An Irish Idyll is a departure from Purser's usual portraits of aristocrats, writers and political figures. This work shifts that foucs to an ordinary rural mother with her child in her lap. As per the title, the work focuses on a fleeting yet comfortable moment of rest from rural life.

The subjects of this work are extended the same attention to detail that Purser's other portraits had become famous for. Her use of light and shadow unveil the contrasting inner emotions of the two figures. While the child expresses a comfortable disposition, the mother is visibly saddened about what lies ahead after the brief idyll. The work exemplifies the movement of Purser's works; portraying lives beyond the painting as well as within it.

Abstract (1922) is remarkable mot only for its artistic expression, but also for its place in Irish Art History. While other European audiences had mostly embraced abstract concepts, works of this kind were truly shocking to Irish audiences.

This work was one of four pure abstracts exhibited in 1923 and was met with resistance at a time when Jack Yeat's expressionism was considered daring. The lack of tangibly identifiable subjects was immediately written off as merely eccentric. These attitudes did not soften until the 1930s.

The work exemplifies Jellett's favour of form, colour and movement over realism. These principles would also play a significant role in the artistic freedom seen in her works in nude and still life areas.

This work is an example of Kyle taking an ordinary or even unremarkable scene and injecting life into it through colours and pattern. It was painted from the viewpoint of the Oremeau Embankment in South Belfast, and looks over the River Lagan towards Belfast Gasworks on a still day.

The Lifting of the Fog is typical of Kyle's 'emphatically decorative' style, achieved through broad areas of pale colour offset by heavily outlined details. This has the effect of depicting manmade urban constructions as equally wild and characteristic as the natural landscapes surrounding them.

Kyle's usual motif of reflections in water is also present in this work, and as usual mirrors other elements but retains its own characteristics.

This portrait of Henry Joy McCracken is one of Harrison's well-known works. It is unclear exactly what inspired her to portray the United Irishman, but it was a likely a combination of his significance in Irish-Nationalist History and the fact that he was her great grand-uncle.

McCracken was a cotton factory manager turned co-founder of the Society of United Irishmen in Belfast in 1791. As supreme commander in Antrim, he led a nationalist rebellion in 1798 which ultimately failed. He was promptly tried and executed by hanging in Belfast.

Harrison used a miniature of McCracken originally in the possession of his sister Mary Ann as a reference for the portrait. In the work, she portrays an almost folkloric figure with emotional depth.

While some of her most famous works are portraits of individuals, Strindbergian is an example of how Clarke applied her skills in this area to melodramatic religious scenes. Not much is known of the inspiration or intention behind the work, but the scene appears to depict the Passion of Christ with a focus on the grief-stricken crowd. Despite the number of figures shown in the painting, Clarke is detailed in her depiction of each individual expression.

As the title suggests, the work also adopts writer and painter August Strindberg's sense of surrealism through modern clothing and the placement of Judas' handing body in the foreground. This differs from Clarke's early works as it favours a surreal version of reality over accuracy.

Ruin at Ardmore is an excellent example of Hone's later paintings, which combined the elements of her former purely abstract works and her then ongoing practices with stained glass. The work is less concerned with accurately detailing the chosen landscape, but rather with mapping out the natural form of the scene and adding in details retrospectively. There are also identifiable stained glass elements here, particularly in the definitive sections of distinct and vibrant colours.

While there is no church in Ardmore, Co. Waterford resembling the one represented in this work, it has been concluded that Hone was more interested in portraying what the site might have looked like before it became ruins rather than an accurate depiction.

The Bus Queue is an example of Maccabe's works that can be viewed as a precursor of sorts to her later work depicting crowds within the context of 'the Troubles'. The artist came across the depicted scene on a wet evening in Montmartre, Paris and became interested in painting it due to the prevalence of umbrellas that provided an exciting geometrical element but also conveyed a shielded air to the crowd.

The work is typical of Maccabe's style at this time, with the background colour being thickly applied with a large brush before finely outlining the details of the figures. She also stated that the work was unusual for her in that its gloomy focus is primarily achieved through unusual lighting and street reflections.

McGuiness' abilities are best exemplified in Village by the Sea. Based on the village of Dunmore East, Co. Waterford on the south coast of Ireland, McGuiness transforms the landscape and instils it with a sense of whimsy and curiosity. Upon viewing this work, one will find that the artist's skills as an illustrator are present in every detail from the colour of the sky to the sharp dips of the cliffs.

This work also exemplifies McGuiness' appreciation for cubism which she never committed to fully, but described as a powerful editing tool for her works. By 'moulding and sacrificing' elements of the landscape, McGuiness immerses the viewer within her emotional interpretation of a scene rather than its 'true' form.

Boyle based The Potato Washers, Connemara off of drawings she made while exploring the 'Gaeltacht'; meaning rural areas of Ireland, particularly around the west, where Irish Gaelic is still the dominant language. The work was inspired by cultural contrasts Boyle came across in this region, wherein men were 'camouflaged' against the Stony landscapes by tweed clothing and the women indoors were made conspicuous by bright clothing as they engaged in manual labour.

Describing the work in a 1976 letter to the Ulster Museum, Boyle stated that she depicted angular movements within a linear design in an effort to emphasise the 'harsh dignity' of the two women who were washing and preparing the potatoes.

Light Falls Within was one of a series of Graham's works in the '70s and early '80s that centred on the motif of the striped skirt. The work displays an astonishing amount of skill with light and shadow, shown through the outside, inside and within the folds of the skirt's material.

When shown at the Hugh Lane Gallery in 1978, the work drew light criticism for not showing the head of the figure. It is a testament to Graham's skill, however, that she is able to display character simply through the positioning of the subject's body. The artist stated that she wants her work to 'challenge and seduce' the viewer; a goal which is undoubtedly achieved through the intrigue surrounding the painting's subject.

Duffy's father worked as a mechanical engineer for Harland & Wolff, the Belfast shipbuilding firm who brought 'Titanic' to life. The ship infamously sank to the bottom of the North Atlantic after hitting an iceberg on 14th April 1912. Having heard this story form her father throughout her childhood, Titanic and the iceberg came to represent lost potential, damaged national pride and collective trauma in Duffy's life and art.

This painting is an excellent example of how Duffy used this motif in her post-conflict art. Her deliberate use of colour here banishes the grand ship to the shadows of the beaming light from the iceberg; effectively portraying the traumatic remnants of civil conflict after the signing of the Good Friday Agreement.