JOHN BEHAN RHA : Walking Into Eternity

Solomon Fine Art is delighted to host an exhibition of new works in bronze by one of Ireland’s most celebrated sculptors. In his latest work John Behan continues to observe and explore themes of emigration and the displacement of people through the lens of Irish history, mythology and literature. Walking into Eternity tackles scenes and imagery which depict the plight of present-day immigrants and refugees with a focus on the current war in Ukraine and Gaza. The exhibition also includes new examples of Behan’s now-iconic Famine Ships and oarboats.  

As a counterpoint, a number of new sculptures pay tribute to James Joyce’s Ulysses, from where the exhibition title derives, and offer some humour and light relief from the weight of the exhibition’s more confronting themes. 

John Behan RHA is firmly established as a sculptor of international stature and can be credited with playing a major part in the development of sculpture in Ireland over the last fifty years. Born in Dublin in 1938, he began an apprenticeship in metalwork and welding before moving on to formal training at the National College of Art and Design in Dublin, Ealing Art College in London and the Royal Academy School in Oslo. He has been awarded many honours over the years and became a member of the Royal Hibernian Academy in 1990, having been an Associate of the Academy since 1973. He is also a member of Aosdána and was conferred an honorary Doctor of Literature by NUI Galway in 2000.  

Behan’s public art commissions are almost too many to mention, but include the magnificent National Famine Memorial in Murrisk, Co. Mayo, the Flight of the Earls in Rathmullan, Co Donegal, the monumental Arrival: A New Dawn ship outside the U.N. Headquarters, New York and Wings of the World at Shenzhen Airport in China. His work can also be found in the prestigious public collections of the National Gallery of Ireland, IMMA, Dublin City Gallery: the Hugh Lane, the Ulster Museum, Belfast, the Crawford Municipal Gallery, Cork and in almost all our national County Municipal Art Collections.

In 2024 John Behan was the subject of the feature-length film documentary ODYSSEY: JOHN BEHAN which was directed by Donald Taylor Black.