Estella Solomons

Estella Frances Solomons (2 April 1882– 2 November 1968) was one of the leading Irish artists of her generation. She came from a prominent Dublin Jewish family. She studied at the Dublin Metropolitan School of Art and the Chelsea School of Art. The couple hosted regular salons in their home, which attracted Irish artists, writers, politicians, and intellectuals. Her brother Edwin (1879–1964) was a stockbroker and a prominent member of the Dublin Jewish community. Her younger sister Sophie was a trained opera singer. A portrait of Sophie, by her cousin, the printmaker Louise Jacobs, survives in the Estella Solomons archives in the Library of Trinity College Dublin. (1876–1960), and William J. Leech (1881–1968). She also attended the Chelsea School of Art from 1903 to 1906. A visit to the tercentenary exhibition of the work of Rembrandt in Amsterdam in 1903 impacted her creative practice and may have influenced her adoption of printmaking as her principal vehicle of expression. She studied under two of Ireland's leading artists, Walter Osborne, who was another major influence, and William Orpen. With her friends Cissie Beckett (aunt of Samuel Beckett) and Beatrice Elvery, she went to study in Paris in Colorossi's studio. On her return, she exhibited in Leinster Hall, Molesworth Street, with contemporaries such as Beatrice Elvery, Eva Hamilton, and Grace Gifford. Her work was also included in joint exhibitions with other artists at Mills Hall (1919, with Mary Duncan) and the Arlington Gallery, London (1935, with Louise Jacobs). She also exhibited at her Great Brunswick Street studio in December 1926.

Solomons illustrated Padraic Colum's The Road Round Ireland (1926) and DL Kelleher's The Glamour of Dublin in 1928. Originally published after the devastation of the 1916 Rising, the later edition features eight views of familiar locations in the city centre, including Merchant's Arch and King's Inns. Her etching 'A Georgian Doorway' was included in Katherine MacCormack's Leabhar Ultuin in 1920. This publication featured illustrations by several prominent Irish artists and was sold in aid of the new children's hospital, St Ultan's in Charlemont Street, Dublin, that had been founded by two prominent members of Cumann na mBan, Dr Kathleen Lynn and Madeleine ffrench-Mullen.

She painted landscapes and portraits, including those of artist Jack Yeats, politician Arthur Griffiths, poet Austin Clarke, and writers James Stephens and George Russell (AE). Her parents opposed the relationship as O'Sullivan was not of the Jewish faith. They married in 1925, when she was 43 and he 46, after her parents had died. She collaborated with her husband on The Dublin Magazine (1923–1958), the renowned literary and art journal, of which O'Sullivan was editor for 35 years. Solomons provided vital financial support to the magazine, particularly in sourcing advertising, which was difficult in the tough economic climate of the new Free State. She was helped in this endeavour by poet and writer Kathleen Goodfellow, a lifelong friend. They were taught first aid, drilling and signalling by Phyllis Ryan. Solomons was active before and during the Irish War of Independence. She concealed ammunition in the family vegetable garden before delivering it to a Sinn Féin agent.

Later life and death Solomons took up a teaching position at Bolton Street, Dublin. In 1939, she organised an exhibition in Dublin to help refugee artists from Europe. Two plaques have subsequently been erected there, one in memory of Solomons and one for Goodfellow.

Archive Works of Estella Solomons are held in the Niland Collection, at The Model gallery in Sligo and in the National Gallery of Ireland. Her archives, which include artwork and photographs (and prints by Louise Jacobs), and the archives of the Dublin Magazine are in the Library of Trinity College Dublin.