Micheal Farrell
, Irish, 1940-2000
Title
Miss O'Murphy: Variation d'apres Boucher. Second Real Irish Political PictureDate1976
MediumMixed media on paper
Dimensions
89 x 99 cm
Signedlower right: Michael Farrell 12-14/7/76
Credit LinePurchased, 2015
Object numberNGI.2015.15
DescriptionThis mixed media work forms part of Michael Farrell's acerbic commentary on the political situation in Northern Ireland in the 1970s. In 1969, while making his acceptance speech for the main award at the 'Irish Exhibition of Living Art' at the Crawford Art Gallery, Farrell condemned the situation in Derry and in particular British policy in Northern Ireland. Throughout the 1970s and into the 1980s Farrell's work in all media addressed the bloody, intractable nature of contemporary Ireland. His 'Madonna Irlanda' series (of which this is a part) drew attention to, and condemned, what he saw as the complacency of the Irish political establishment. He intended these works to be controversial and mildly blasphemous.Inscriptionlower right: 12-14/7/76
Study "Villa Romana" Firenze [sic]
ProvenancePurchased, Taylor Galleries, Dublin, 2015Exhibition HistorySolstice Arts Centre, Navan, Co. Meath, 22 August - 19 October 2013
Crawford Gallery, Cork, 7 November 2013 - 4 January 2014
RHA, Dublin, 16 January - 23 February 2014
Centre Culturel Irlandais, Paris, 13 March - 27 April 2014
New Perspectives. Acquisitions 2011 - 2020, National Gallery of Ireland, Dublin, 11 May - 2 August 2021