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  • Posts Tagged ‘Sean Keating’

    IMPORTANT IRISH ART SALES AT ADAMS AND DE VERES

    Sunday, March 17th, 2024
    The Rebuilding of Monte Cassino (1951) by Patrick Hennessy at Adams

    In Dublin viewings get underway on March 22 for upcoming sales of important Irish art at both James Adam and de Veres.  The sale at James Adam on March 27 features some of Ireland’s best loved artists with estimates of from €500 to over €60,000 for The Bog by Paul Henry (€60,000-€80,000).A number of paintings by Patrick Hennessy and Harry Roberston Craig from the collection of Pamela and George Fegan, a Dublin couple who were friends of both artists and bought directly from them, will feature. The catalogue cover lot is a 1951 painting by Patrick Hennessy, The Rebuilding of Monte Cassino, located about 130 kilometres south east of Rome and site of a major Second World War battle in 1944.  This work, which has not been on the market before, is estimated at €10,000-€15,000.

    Eliza Doolittle in Dublin by Sean Keating (€50,000-€70,000) is the most expensively estimated lot at de Veres sale on March 26.  Based on Pygmalion by George Bernard Shaw the 1965 work depicts a daffodil seller against a background of Georgian buildings and thunderous clouds. Sean Keating, along with many others, was vociferous in his condemnation of the destruction of Georgian Dublin which got underway in the 1950’s. Among the other highlights at de Veres are John B Vallely’s Heading for the Final Sprint with a pack of cyclists in full flight and  Letitia Hamilton’s Wind Blown Tree, Killary. There is a collection of works on paper by Mainie Jellett.  All catalogues are online now.

    Eliza Doolittle in Dublin by Sean Keating at de Veres.

    SOME GREAT RESULTS FROM WHYTE’S IRISH ART SALE

    Monday, December 4th, 2023
    SIR JOHN LAVERY RA RSA RHA (1856-1941) – SWITZERLAND [HAZEL AND ALICE], 1913 SOLD FOR €230,000 AT HAMMER

    Switzerland, Hazel and Alice by Sir John Lavery made a hammer price of €230,000 over a top estimate of €220,000 at Whyte’s sale of Important Irish Art in Dublin this evening. Dooega, Achill Island, Co. Mayo by Paul Henry made €155,000 on the hammer. London Hospital, 1914 by Lavery made €64,000, The Goose Girl by Sean Keating made €62,000 over a top estimate of €35,000, On the Beach by Gerard Dillon made €34,000 over a top estimate of €30,000, Abstract Composition c1929 by Mainie Jellett made €27,000 over a top estimate of €15,000, The Desert Charge by Aloyosius O’Kelly made €16,000 at hammer over a top estimate of €15,000, a 19th century Irish school painting of The Ruins of the Royal Arcade, Dublin made €12,000 over a top estimate of €8,000, Wicklow Mountains by Peter Collis made €7,000 over a top estimate of €5,000, Coming Home by Mark O’Neill made €8,500 over a top estimate of €8,000, The Club by Graham Knuttel made €9,000 over a top estimate of €7,000, Aquainted with Grief by Leo Whelan made €4,600 over a top estimate of €2,000 and Tonight we Dance by William Conor made €5,200 over a top estimate of €2,000.

    SEÁN KEATING PRHA HRA HRSA (1889-1977) – THE GOOSE GIRL, 1917 made €62,000 at hammer.

    ART SALE BY FONSIE MEALY NOW ON VIEW IN CASTLECOMER

    Monday, November 14th, 2022
    Sean Keating (1889-1977)  – Man and Woman collecting Seaweed, Aran Islands. UPDATE: THIS MADE 30,000 AT HAMMER

    Viewing begins in Castlecomer today for Fonsie Mealy’s Important Irish and International art sale on November 16. There are 417 lots on offer including works by Jack B Yeats, Sean Keating, Michael O Nuallain, William Sadler, Augustus Burke, Maurice MacGonigal, Evie Hone, John Shinnors, Pauline Bewick and John Behan. The catalogue is online.

