How Promotion of Resident Irish Artists Created the Genius of a Sculptor: A Study of the life and works of Sir Thomas Farrell

Lauren Thomas
Trinity College Dublin
Department of History of Art and Architecture
2019
BA

Subject: Sculpture
Country: Ireland
Period: 19th Century

10,000 words

The nineteenth-century experienced real improvements in the status of the arts in Ireland. In the world of sculpture, the demand for the promotion of Irish resident artist was especially debated following Sir John Henry Foley’s acceptance of the commission of the O’ Connell monument in the 1860s. Over the latter half of the nineteenth century, a rise in nationalism also saw a greater demand for Irish resident artists. The focus of this thesis, Sir Thomas Farrell (1829-1900), is remembered today as a classical sculptor of the nineteenth-century, whose works of portraiture exist as landmarks of Ireland’s capital, dotting the streets of Dublin from Glasnevin to Rathdown. Born into a workshop of Catholic sculptors, Farrell was soon noted for his talents, attended the Royal Modelling School and quickly gained commissions that occupied his long working life.

Irish Georgian Society

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How Promotion of Resident Irish Artists Created the Genius of a Sculptor: A Study of the life and works of Sir Thomas Farrell