Artist, born in Belfast, Northern Ireland, of whom the Irish Times art critic Ivan Fallon wrote: “Noreen Rice is an original, and her fantasy world is her own and no one else’s.” She entered the Methodist College, 1947–50, and won two first prizes in art, her teacher Frederick Allen. Her piano teacher, Tom Davidson, expanded her cultural interests, introducing her to the artists George Campbell, who taught her, 1951, and Gerard Dillon, and she became closely associated with them from 1957 until their deaths. Rice travelled widely, living in Hong Kong, 1954–7; London, 1957–67; Paris, 1967–71; London, 1971–3; Ireland, 1973–90; London, 1990–9; and then Ireland again, settling in Newbliss, County Monaghan. After her return from the Far East, Rice worked nights for the BBC, giving her daylight in which to paint.
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With her brother she took a flat in Dillon’s house, where the artist Arthur Armstrong also lived, an environment prompting experiment with materials. Rice had in 1956 had a solo show with the British Council in Hong Kong, and on her return to Europe became a prolific exhibitor. From 1958, she showed with the Irish Exhibition of Living Art, Dublin and Belfast, and in 1961 with the New Vision Centre, London. From 1962, Rice exhibited with An tOireachtas, from 1965 with the RHA, both in Dublin. She exhibited in group exhibitions with David Hendriks Gallery, Dublin, from 1959, and Tom Caldwell Gallery, Belfast, from 1971, and from 1963 she had a series of solo shows with Hendriks, with one at Caldwell, 1971. Other solo exhibitions included several at Queen’s University, from 1959 and The Otter and The Cavehill Galleries, from 1988, all in Belfast. Rice’s work is in many public, corporate and private collections, including National Self-Portrait Collection, Limerick; Northern Ireland Arts Council; Arts Council of the Republic of Ireland; Ulster Museum, Belfast; and the Tyrone Guthrie Centre, County Monaghan, where she held residencies from 1985.
Text source: 'Artists in Britain Since 1945' by David Buckman (Art Dictionaries Ltd, part of Sansom & Company)
