The Little Museum of Dublin presents the Christy Brown Collection
“The American Irish Historical Society celebrates the life of beloved Irish author Christy Brown, known best for his memoir My Left Foot, at this special retrospective.”
Time Out New York
In 2014 Christy Brown’s personal archive was exhibited for the first time in a major exhibition at the Little Museum of Dublin. Powerful, amusing and poignant, the Christy Brown Collection celebrated the life of this extraordinary artist and writer. Now the exhibition is on the way to New York, where it will be co-presented with our friends in the American Irish Historical Society.
Christy Brown was brilliantly played by Daniel Day-Lewis in the Oscar-winning film My Left Foot. But the complexities of his life, together with his struggle to be understood – and taken seriously – have only recently come to light. Those complexities were explored in a brilliant new exhibition at the American Irish Historical Society.
“We are excited about bringing this amazing show to New York,” said curator Simon O’Connor, “as it celebrates the life of a truly inspirational Irishman.” The show explored the struggles of Brown as a child, and the way his family inspired him to create remarkable paintings, a classic memoir, four novels and four collections of poetry – all with his left foot.
In March 2014, the Little Museum of Dublin and the National Library of Ireland jointly purchased the Christy Brown archive for €44,733 at an auction in London. Speaking at the time of the purchase, then-Minister for Arts Jimmy Deenihan praised the Little Museum and the National Library for ensuring that “a wonderful piece of our cultural and literary heritage, will be preserved for, and made accessible to, the people of Ireland.”
This exhibition was hugely popular with lovers of literature, history and Irish culture. School groups, children and tourists enjoyed the inspiring story of a man who defied the odds to become a hugely successful artist and writer.
The exhibition ran from November 11-24, 12pm to 5pm. The American Irish Historical Society is at 991 Fifth Avenue at 80th St, across the road from the Metropolitan Museum of Art.
This exhibition is supported by The Ireland Funds, Aer Lingus, Tourism Ireland, the Irish Aviation Authority, Direct Medical and the Department of Arts, Heritage & the Gaeltacht.