PICTURE PERFECT THIS STUNNING PORTRAIT OF THE LATE MAIRÉAD FURLONG NOW HANGS IN COUNTY HALL. WAS AT THE UNVEILING
MARIA PEPPER
When the late Mairéad Furlong’s husband Nicky caught his first glimpse of a beautiful portrait of her by the artist Blaise Smith which was unveiled at the County Hall in Carricklawn, ‘the breath was sucked out of my lungs and I could not block the tears’.
Writer and historian Nicky and Mairéad’s niece Paula Panczenko were given a preview of the painting in the artist’s studio in Kilkenny and were instantly impressed by the ‘power of his talent’.
‘He has given us back what we thought we had lost. It has rendered me stunned. I am in awe of his terrible power by which I mean the massive extent of his talent,’ Nicky told a large gathering of people at the unveiling ceremony which was co-ordinated by the County Arts Officer Liz Burns who said the painting gave her a glimpse of the ‘formidable character of Mairéad’.
The attendance included Mairead’s extended family and her fellow Friends of the Wexford County Art Collection who joined with the local authority in commissioning the portrait by Smith, a member of the Royal Hibernian Academy who has exhibited widely and won many awards.
Ms Panczenko, whose own career in the visual arts was encouraged by her aunt, said she was ‘truly in awe’ of Smith’s rendition which captured all the different qualities of Mairéad, her passion, energy, drive, acumen and determination but also her beauty, gentility and her advocacy for causes including the arts. ‘Blaise has captured all that we, her family and friends, loved about her so much. Thank you, Blaise, for this wonderful gift and for capturing her so beautifully,’ said Paula.
Dublin-born Mairéad who died in 2015, was involved, along with friend and retired Wexford businesswoman Rita O’Brien, in the early days of the Shannon Duty Free Shop and met Nicky Furlong during Wexford Festival Opera on one of his famous Festival Tours. Following their marriage, she farmed with him in Mulgannon before establishing an an- tiques business in 1973. She was a founder of the Wexford Festival Antiques Fair.
She served on the boards of the Arts Council and Wexford Festival Opera and was also involved in Wexford Chamber of Commerce and the Ireland Fund.
At the age of 70, she embarked on a Diploma in the History of European Painting at UCD, graduating in 2003. She was a lecturer in art and a specialist on Caravaggio paintings at Trinity College. In 1994, she asked the County Council to start an art collection as a treasury for the county and today it is one of the finest of its kind in Ireland containing more than 200 works by leading contemporary artists.
Mairéad was a leading light in the Friends of Wexford County Council Art Collection, established in 2009, and promoted the local authority exhibition by procuring donations and loans of art works and conducting public tours of the collection once a month
Blaise Smith said that like others, he was