Banjo-plucking Cowen is a real oil painting

Banjo-plucking Cowen is a real oil painting An unexpected depiction of Taoiseach Brian Cowen performing Lakes of Pontchartrain was displayed on Dublin's Dawson Street yesterday. The unflattering caricature depicts Mr Cowen with spiked hair and a banjo. The was done by Irish artist Tom Byrne. "I was inspired to paint this depiction after Cowen's now infamous rendition of the Lakes of Pontchartrain at the Galway think-in," he said.

The , which forms part of the artists one man show in the Apollo Gallery, Dawson Street, was on sale for ?50. It is the latest in a series of satirical depictions of Mr Cowen. Symphony by the Sea opens its 30th anniversary season with “The Triumph of the Spirit,” works by Beethoven, Borodin and Vieuxtemps. Stephanie Chase, one of the world’s finest violinists, will be the featured soloist at Abbot Hall in Marblehead, and at Governor’s Academy in Byfield, Sunday, Oct. 3, 3 p.m.

A pre-concert talk by Conductor Donald Palma will take place 45 minutes before each concert. Chase is in demand as soloist with eminent orchestras that have included the New York Philharmonic, Chicago Symphony, San Francisco Symphony, Minnesota Orchestra, London Philharmonic, Atlanta Symphony and London Symphony Orchestra. Her latest appearance at Carnegie Hall was in May 2008 as soloist in Tchaikovsky’s Violin Concerto.

Chase is lineally descended (10th generation) from Aquila Chase, a Massachusetts Bay colonist who arrived from England in 1639 and settled first in Hampton, N.H. and then Newbury. The founder of one of New England’s most illustrious family lineages, Aquila’s descendents include jurists, founders of colleges, bishops, senators and a Supreme Court Chief Justice, Salmon Portland Chase (for whom Chase Bank is named).