of the sea. Illustration to
Blake's poem "To the Muses".
10. Perseus descending on Aethiopia
11. View from a window
12. Hellenistic palace
13. The ghost of Patroclus
14. Apollo tending the flocks of Admetus

1960

Pictures by Robin and Christopher Ironside
The Arthur Jeffress Gallery, 28 Davies Street, London W1
5-29 April 1960

ROBIN IRONSIDE
1. A 17th Century Poet to his Weeping Mistress
2. Pas sur la Neige
3. Voiles
4. Birth of a Dolphin.
5. A Private of the 17th Lancers in Combat Dress, 1918
6. The Ambassadors of Julian the Apostate at Delphi
7. The Rotten Sea (The Ancient Mariner)
8. Sketch for No.25
9. Enormous Painting
10. Night Picnic
11. Trophy of Arms
12. Lyres
13. Tomb for Siamese Twins
14. Dido and Aeneas.
15. Palace Assassination
16. House at Key West
17. Marsyas
ROBIN AND CHRISTOPHER IRONSIDE
26. Death of a General.
27. Composition

1961

Drawings by Ann Said, Paintings by David Walsh. Paintings by Robin Ironside
New Art Centre, 41 Sloane Street, London SW1
May 1961

The invitation to this exhibition survives, and it is mentioned in a review, but no
catalogue or list of exhibits is known. However, the exhibition presumably included
'The Vigil' , which bears a New Art Centre label inscribed 'The Vigil',
whereas it was titled 'The Miraculous Shrine' when exhibited there in 1966 (no.4).

1964

Robin Ironside. Sylvia Lowen
Durlacher Bros., 538 Madison Avenue, New York
February 4th – February 29th 1964
Two copies of the catalogue in the Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript
Library, Yale University, are annotated with prices and the final work.

PAINTINGS BY ROBIN IRONSIDE
1. Apollo and Marsyas. $1,500 / £400
2. Marsyas. $450 / £175
3. Endymion. $325 / £125
4. Summer Snow. $750 / £300
5. Decorative and Ornamental Fragments. $600 / -.
6. A 17th Century Poet to his Mistress. $500 / £125
7. Narcissus I. $900 / £300
8. Narcissus II. $750 / £300
9. Palace Assassination. $150 / £40
10. Couple in Bed. $150 / £35
11. Miraculous Shrine. $750 / £300.
12. The Artist's Backyard. $400 / -.
13. Morning. $500 / $90
14. The Ambassadors of Julian the Apostate at Delphi. $300 / £100
15. Dawn in a Paper House. $175.

1966

Robin Ironside: A Retrospective exhibition
New Art Centre, 41 Sloane Street, London SW1
30 November – 31 December 1966
Introduction by Sir John Rothenstein
Since the artist never signed or dated his paintings, many of which were sold privately, it has proved impossible to date the majority accurately and we have therefore decided to omit all dates.

