Letters to George Furlong

Five letters to Furlong from Lord Clark (Kenneth Clark), Philip Pouncey and Neil MacLaren of the National Gallery, London. Two concern the attribution of a picture of a Virgin and Child to Domenico di Bartolo and three relate to the value and acquisition of Murillo's 'Christ Healing the Paralytic at the Pool of Bethesda' (NG5931)

George Furlong was born in Dundrum, County Tipperary, Republic of Ireland. He was educated at Clongowes Wood and University College, Dublin and continued his studies at Grenoble, Munich and Vienna where he was awarded a Ph.D. for his dissertation on 10th and 11th century Anglo-Saxon manuscript illumination.

In 1930 Furlong became an Assistant Keeper at the National Gallery, London. In 1935 he was appointed Director of the National Gallery in Dublin, where he remained for fifteen years, lecturing and writing on art matters and acting as examiner in the history of European painting at both Trinity College and University College Dublin. He moved back to London in 1950.

These letters were given to the National Gallery Archive in 1996 by Rex Britcher, a friend of George Furlong.

NG16/170 Correspondence of Philip Pouncey, 1939-1942, relating to the wartime evacuation of the National Gallery collection to Wales. University College Dublin holds a box of Furlong papers [reference IE UCDAD LA53], relating to his academic work, and career as Assistant Keeper at the National Gallery, London (1930-5) and as Director of the National Gallery of Ireland (1935-50), including correspondence, lectures and papers. It also contains personal papers and correspondence (1935-87) including his daily diary (June-December 1940) commenting on the Dublin social and artistic milieu. The collection also includes material relating to his work as an examiner in the history of art at University College and Trinity College, Dublin (1936-53).