Title: Atlantic Famine Ship (2021)Medium: Unique BronzeSignature: Signed and DatedProvenance: Private CollectionFramedWhen you see an Irish sculpture of a famine ship, you immediately think of the work of John Behan. Just like his fellow sculptors, Edward Delaney and Rowan Gillespie, John Behan has been crafting memories of the Irish Famine from the mid - 1990s and still he creates these moving, emotional and historically rooted masterpieces today. This piece, an ?Atlantic Famine Ship? from 2021, is connected through the lyrical movement of the figures attached, while the sails look as if they are blown forward by the wind, just as if the ship was sailing on a breezy day. The ship?s sails are rough and depicted finely, as the appearance of gaps or tears is reminiscent of the years we lost out on and the years that tore Ireland apart between 1845 and 1852. There is significant depth in the body of the ship as the masts are supported by the base, while the overall structure in its entirety echoes the painful recollections of the coffin ships that travelled from Ireland to America, Britain, Canada, and other countries. Born in Sheriff Street, Dublin, in 1938, John Behan studied at the National College of Art and Design from 1956 to 1960, and started sculpting in the late 1950s, while continuing to improve his studies, attending Ealing Art College, London for a year between 1960 and 1961, and Oslo?s Royal Academy School later. Around the same time, he completed a metalwork apprenticeship at the J&C McLoughlin Ironworks, starting at the age of 15 in 1960. In 1967, he helped establish the Dublin Art Foundry and the Project Arts Centre in Dublin, while three years later, he received his first big commission, where he created the Cuchulainn relief panels for the Gresham Hotel, Dublin. His most famous work would be the National Famine Memorial in Murrisk Millennium Peace Park at the foot of Croagh Patrick in County Mayo. His retrospective was held in association with the RHA and the Galway Arts Centre between 1994 and 1995, which also toured to the Sligo Art Gallery. He has exhibited a number of times, including at the Irish Exhibition of Living Art, the Oireachtas, and the RHA, which he became an elected member of in 1989. He was also made a member of Aosdana in 1978. He is represented by a number of galleries across Ireland, including Solomon Fine Art, The Kenny Gallery and Kilcock Art Gallery, and he currently lives near Galway City. SCULPTURE Wednesday 10th June 2026 16:57:30

60.5cm high; 68.5cm wide; 13cm deep