1. Apollo and Marsyas. Oil. 38¾ x 53½ in. Lent by The Hon. Graham Eyres Monsell
2. The Tomb of Narcissus. Oil. 26½ x 34 in. Lent by Paul Dehn, Esq. and James Bernard, Esq.
3. Portrait of Colette Clark. Oil. 35½ x 27½ in. Lent by Sir Kenneth Clark.
4. The Miraculous Shrine. Oil. 25 x 30 in. Lent by Christopher Ironside, Esq.
5 . Death of Narcissus. Oil. 28 x 36 in. Lent by Gerard André, Esq.
6. Mathew, Mark, Luke and John. Oil. 18 x 22 in
7. Man Falling on a Flight of Public Steps. Oil. 20 x 28 in. Lent by Christopher Ironside, Esq.
8. Death of a Good Woman (Unfinished). Oil. 30 x 40 in. Lent by Christopher Ironside, Esq.
9. Portrait of Graham Eyres Monsell. Oil. 35½ x 27½ in. Lent by Peter Heyworth, Esq.
10. Footsteps in the Snow. Oil. 24 x 30 in. Lent by The Hon. Graham Eyres Monsell
11. Decorative and Ornamental Fragments. Oil. 19¾ x 28 in. Lent by George E. Dix, Esq.
12. The Artist's Backyard. Oil. 14 1/8 x 18 in. Lent by George E. Dix, Esq.
13. Famous Statues Visiting a Museum of People. Oil. 20 x 30 in. Private Collection
14. Alexander and Bucephalus. Oil. 16 x 20 in. Lent by Mrs Williamson
15. Catallus Asleep on the Threshold of Lesbia's House. Oil. 19 x 25 in. Lent by Ronald Fleming, Esq.
16. The Italo-Japanese Garden. Oil. 16 x 22in. Lent by The Hon. Graham Eyres Monsell
17. Portrait of Alexander Russell. Oil. 27 x 36 in. Lent by Lady Russell
18. Student in a Museum. Oil. 20 x 30 in. Lent by The Hon. Mrs Rayner
19. Break for Music. Watercolour and gouache. 17 x 30 in. Lent by J. Lees-Milne, Esq.
20. Quintet from 'The Trojans'. Watercolour and gouache. 23 x 37 in. Lent by The Hon. Graham Eyres Monsell.
21. Septet from 'The Trojans'. Watercolour and gouache. 18 x 27 in. Lent by Jon Evans, Esq.
22. Reception of the Trojan Princes at the Carthaginian Court, from 'The Trojans'. Gouache. 5¼ x 8 1/8 in. Lent by George E. Dix, Esq.
23. Hellenistic Palace. Watercolour and gouache. 10½ x 15½ in. Lent by Richard Adams, Esq.
24. Design for 'The Trojans'. Watercolour and gouache. 9 x 13½ in. Lent by Mrs Williamson
25. Sleeping Poet Visited by a Muse. Watercolour. 4¾ x 6½ in. Lent by Miss Gordon-Ewen
26. Death of Procris. Gouache. 19 x 27½ in. Lent by Mrs Williamson.
27. Design for 'Der Rosenkavalier'. Gouache. 12½ x 11½ in. Lent by Mrs Williamson.
28. The Pascal Lamb. Gouache. 6 x 4½ in. Lent by Miss Clapham.
29. The New Moon Being Born Inside the Old. (Illustrated). Gouache. 13½ x 21½ in Lent by Sir John Rothenstein, C.B.E.
30. Rose Being Offered in a Coniferous Wood. Pen and ink, with ink wash and watercolour. 8 3/8 x 10¾ in. Lent by Mr and Mrs R. Kirk Askew, Jr.
31. Lapidary Museum. Gouache. 16½ x 26¼ in. Lent by Mrs James Laughlin
32. Orpheus at the Tomb of Eurydice. Watercolour and gouache. 19¾ x 30¾ in. Lent by Mrs James Laughlin
33. The Assyrian Came Down Like a Wolf on the Fold. Watercolour and gouache. 11¾ x 15 in. Lent by Walter C. Baker, Esq.
34. The Mysterious Barricades. (Illustrated in colour). Watercolour. 10½ x 15 in. Lent by The Hon. Graham Eyres Monsell
35. Paysage Choisi. Watercolour and gouache. 15½ x 22 in. Lent by Philip Hofer, Esq.
36. Nude. Watercolour and gouache. 26 x 20 1/8 in. Lent by Mr and Mrs Edward Martin, Jr.
37. Musical Performance by Patients in a Condition of Hypomania. Gouache. 17 x 25¼ in. Lent by Samuel Bachrach, Esq.
38. Man in a State of Light Narcosis. Gouache. 29½ x 17½ in. Lent by Richard Adams, Esq.
39. A Waiting Room at Victoria Station. Gouache. 14 x 11½ in. Lent by T.R. Hartman, Esq.
40. The Country Church. Watercolour. 15 x 26½ in. Lent by The Hon.Graham Eyres Monsell.>
41. Design for 'Sylvia, Act III'. Gouache. 18½ x 30½ in. Lent by Charles C. Tilghman, Esq.
42. Hypnos. Watercolour and gouache. 18 x 21½ in. Lent by Miss Eleanor Belding
43. Man Sleeping in a Paper House. Watercolour and gouache. 8 x 10 in. Lent by Richard Adams, Esq.
44. Carleton. Gouache. Tondo: 4½ in diameter. Lent by Mrs George E. Dix
45. Street Entertainer Playing Threatening Music to a Cinema Queue. (Illustrated).
Watercolour and gouache. 31 x 20 in. Lent by Nathaniel Saltonstall, Esq.
46. Apollo. Gouache. 9 x 12 in. Lent by The Countess of Drogheda
47. Apollo and Marsyas. Watercolour. 6 x 4 in. Lent by Lady Glenconner
48. Endymion. Watercolour. 8 x 16½ in. Lent by Hamish Hamilton, Esq.
49. La Marche des Gris-vêtus. Watercolour and gouache. 7½ x 15½ in. Lent by Mrs Peter Hastings
50. Palaentological Serenade. Watercolour. 15¾ x 11½ in. Lent by Walter Brandt, Esq.
51. Musical Reeds. Gouache. 9 x 9 1/8 in. Lent by Walter Brandt, Esq.
52. Rossetti's Willow Wood Recto. Sketch for Recto Verso. Watercolour heightened with bodycolour – Recto. Pencil – Verso. 10 x 14 in. Lent by Walter Brandt, Esq.
53. The Garden, Le Meridienne, Roquebrune. Watercolour. 5¾ x 6¼ in. Lent by Mrs J. Lees-Milne
54. Les Moissoneurs. Watercolour. 9½ x 13 in. Lent by Mrs Iris Adams
55. Set for 'A Midsummer Night's Dream'. Watercolour and gouache. 8 x 11½ in. Lent by Miss Colette Clark
56. Costume Design for 'A Midsummer Night's Dream'. Watercolour and gouache. 8 x 7½ in. Lent by Miss Colette Clark
57. Costume Design for 'A Midsummer Night's Dream'. Watercolour and gouache. 8 x 11¾ in. Lent by B.A. Young, Esq.
58. Costume Design for 'A Midsummer Night's Dream'. Watercolour and gouache. 8½ x 7in. Lent by B.A. Young, Esq.
59. Catatonic Persons Waiting for a Lift. Gouache. 8 x 10 in. Lent by The Hon. Mrs Rayner
60. The Gondolas of Delos. Watercolour. 16 x 12 in. Lent by The Hon. Graham Eyres Monsell.
61. Architectural Interior. Watercolour. 13½ x 16 in. Lent by Ronald Fleming, Esq.
62. Design for Sylvia, Act I. Watercolour. 17½ x 26 in. Lent by The Hon. Graham Eyres Monsell
63. Crowd Waiting for a Portent. Watercolour. 7½ x 10 in. Lent by The Hon. Graham Eyres Monsell.
64. Portrait of Ivor Jones. Gouache. 21 x 15 in. Lent by Keith Wallis, Esq.
65. Mercury at the Cave of Calypso. Watercolour. 6½ x 5 in. Lent by Mrs Kidston-Montgomerie
66. Kafka's 'The Castle'. Watercolour. 9¾ x 12 in
67. Costume Design for 'Der Rosenkavalier'. Watercolour. 8¼ x 5 in
68. Untitled. Oil. 20 x 30 in
69. A Fire Screen. Gouache. 36 x 36 in. Lent by Lady Bridget Parsons.
70. El Esquillado Dormido