    (See posts on antiquesandartireland.com for November 6 and October 25, 2022)

    IRISH FREEDOM STRUGGLE AND CIVIL WAR AT NATIONAL GALLERY SHOWS

    Monday, August 15th, 2022
    Seán Keating – An Allegory, 1924. © Estate of Seán Keating, IVARO Dublin, 2022. Photo © National Gallery of Ireland

    The divisive nature of the Irish Civil War is addressed in this 1924 painting, An Allegory by Sean Keating. The prevailing sense of disquiet and uncertainty is a reflection of Ireland in the wake of the war which raged on this island exactly a century ago. Among the characters featured are the artist, his wife and child.  A new display which opens at the National Gallery on August 20  comprises nine works by Keating and one by William Orpen.  Art on display includes Men of the West, On the Run – War of Independence and Homo Sapiens: An Allegory of Democracy. A number of portraits of nationalist figures such as Erskine Childers, John Devoy and Terence MacSwiney will be on display alongside William Orpen’s monumental painting The Holy Well in which Keating is the central subject.

    This is one of three displays marking the conclusion of the Decade of Centenaries at the National Gallery.  Hughie O’Donoghue Original Sins now on show addresses memory, history and questions of identity. In September an exhibition by Estella Solomons will feature portraits of leading revolutionary and cultural figures of that time.

    KEATING PORTAIT AT DOLAN’S TIMED ONLINE SALE

    Thursday, May 6th, 2021

    This Man of Aran is a self portrait by the artist Sean Keating (1889-1978). The stained glass artist Harry Clarke introduced Sean Keating to the Aran Islands in 1912. They had met at the Dublin Metropolitan School of Art the previous year and became firm friends. In the years leading up to Ireland’s Treaty of Independence the Aran Islands became the place of Keating’s artistic and political identity. As early as 1915 Keating began to portray himself on the islands, wearing typical island clothing. This charcoal drawing is a study for a painting, possibly I Fein (Me Myself) exhibited at the RHA in 1924. It comes up as Lot 98 at Dolan’s timed online auction of 360 lots of art and antiques with an estimate of 9,000-12,000. The auction runs to the evening of May 10. UPDATE: THIS SOLD FOR 9,000 AT HAMMER

    IMPORTANT IRISH ART AT JAMES ADAM

    Friday, June 7th, 2019

    Viewing gets underway in Dublin today for the auction of Important Irish Art at James Adam on June 12 at 6 pm. Prime lots include Homeward Bound by Sean Keating (60,000-80,000), Cottages in a Landscape by Paul Henry (60,000-80,000), Low Water, Spring Tide, Clifden by Jack B. Yeats (40,000-60,000) and Cuchulainn VIII, 1999, an Aubusson tapestry by Louis le Brocquy (30,000-50,000). The selection is broad and the catalogue is online.

    Seán Keating PRHA (1889-1977)
    Homeward Bound UPDATE: THIS MADE 76,000 AT HAMMER

    PORTRAIT OF MEXICAN ACTRESS MOVITA AT ADAMS

    Saturday, March 16th, 2019

    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.

    Movita by Sean Keating UPDATE: THIS SOLD FOR 1,000 AT HAMMER

    DOLAN’S SUMMER ART AND ANTIQUES AUCTION IN CONNEMARA

    Friday, July 27th, 2018

    Sean Keating HRA, HRSA (1899-1977) Fear agus ban on Oilean.  UPDATE: THIS WAS UNSOLD

    The catalogue cover lot for Dolan’s two day sale in Ballyconneely, Connemara on Bank Holiday Monday August 6 and on the following day is a cheerful pastel and charcoal portrait by Sean Keating (1889-1977),  Fear agus bean an Oilean is estimated at 25,000-30,000.  Born in Limerick Sean Keating  studied under Sir William Orpen.  He won the Taylor Scholarship in 1914 and went to visit the Aran Islands with Harry Clarke.  This was a turning point in his career and the islands and their inhabitants became the subject of many of his works.  He exhibited at the Royal Academy and the Royal Hibernian Academy and represented Ireland at the New York World Fair of 1939.

