OVER THE WEEKEND, stateside, Irish artist Gerard Byrne closed out the Hamptons Fine Art Fair with a live painting demonstration. 

Collectors, curators, and art enthusiasts attended the artists’s solo booth in Southhampton. It was Byrne’s debut at a US art fair. 

The Dublin artist was among over 150 exhibitors at the fair over the weekend. Byrne, who is known for art that has been described as “luminous plain-air works” and “dreamlike urban landscapes”, displayed over a dozen paintings that had never been seen by the public before.

Many of the works had been created during his artist residency in New York City last year. They explored the “geometry and glow of Manhattan’s architecture and streetlife,” the 67-year-old’s wife Agatha said. 

PMC / Sean Zanni PMC / Sean Zanni / Sean Zanni

On Sunday, Byrne closed out his time at the fair with a three-hour live painting performance in which he painted a vintage car in front of onlookers. The car was formerly a museum exhibit, and was painted in the style of Pollock by artist Mark Grimaldi. 

Byrne had been appointed brand ambassador for the fair for fashion brand Todd Snyder. 

Back at home, Byrne’s work can be seen in the Gerard Byrne Studio in Ranelagh village. His modern impressionist artwork is held in collections of the Irish government, Irish embassies, and Texas’s Citadelle Art Museum in the US. 

His studio was established alongside his wife Agatha Byrne in 2017. Byrne has been working in the arts for 35 years.