Clíodhna Doherty, a Newry artist, will fulfill a long-held wish when her painting ‘Laura’ is placed on display at the Louvre Museum in Paris. During Art Basel Paris, where the world’s art luminaries gather to celebrate their prowess, her artwork will be part of the exhibition. The Art Shopping event begins on October 18 and lasts until October 20.
“It’ll not really hit me until Friday evening when everybody’s going home, that my piece is in the Louvre,” said the 29-year-old, who has been a full-time artist since 2020.
After submitting her work to PAX Gallery in Austria, Doherty was contacted and given the offer of having her work hung in the Louvre, an opportunity she could not pass up.
A year of rapid artistic growth has seen Doherty display her art at exhibitions in Venice and Cannes. She described the chance to showcase her paintings at the Louvre as “a bit bonkers.”
For the artist, breaking into the European art scene is a dream come true, as she aspires to create her own unique path in the industry. The Louvre museum has particular meaning for her because it is home to the world’s most famous painting: the Mona Lisa by Leonardo da Vinci.
Doherty painted her piece ‘Laura’ in 2022, and it was a part of her Intimacy collection, which extensively features over 136 nude photographs of females from Ireland, with each woman’s story being very important to her. Doherty aimed to create paintings of confident young women, highlighting the comfort they experience when alone before bed or when they get out of the shower.
“[Leonardo] Da Vinci is a huge inspiration for me. The Mona Lisa captures a woman both how she wanted to be perceived and how he perceived her, and that’s kind of a thing I try to do in my own work as well but more abstract,” she said.
The stigma that artists do not earn enough money often prevails in a world that focuses on STEM (science, technology, engineering, and math) disciplines. But Doherty believes social media helped her achieve her artistic ambitions. She said, “It’s definitely changed for the better, especially for emerging women artists who only represent 2% within the art world. There is more exposure for women because of social media.
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