Vincent Browne (sculptor)
Vincent Browne (1947 – 5 August 2026) was an Irish sculptor.
Life and career
Browne was born in Dublin, Ireland in 1947. He studied at the National College of Art and Design[1] and at the Jan Van Eyck Academy in the Netherlands. In 1987, Browne represented Ireland in Budapest at the 7th International Small Sculpture Show.[2] He created a well-loved Dublin landmark, Mr. Screen, the squat bronze usher who stood outside the Screen Cinema at the junction of Hawkins Street and Townsend Street in Dublin for many years.[3] Mr. Screen was made from two immersion water heaters and was relocated to the Savoy Cinema after the closure of the Screen.[1][4] His public commissions also include Anti-War Memorial (Limerick, 1987) and the bronze Palm Tree seat in Temple Bar, Dublin.[2]
In 2005, Browne was commissioned to create a sculpture for the exterior of the Blanchardstown Civic Offices called The Tree of Lifes, which was constructed in bronze with hand-welded leaves representing a DNA double helix, symbolising growth and the environment of the county's civic centre.[5][6]
Browne died on 5 August 2026, at the age of 78.[7]
Legacy
Browne's public artworks, particularly Mr. Screen and the Anti-War Memorial, continue to be cited in Irish arts commentary and independent public art records as lasting contributions to Ireland's public sculpture landscape. Mr. Screen, a caricature statue of a cinema usher, is catalogued in independent public art listings as a notable Dublin landmark. Browne's Anti-War Memorial in Limerick, which symbolises conflicting sides of war, continues to be featured in cultural guides to public art in Ireland.[8] Commentators have discussed the memorial's creation and significance in the urban context of Limerick's George's Quay.[9]
Notable works
Gallery
Mr. Screen statue outside the Screen Cinema
Cinema usher statue by Vincent Browne.jpg)
Temple Bar palm tree
References
- 1 2 "Vincent Browne / Artists Stories". 16 January 2013. Retrieved 11 August 2020 – via Vimeo.
- 1 2 3 "Vincent Browne". Aosdána. Retrieved 11 August 2020.
- ↑ Mr. Screen in Google Street View. Retrieved: 2012-01-10.
- ↑ "Mr Screen is alive and well and living on the Northside". The Journal. Retrieved 20 November 2024.
- ↑ "Tree of Life by Vincent Browne". Retrieved 10 February 2026.
- 1 2 "Vincent Browne, Tree of Life". Fingal County Council. Retrieved 11 August 2020.
- ↑ Tributes paid to sculptor who created ‘iconic and remarkable’ statues around Ireland
- ↑ "Anti-War Memorial". Atlas Obscura. Retrieved 11 February 2026.
- ↑ Comerford, Patrick. "Limerick's 'Anti-War Memorial' shows the victor and the victim". Retrieved 11 February 2026.
- ↑ "Hiroshima/ Nagasaki Memorial Sculpture". Geograph Ireland. Retrieved 3 May 2024.