Micheal Farrell, Irish, 1940-2000
Title: Self-Portrait, La Rûche, Paris
Date: 1976/77
Medium: Oil on board
Signed: on verso: Michael Farrell/ 1976/77
Credit Line: Purchased, 2017
Object Number: NGI.2017.52
DescriptionLa Rûche was the artists' cooperative in Montparnasse Paris where Farrell worked for a lenghtly period. Originally designed as a temporary structure by Gustave Eiffel for the 1900 Great Exposition, the building was dismantled and re-erected by Alfred Boucher. Providing accommodation and studio space for low rents, shared models and exhibition space, the premises became a centre of artistic activity. Among the artistic luminaries attracted to it were Brancusi, Chagall, Delaunay, Léger, Modigliani and Rivera. The premises fell into disrepair after the Second World War, but was saved thanks to the intercession of such figures as Jean-Paul Sartre and Alexander Calder, and re-opened in 1971. Farrell worked there from 1971 to 1985.
ProvenancePurchased, De Vere's, Irish Art Auction, 21 November 2017, lot 73