    Dolans art and antique auction is to be a marquee sale in Ballyconneely.  Viewing there gets underway at noon on July 29 and continues until the start of the sale at 12.30 pm on August 7.

    A RANGE OF WORK AT DOLANS BANK HOLIDAY SALE IN CONNEMARA

    Saturday, August 5th, 2017
    With work from artists as diverse as Sean Keating and John Shinnors, sculpture by John Behan as well antique furniture, collectibles and fashion, Dolan’s main summer sale at Balyconneely village in Connemara on Bank Holiday Monday and on Tuesday, is of interest to a wide range of collectors.
    Viewing is now underway for this auction of 550 lots to be spread over two days.   Along with Keating and Shinnors there is art by George Russell, Donald Teskey, Charles Harrper, Patrick Hennessy, Sir William Orpen, Mark O’Neill, Cecil Maguire and Norah McGuinness.
    Among the more contemporary art are paintings by Sean McSweeney, Henry Morgan and Carina Scott.  The sale includes work by Kenneth Webb, who is 90 this year and whose view of The Fish Market, Roundstone, was the top lot at Fonsie Mealy’s sale last week. It made 15,000 at hammer.  There is work by Arthur Maderson, George Campbell, Gerard Dillon, Arthur Armstrong and Robert Egginton.
    Lot 112, The 12 Bens from Inishnee, is by Sian Maguire whose work art features alongside that of her father Cecil. There is a collection of Connemara paintings by Rosemary Carr and a flower study by Philippe Grisel (1930-1998).

    A long case clock with brass dial and a French tortoiseshell and pewter mantle clock will be included as well as some 19th century Irish silver. Outdoor pieces include a pair of garden lions, a griffin, a pair of ornamental cannon and a ships anchor.  There are designer handbags by Chanel, Cartier, Fendi and Dior and a Rolex watch in its original case. Here is a small selection:

    A 19th century inlaid French mantle clock

    Na Fir on Oilean by Sean Keating (1889-1977)  UPDATE: THIS MADE 17,000

    Child in interior by John Shinnors UPDATE: THIS MADE 21,500

    A RECORD FOR SEAN KEATING AT MEALY’S

    Wednesday, December 7th, 2016

    Sean Keating (1889-1977) - Portrait of an Aran woman and her children.

    Sean Keating (1889-1977) – Portrait of an Aran woman and her children.

    There was a record for a work by Sean Keating at Mealy’s today.  His  c1946 Portrait of an Aran Woman and Her Children has just sold for a hammer price of 130,000 at Mealy’s sale in Castlecomer. This large scale work – 49″ x 58″ – has not been seen in public since the 1940’s and was not on the open market before. According to the art historian Dr. Eimear O’Connor this is no ordinary Aran scene. The models are Sean Keating’s wife, May (née Walshe) (1895-1965), and the couple’s two sons, Justin (1930-2009) in the centre, and Michael (1927-2001), who all sat for him at various intervals throughout 1944. The cat, whose name is now lost to time, was a family pet. Keating’s plan was to exhibit the painting with the RHA, the Oireachtas, or with Victor Waddington that year. However, in spite of his good intentions, he put the canvas to one side and did not get back to complete it until 1946.

    Their eldest son, Michael, pictured in a youthful day dream, was to become a highly respected civil and mechanical engineer, while Justin, also deep in thought, qualified as a vet, and went on to become a politician of note.  The work had been estimated at 40,000-50,000.  The top price for a Keating was 190,000 and there has not been a six figure sum paid for a Keating since 2008.

    (See post on antiquesandartireland.com for December 1, 2016)