Hennessy Art Fund for IMMA Collection

Hennessy Ireland formed a unique partnership with IMMA in 2016 to help fund the purchase of important works by Irish and Ireland based artists for the National Collection of Modern and Contemporary Art.

Funding cuts during the recession resulted in the museum lacking resources to purchase works meaning the practices of younger and mid-career artists from 2011 onwards were glaringly absent from the IMMA Collection story. Works are sought which show excellence and innovation within contemporary art developments, and which represent a signal moment of achievement with the artist’s practice. They must also have been made within the previous five years.

Over three years the Hennessy Art Fund has enabled IMMA to purchase the work of twelve artists. Works by Kevin Atherton, David Beattie, Rhona Byrne, Mark Garry, Maireád McClean, Dennis McNulty, Ciarán Murphy, Yuri Pattison, Barbara Knezevic, Susan MacWilliam, Mary McIntyre and Helen O’Leary have joined the Collection through this essential fund.