This charcoal and pastel portrait of Movita by Sean Keating comes up at the James Adam sale of Important Irish Art in Dublin on March 27. Forever associated with Cobh boxer, actor and tenor Jack Doyle – the Gorgeous Gael – Maria Movita Castenada was a Mexican actress who starred in the Hollywood films Mutiny on the Bounty (1935) and Fort Apache (1948). Movita came to Ireland in the 1940’s as singing partner to Jack Doyle (1913-1978). They married at Westland Row Church in Dublin and their double act drew sell out crowds when they toured this country and Britain. Sean Keating would have known Movita and Doyle as they were fellow habitues of the Wicklow Hotel in Dublin. The couple divorced in 1945 and Movita went on to marry Marlon Brando. She died aged 98 in 2015. The portrait is estimated at 1,200-1,600.
