We might be wondering, when will we get to travel the mesmerizing world again. During the weekend, we always have more spare time in hand to spend in reading and to leave our imagination about the future, here is a short article on the "Painted House" by Irish artist Bryan O'Doherty.
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Located in the heart of Todi and therefore in the midst of greenery and the beautiful villages typical of the Umbria region (Italy), the artist's house is a nineteenth-century house purchased by the artist together with his wife - university professor and art critic Barbara Novak - in 1975. Since then the couple has chosen this place to spend their holidays and enjoy their free time, surrounded by nature and greenery. But because creativity never stops, during his holidays the artist began painting the house, transforming it into an extraordinary work of art, now known as the "Casa dipinta" (Painted House).
A truly worldwide unicum, that overtime has become a museum structure that can be visited by citizens. The house is located not far from Piazza del Popolo, going down Via di Santa Prassede, at the crossroads with Via Delle Mura Antiche, inside there is the splendid game of alleys and glimpses offered by the picturesque city of Todi. The building, developed on three floors, was completely painted inside with all the walls frescoed with works by the artist and with the reproduction of the ancient Ogham alphabet, used in Ireland until the seventh century. A place, therefore, not only "physical", where the love of the O'Doherty couple and their passion for Todi and for art has found its maximum expression.
Patrick Ireland (best known with the pseudonym Bryan O'doherty) has transformed the small and simple home into a work of art, using a language that he was perfecting in those years, that is the reproduction of three words that summed up all his artistic thoughts: "One, Here, Now". Using that sign language that reproduced the Roman alphabet with 15 consonants and 5 vowels. In addition to the painted walls, there are also three installations that the artist has placed in the living room and in the bedroom: the installation itself is a rather unusual work of art because it is normally created and positioned by the artist in a museum or in an art gallery until the end of an exhibition and then dismantled. Patrick Ireland has created a total of 116 installations that have been set up in the most important modern art museums in the world and only a few of them are still visible: in New York, Los Angeles, Washington, Dublin and, now, in Todi.