Exhibition On Screen: James McNeill Whistler - Arc Cinema Drogheda

Exhibition On Screen brings its documentary on the American-born painter James McNeill Whistler to Arc Cinema Drogheda for two screenings in September, part of the long-running series that puts major gallery exhibitions and artist profiles on cinema screens for audiences who cannot get to the shows in person.

What to expect

Exhibition On Screen is an established strand of feature-length art documentaries, filmed in high definition inside the galleries holding the exhibitions they cover and combining close-up footage of the artworks with expert commentary and biographical material rather than a straight gallery tour. The series has built its reputation over more than a decade of cinema releases covering major painters and their landmark exhibitions, giving audiences well outside the cities hosting the actual shows a way to see the work in detail on a large screen. This instalment covers James McNeill Whistler, the 19th-century painter best known for Whistler’s Mother and his tonal, atmospheric approach to portraiture and landscape, tracing his career and influence through the works and expert voices featured in a major exhibition. At Arc Cinema Drogheda it plays as an event cinema title rather than a daily listing, with a Tuesday evening screening and a Sunday afternoon matinee roughly a week apart, giving two different times to fit around a working week or a weekend outing. The format suits gallery-goers and film audiences alike, running at a similar length to a standard feature and followed by the same relaxed exit as any other film rather than a live broadcast with a fixed satellite window.

Good to know

• Dates and times: Tuesday 15 September at 6:30pm; Sunday 20 September at 2:30pm

• Venue: Arc Cinema Drogheda, Scotch Hall Shopping Centre, Drogheda

• Series: Exhibition On Screen, a recurring strand of feature-length art documentaries shown as event cinema

• Price: ticketed as an event cinema screening; check the booking link for current pricing

• Book: drogheda.arccinema.ie/event/111051

Getting there

Arc Cinema Drogheda is inside Scotch Hall Shopping Centre on the south bank of the Boyne, a short walk from Drogheda town centre and the bus station. Drogheda is on the M1 motorway about 50km north of Dublin, with regular Irish Rail and Bus Eireann services from Dublin on the Dublin-Belfast line taking around 45 minutes, and Drogheda MacBride station is an easy walk from the shopping centre. Scotch Hall has its own multi-storey car park serving the shopping centre and cinema, so both the Tuesday evening and Sunday matinee screenings are easy to reach by car or on foot from the town centre.