Patrick Farrell sells beauty, and many are buying. How has he become the state’s most successful painter? Feature Article by Debra Brehmer for Milwaukee Magazine, August 2006
It’s a small painting of two pears and an apple, just 9-by-13 inches. Patrick Farrell has recently finished it for an exhibition at Grace Chosy Gallery in Madison. In the painting, the pears and apple are poised on a ledge against a dark background. Though it looks like a simple composition, when you think about it, there are infinite ways these three pieces of fruit might be arranged. Farrell has leaned the pear into the apple and aligned their stems on a diagonal. The second pear rests on its side, not touching the other fruit. A tattered leaf follows the diagonal of the stems into the dark background. Juicy red currants are scattered on the ledge, drawing the eye around the painting. It's pure poetry, really.
This calculated orchestration of light, color and composition presents to the viewer a seamless, effortless, timeless arrangement, one we do not question because it is so right in every way. With Farrell's paintings, we slide visually into them fully assured that they exist to give comfort, pleasure and warm reassurance that the simple beauty of life can be accessed in the proper contemplation of a pear. We want and need to know that meaning and value reside in simple gestures: light hitting a lemon, the graceful arc of a leaf.
Patrick Farrell is a master of still-life painting, and because of it, he may be the state's most successful painter. Most professional artists teach or have some part-time job, but Farrell is among the few who has made a full-time living solely from his artwork for his entire career. Painting is time-consuming and expensive and requires intense dedication. In an age that values novelty and quick gratification, the slow measure of a painter's trade finds little currency. We have become so accustomed to facsimile that the authentic vision and personal touch of a work of art can seem disquietingly intimate and quite unnecessary.
Farrell's paintings are an exception. He sells just about everything he paints and often struggles to keep up with the demand. With prices ranging from $1,600 for a 4-by-4-inch butterfly to $14,000 for an elaborate composition of fruit in a silver bowl, he appeals even to people who might not normally buy art.
This success is all about illusion. Farrell seems to insist in both his carefully wrought paintings and his painstakingly choreographed career that the vicissitudes of life can be brought into control and harmony for at least long enough to brush against the feeling of infinite perfection. Although Farrell's life has been quite messy, he appears to float benignly above it all, buoyed by the ripe poetry of his compositions. Or at least he makes us think that. He is, after all, a master of illusion.
To some art world professionals, Farrell's paintings are old-fashioned and out-of-date, purely pretty works lacking any edge. Yet his distinctive combination of artistry and personality seems to resonate deeply with a surprisingly diverse group of fans.
"Why do these paintings have a hold on Wisconsin buyers?" asks the painter Thea Kovac. "The luster of china, lush fruit, the allure of rich fabric, the glint of finely wrought metal all carefully placed and blessed by soft halos of light is a turn-on for anyone who leads a less-than-perfect life." (article continues)
People marvel at the fact that Patrick Farrell is entirely self-taught. Ironically, his self-taught status fits perfectly with the historic tradition of American still-life painting. Most of those painters in the late 1700s and 1800s served a middle-class clientele and didn't have the luxury of European art schooling. There were no art academies in America yet, so they learned their craft the same way Farrell did - by studying books and reproductions of the Dutch masters' work and possibly (after some success) taking a trip to Europe.
Marilyn Auer, widow of the late James Auer, longtime art critic for the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel says Farrell was one of the first artists the future critic met, back when Auer was feature editor for the Appleton Post-Crescent. "Jim photographed Patrick at a summer art fair run by the Appleton Gallery of Art when Patrick was still a teenager," says Marilyn. "Jim was rather taken with his work He realized how young Patrick was and already working on a career."
The artist and critic developed a lifelong friendship. Marilyn recalls attending one of Farrell's salons in 1973 or'74, shortly after she and James moved to Milwaukee. "We came in the door, and most of the people there were artists, so Jim was swept away and I was left stranded. I went into the room of paintings, found a chair and sat down. Shortly after, Patrick swept into the room, knelt down beside me and said, 'I'm sorry, I've left you to wander alone.' He took my elbow and introduced me to everyone. I will never forget that. That's Patrick"
James Auer died in December 2004. Last December, perhaps to commemorate his death, Marilyn bought a painting from Farrell's solo show at Tory Folliard Gallery. "What did I like about that particular painting?" Marilyn asks in response to my question. 'At first it was just a gut reaction, but then I began to realize why: It was a simple apple with a red blush on its shoulder, three leaves, one wilted, sitting on a light surface, and then it gets dark as it goes back It's relatively simple but has a wide gilt frame that is rich but almost rustic. The frame serves the painting incredibly well; the combination of the simplicity and richness is crucial to Patrick's work "
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Click here to view Patrick Farrell's paintings.
William Nichols
