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There I was, returning to the car park in the Botanical Gardens when something caught my eye beneath a distant tree. On a closer look it was a sculpture of two people linking arms. But it was something more. There was a flow to it and a sense of the ethereal.
Who were these very contented people? Two women clearly completely at ease in each other's company.
There was no indication of who they were, or what they might represent, or who the sculptor was. I googled around and found that while they had clearly appealed to more than myself and there were many photos on the internet, nobody knew anything about them.
Then, lo and behold, I came across my old online friend, Grannymar. She had sleuthed and come up not only with the title of the piece, Best Night Ever, but she identified the sculptor as Bob Quinn.
As she put it herself:
This wonderful piece has rather haunted me for quite a long time. At home in the Irish National Botanic Gardens, Dublin, it has no indication as to the artist. Eventually after months of searching and many visits through differing seasons I have finally discovered the secret.
It is indeed a haunting piece, full of movement and mystery.
I must ask the two contented ladies for their backstory next time I visit the Botanical Gardens.
Pól how lovely to hear from you and via one of my favourite Dublin sculpture posts. I have been missing in action (health issues) but slowly coming to terms with living on a different rung of the ladder! One of these days I hope to get back to blogging. I hope you are keeping well. GM.
ReplyDeleteLike Grannymar I was beginning to have a bout of the haunts so I decided to leave a message on Bob Quinn's website, complimenting him on the piece and wondering about the backstory.
ReplyDeleteMuch to my surprise an email from Bob popped up in my inbox giving me some of the background to this lovely work.
I checked with Bob that he was happy for me to reproduce it in a comment so here it is:
There is a long story behind that piece, but in short it is two women, you don't know what problems they might have in there lives. Marital, health, loss. But for these few hours these two friends are having the best night ever.
And the title? My wife when young would stay with her female cousins after the local dance on their neighbouring farm in Co Offaly. The next morning old uncle Peter would, without fail, ask "And did ye have the best night ever"?
Thank you Bob.