It was not the hottest ticket this week, but possibly it was the quietest - and it was unique. Only a handful of guests were invited to step into the Francis Bacon studio at the Hugh Lane Gallery this week. The artist's studio with all its contents at 7 Reece Mews in London, which was given as a gift to the gallery two years ago, is currently being put together to go on permanent exhibition there from May 2001. It will shortly be sealed, and the public will view the interior through peep-holes. Guests, donning hard hats, were taken in small groups right inside the little box-room to view the densely coloured space and feel the artist's presence.
Writer Deirdre Purcell was there. "It's just the shell (now) but it's quite extraordinary. I wish I had it on my own for a while to access the vibes, the aura." Margarita Cappock, the project's manager at the gallery, says it's a chance to "witness at first hand the seemingly chaotic nature of Bacon's studio". Seamus Brennan TD, chairman of the National Millennium Committee, which has given £300,000 towards the project, was there. John Fitzgerald, the Dublin City manager, who has been instrumental in bringing the studio to Dublin, was also present. Eithne Healy, another National Millennium Committee member, is looking forward to seeing the studio with all the bits and pieces in. There will be brushes, jam-jars, rags, easels . . .
Joe Barry, former director general of RTE, and Bob Collins, current director general of RTE, stop to salute each other on their way to and from the studio. It's like the changing of the guard.