Highlights - or, if you prefer, a critic's choice - from the standing collection of the Butler Gallery in Kilkenny are on show there, until the Arts Week gets going next month. The critic in question is Aidan Dunne, who has chosen from a wide viewpoint.
Camille Souter comes out of it particularly well, especially if you add to the actual exhibition pieces the examples of her work hanging in the hallway just outside. An "intimate" setting like this brings out the essential painterliness of her work and its sure sense of style, without crushing her small scale. The two big full-length nudes by Patrick Collins represent an aspect of his work I personally do not care for but they have a good deal of presence in a curious, unalluring way.
There is a small but excellent Jack Yeats, and three Hone watercolours show once again how sure and economical he was in this medium. Tony O'Malley I thought rather under-represented. Elegant silkescreen works on canvas by Patrick Scott, a screenprint by William Scott, a gouache by Gleizes and a Jellett drawing, all add "body" to the collection.
In the end room, a set of eight large etchings by James Turrell contrast effectively with Albert Irvin's big, blazing Caledonia, which takes up an entire wall.