• Skip to main content
  • Skip to secondary menu
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer
Irish America

Irish America

        • Who We Are
          • About Us
          • Irish America Team
        • The Lists
          • Business 100
          • Hall of Fame
          • Health and Life Sciences 50
          • Wall Street 50
        • Highlights
          • History
          • In This Issue
          • Music
          • Politics
          • Sports
          • Travel
        • Columns
          • First Word
          • Hibernia
          • Quote Unquote
          • Slainte
          • Those we Lost
          • What are you like?
          • Wild Irish Women
          • Window on The Past
  • Home
  • Who We Are
    • About This Magazine
    • Irish America Team
  • In This Issue
  • Hall of Fame
  • The Lists
    • Business 100
    • Hall of Fame
    • Health and Life Sciences 50
    • Wall Street 50
  • Archives
    • Magazine
    • Highlights
  • Travel
  • Events

Bono Portrait Unveiled

By Irish America Staff
December / January 2004

December 1, 2003 by Leave a Comment

U2 frontman Bono.

Bono looked admiringly at the soft white portrait painted by one of today’s greatest Irish painters, Louis le Brocquy, an artist whom Bono has admired since he was 13, at an unveiling at the National Gallery of Ireland in Dublin. The U2 frontman described le Brocquy as “one of the grandmasters of European painting.” The portrait, entitled Image of Bono, is the fifth in a series of commissions for the National Portrait Collection, which already includes pictures of Mary and Nicholas Robinson, Ronnie Delaney, Gay Byrne and TK Whitaker.

Bono said the painting looked “like a head full of ideas — an exploding head.” He also joked about the picture, and in typical self-deprecating fashion, announced, “I look like I am hungover.” In keeping with le Brocquy’s method, Bono did not sit for the painter but instead le Brocquy worked on the painting from photographs of the star.

An admirer of Bono, le Brocquy said, “In the past, I have painted an extensive series of interiorized head images of artists such as Samuel Beckett, Francis Bacon, WB Yeats and Seamus Heaney whom I see as extraordinary instances of human consciousness. In more recent years, I have made a number of similar studies of Bono, whose spirit and whose radiant energy I admire so much.”

Spectators have noticed that Bono’s trademark sunglasses are missing from the piece. In response to the omission, Bono responded that it left him “unable to be insincere. All my props are gone.” ♦

Reader Interactions

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Primary Sidebar

Highlights

News
Articles and stories from Irish America.....
MORE

Hibernia
News from Ireland and happenings in Irish America.....
MORE

Those We Lost
Remembering some of the great Irish Americans who have passed.....
MORE

Slainte!
Discover Irish ancestry, predilections, and recipes.....
MORE

Photo Album
Irish America readers share the stories of their ancestors....
MORE

More Articles

  • Niall O'Dowd with Loretta Brennan Glucksman (center), co-chair of the Glucksman Ireland House at NYU, and Niall's wife Debbie McGoldrick, the Editor of the Irish Voice at the Friendly Sons of St. Patrick dinner on March 16. Photo courtesy John Sanderson/AnnieWatt.comHow the Irish Famine Changed American History
    Niall O'Dowd, Irish America's publisher, was the guest of honor at the Friendly Sons of St. Patrick...
  • <b>Moores Creek Bridge: A small battle with huge implications</b>Moores Creek Bridge: A small battle with huge implications
    Small bands of Patriots and Loyalists who fought with fierce devotion were formed during the early ...
  • <b>Mick Moloney Remembered at Irish Arts Center</b>Mick Moloney Remembered at Irish Arts Center
    Mick Moloney, a legend in the history of Irish music, who passed away suddenly on July 30, 2022, wil...
  • <b>Meet the man who will lead the 2023 NYC St. Patrick’s Day Parade</b>Meet the man who will lead the 2023 NYC St. Patrick’s Day Parade
    Kevin J. Conway, the grand marshal of the 2023 New York City St. Patrick’s Day parade is the gre...

Footer

Follow Us

  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • LinkedIn
  • Twitter
  • YouTube

Subscribe

  • Subscribe
  • Give a Gift
  • Newsletter
  • Customer Service

Additional

  • Advertise
  • Contact
  • Terms of Use & Privacy Policy

Copyright © 2023 · IrishAmerica Child Theme on Genesis Framework · WordPress · Log in