Hilary Heron: Pond’s Cream model, welder, and underappreciated artist
Hilary Heron with part of her Pillow Talk sculpture (1953). Image courtesy of Estate of Hilary Heron
Hilary Heron was one of the most enigmatic Irish artists of the 20th century. A sculptor from Dublin, she died young in 1977, leaving behind a body of work in metal and wood that was quite unlike anything else being produced in this country in her lifetime. Her achievements are now being celebrated in Hilary Heron: A Retrospective at the Irish Museum of Modern Art. The exhibition is curated by Seán Kissane of IMMA and Riann Coulter of the FE McWilliam Gallery & Studio, Banbridge, Co Down.
Heron was born in Dublin in 1923, but spent much of her childhood in Coleraine, Co Derry, where her father was a bank official. Although the family returned to settle in Dublin, she retained her Northern Irish accent for the rest of her life.
