European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - December 19, 1991, Darmstadt, Hesse                                A amps Susan Harris the Long Halls and High ceilings of the former Hospital give the artworks plenty of room. Dublin Art museum fills big void by Matt to f the associated press Dublin Ireland a a City known More for its Rich literary tradition than for its visual breadth a a finally has what new York London and Paris have boasted for years a a museum of modern Art. The Irish museum of modern Art Imma opened in May on the 17th-Century premises of the Royal Hospital Kilma Inham a spacious elegant building in the working class Western fringe of the City. For years the capital s nearest equivalent was the r City centers Hugh Lane municipal Callery of modern Art which opened in 1933. That collection largely stops with the impressionists. And its most celebrated paintings alternate Sites on a rotating basis with the National Callery in London As required by Lane s will. Imma is about what s happening now. To be sure it does have its Token Picasso a the artists 1921 Sibylle a but the aim is to showcase the variety of contemporary Art. What we can do is succeed in those areas where we can succeed like with living artists Quot museum director Declan Mcgonagle said in an interview in the museum cafe. We can t buy Picasso we can t buy anything that costs millions of pounds. We should to therefore attempt to Quot said the 39-year-old administrator who comes from Londonderry in Northern Ireland. The museum s birth was a Happy Accident. Quot the Irish government would not have spent 21 million Irish pounds about $32.1 million to make a museum of modern Art which is a measure of the difficulty this country has Quot he said. Mah tourist Board but after having spent that sum to restore the Royal Hospital for use As a conference Center the government decided to locate the Center in a second historic building Dublin Castle. So a newly renovated building on More than 40 acres of ground found itself in need of an occupant and Imma was born. The Hospital s Long corridors and High ceilings give artworks enough room for themselves. Because of the building s historic status the government pays the considerable maintenance costs. That Means Mcgonagle can use an annual Grant of 850,000 Irish pounds about $1.3 million for administrative purposes. A further 250,000 Irish pounds a pocket change by International gallery standards a has been earmarked annually for acquisitions. Initial exhibitions include a bequest from Irish businessman and Art collector cordon Lambert As Well As the great Book of Ireland original poems and paintings on vellum compiled to Salute Dublin s status As the 1991 european City of culture. Early reviews of Imma have been mixed with the most favourable responses coming from the foreign press. Some lamented the internationalism of the collection at the expense of Ireland s own artists. While Imma features contemporary painters and sculptors from Ireland and Northern Ireland such As John kindness Ciaran Lennon and Brian Maguire there Are also works of the czech born Magdalena jete Lova new yorker Nancy Spero and Germany s . Peck among Many others. Quot there s a notion that the museum should have been a museum of Irish modern Art rather than an Irish museum of modern Art Quot said Mcgonagle taking Issue with critics Quot parochial  Quot it is possible to be a museum that can House Picasso and also Young Irish artists in residence Quot he said. Quot the distinction Between them does t exist in the  kindness who has two works a etchings on the door and Hood from a new York City taxi cab a on display in Imma said the museum offered the unmistakable attraction of seeing work firsthand. Quot it s very important for artists to see real Art rather than looking at reproductions All the time Quot said kindness who recently moved to Dublin from his native Belfast. Longevity is appealing too before Imma kindness said he had Quot no work in a permanent collection. It s Nice to have something that s always going to be  Brian Fallon Art critic for the Irish times and a member of the museum s Board said he finds Imma mesh tourism boar the renovated building in which the museum is located has historic status which Means the government pays for its maintenance. Quot at once exciting and  Quot we still have no real adequate collection of 20th-Century Art in Dublin and i Don t see the museum solving that Quot Fallon said in an interview. But he said the building offered Quot unlimited possibilities Quot and he praised Mcgonagle As an Quot activist director who will get the Public  the museum is drawing Between 3,000-3,500 visitors a week and was expected to attract More than 100,000 people during its first year Mcgonagle remains hopeful. Quot to be Given the Opportunity unilaterally to put something in place on a National scale that can actually have a huge effect on the culture just seemed impossible to refuse Quot he said. Quot things have failed before in Dublin because of a Lack of imagination of what it could be in the world. This will Only be of use to people if it s one of the Best museums in the  s stripes Magazine december 19, 1991