Dorothy Walker (critic)


Dorothy Walker was an Irish art critic and a vocal champion of abstract modernism in Ireland.

Life and career

Born Dorothy Cole in Dublin in 1929 to the owner of a fruit and vegetable business, living in Mountjoy Square, Dublin, and educated in the Dominican Convent Wicklow and École du Louvre in Paris she was a co-founder of the occasion modern art exhibition Rosc and a board member and even an interim director of the Irish Museum of Modern Art. She was married to architect Robin Walker with whom she had five children. After her death the museum held an exhibition in her honour, featuring work by artists, such as Patrick Scott and Sean Scully who she particularly favoured. Her books include a rare but much admired discussion of contemporary Irish art.