Irish artist renowned for portraits of writers was first living painter to have work bought by Irish National Gallery
One of Ireland's most renowned artists, Louis le Brocquy, has died.
The painter, best known for his portraits of great literary figures, friends and fellow artists, died at home in Dublin aged 95. Le Brocquy had been ill for the past year.
Irish president Michael D Higgins and taoiseach Enda Kenny led tributes to the artist.
Higgins described his pioneering style as highly inspirational.
"I lament the loss of a great artist and wonderful human being whose works are amongst this country's most valuable cultural assets and are cherished by us all. Louis leaves to humanity a truly great legacy," he said.
In a mark of his standing le Brocquy was the first artist to have his work acquired by the National Gallery of Ireland during his lifetime - the gallery paid a then record €2.75m (£1.15m) for A Family for its permanent collection.
The taoiseach said he had made a highly significant contribution to Irish life with his wide ranging appeal.
"Louis's art had a very broad appeal and was admired not only across the world but also by people of all ages and will stand as a lasting legacy to his outstanding artistic prowess," Kenny said.
A self-taught artist, le Brocquy was highly skilled in the use of tapestry and was regarded as groundbreaking in many of the paintings he produced.
Born in Dublin in 1916, his work spanned seven decades with most accolades coming for his evocative portrait heads of, among others, WB Yeats, James Joyce and his friends Samuel Beckett, Francis Bacon, Seamus Heaney and Bono.
The series gained much attention outside the art world, with Irish enterprise and investment gurus using a le Brocquy image to promote the country as a place to do business in 2006. IDA Ireland also used one of his images of Bono for a full page ad in the Wall Street Journal.Pat Moylan, chairman of the Arts Council in Ireland, described le Brocquy as one of the most important artists the country has produced.
"The development of le Brocquy's work towards an 'Irish modernism' allowed Irish artists to think beyond the traditional, academic approach which had been dominant in Ireland," he said.
"In this way, contemporary Irish visual artists today owe a great deal to the legacy of le Brocquy."
Rock band U2 added their own tribute to le Brocquy.
"From the moment we met him, our band had a strange intimacy with this giant of the art world - a gentle giant who taught manners to the world around him just by having more of them than anyone else," the group said.
"We were fans but he called us friends, starstruck friends were common in his orbit.
"To so many of us he was the brightest star in the firmament, always there to guide, to encourage, to push you to realise your potential.""We were, we are, eternally grateful for this education."
"Now the painter that took our breath away as teenagers, the same way Bob Dylan or Patti Smith did, is gone from us but the illumination in the work he has left behind will take some pain out of that loss"