SELF PORTRAIT AT THE HACIENDA, circa 1947-1950
Seán Keating PPRHA HRA HRSA (1889-1977)Seán Keating inherited the knowledge and craft of self-portraiture from William Orpen, his teacher at the Metropolitan School of Art in Dublin from 1911 to 19141. For the duration of his professi...Read more
Seán Keating inherited the knowledge and craft of self-portraiture from William Orpen, his teacher at the Metropolitan School of Art in Dublin from 1911 to 19141. For the duration of his professional career, Keating’s artistic fascination with his changing face occupied him on a consistent and regular basis2. In order to undertake a self-portrait, he habitually used a mirror, which may go some way to explain the steadiness of his rather serious gaze in the present painting.
Self Portrait at the Hacienda is typical of Keating’s oeuvre, although the setting is unexpected and somewhat distinctive. The building in the sunny background seems typical of a Spanish hacienda3. Surprisingly perhaps, the location is likely to be North Africa. In late 1947 and again in 1948, Keating sailed with Irish Shipping Ltd on board The Hazel, in order to broaden his artistic horizons4. Irish Shipping Ltd was set up in 1941 to ensure that Ireland could import and export essential goods during World War II and, as such, the vessels did not carry passengers5. Keating was given a temporary job; that of ‘purser’ for the duration of both journeys, as legally he had to have something ‘official’ to do. While on board he made good use of his time, undertaking many sketches and drawings of the crew, the ship and the varied and colourful landscape while travelling around the coast of Spain and towards Tunisia in North Africa. Many of his drawings were made on old maritime maps, an early and very useful form of recycling. The journey to North Africa was undertaken by The Hazel in order to collect shipments of phosphate stone from Sfax in Tunisia that were brought back to Ireland and used in the manufacture of much needed fertiliser. Self Portrait at the Hacienda is most likely to have been based on sketches gathered on these journeys around the coast of Spain and North Africa, given that there may not have been enough room on board ship for large pieces of hardboard6.
The self-portrait on reverse apparently illustrates Keating in practice, in front of the mirror deciding whether or not to wear his trilby hat and what to do with his dark cravat. As for his rather unusual clothing, if comparison is made with a calendar Keating painted for Irish Shipping in 1947 illustrating the crew working on deck, it seems that he may have portrayed himself in the ‘on board’ uniform of the company7. In most other self-portraits Keating wears his ubiquitous dark Aran jumper and blue báinín cap, so it is manifest in this double sided painting that the visual message is unmistakably quite different. In the main image, having decided to wear his hat, Keating has situated himself in front of a red tiled building common to Spain and her territories in North Africa.
He adds further to the significance of the image through the visually interesting addition of a Spanish Majolica jug from which he takes either wine or water. Keating was adept at painting allegories and parables8; therefore, the significance of the water or wine may be multi-layered, alluding to religion, the heat of the North African landscape and the benefit of the sunshine on the grape harvest9. But further, Keating also seems to stand as the proud explorer of places further east, posed in slight shadow, trilby hat and unusual uniform, with his back to the sunshine, an artistic paragon to Irish industry and travel, the rather large cigarillo in his right hand adding a slight touch of wittiness to the occasion. The sunlit hacienda and blue sky stand in contrast to Keating’s self image. He appears as though posed inside, perhaps at a window, giving some credibility to the notion that the painting was made using previously collected sketches, in the studio on his return home.
Prior to travelling with Irish Shipping, Keating often included Spanish references and allusions in many of his paintings such as Don Quixote , Irish Romanesque and Aran Fisherman and his Wife. But there is another little known connection between Keating and the Spanish mainland. His wife May spent a number of her early school years in Spain. She returned to Ireland in 1916 with fluent Spanish and a love of her adopted country. We could therefore conceivably consider Self Portrait at the Hacienda as an artistic acknowledgement of May’s early life, and a proud moment for Keating, given that he too managed to see Spain and indeed further afield through the auspices of Irish Shipping Ltd.
Furthermore we can also consider the work as an illustration of Keating’s love of machinery, modernity and travel. During the late 1920s he portrayed the machinery and modernity of the electrification of the Irish Free State, otherwise known as the Shannon Scheme, and he travelled to New York in 1939 to take part in the World Trade Fair10. In the 1950s he travelled to Geneva to install a large, commissioned mural in the International Labour Offices. He frequently travelled around Ireland in order to install his work to a satisfactory level. Moreover, given that Keating portrayed the people of the Aran Islands and the west of Ireland with consistency throughout his career, it is not inconceivable to suggest that he is, whether wittingly or not, visually referencing historical, political and religious affiliations with Spain.
1 In 1915 Orpen portrayed Keating as the Man from the West (Limerick City Gallery), a brooding image that seems to reflect the mood of the First World War, and again the same year in The Holy Well (NGI).
2 It is interesting to note too, that Keating used his own image in most of his religious work, as Christ in his three sets of Stations of the Cross, and variously as a saint or onlooker in other works.
3 The hacienda is common to Spain, Central and Southern America and areas of North Africa.
4Keating travelled with Irish Shipping on two occasions, 1947-48 and again in 1952 on board The Hazel.
5 The first ship purchased by Irish Shipping Ltd was a Greek vessel which was, interestingly, given the setting of this painting, abandoned in Spain after being grounded in heavy storms. She was captained from Spain by a Captain Moran, and with a full cargo of grain, she left for Dublin on 1 October 1941. On arrival in Dublin, the ship was renamed The Irish Poplar. From that point, many newly commissioned ships were called after Irish trees (eg. The Larch, The Oak, The Spruce and The Hazel).
6 Keating made sketches that he would frequently reuse; hence, many of his models appeared not to age. He used a sketch of Sfax in Algeria for the landscape in his painting The Scapular Vision (1949), Gort Muire Conference Centre, Ballinteer, Dublin. Furthermore in 1950 he exhibited a painting titled The Long Voyage Home, Captain Clarke on the ‘Hazel’ at the RHA, priced at £75.00. This is most likely the painting that was exhibited in ‘Seán Keating PRHA, 1889-1977’ at the RHA in Dublin in 1989, titled for the exhibition as Captain Clarke ISL 1948, oil on board, catalogue no. 73. The use of board would suggest a similar date range for Self Portrait at the Hacienda. Keating also made a calendar for Irish Shipping which was based on the sketches made on his journey.
7 This is not a conclusive point, and it may also be that Keating has portrayed himself in typical Mediterranean wear.
8 It is useful to consider, with regard to allegories and parables, An Allegory (NGI) and Night’s Candles are Burnt Out (Oldham Municipal Gallery). John Dowling, art critic with Ireland Today, considered Keating’s Slan Leat a Athair, shown in the RHA in 1943 to be a “parable in paint”.
9 Indeed it may be that the owner of the hacienda possessed vineyards, tobacco plants or even a winery.
10 It was at the World Trade Fair in 1939 that Keating won the IBM international award for his painting, Race of the Gael (NGI). Furthermore, he also installed a large mural on the theme of Irish Life in the Irish Pavilion at the Trade Fair, which was shamrock shaped and designed by Michael Scott.
Eimear O’Connor, January 2005
Postgraduate Researcher
Presently engaged in writing a thesis on Seán Keating titled
Seán Keating, A New Perspective. University College Dublin.
- Auction Details
- T&Cs
- Bidding
Clause 1
(a) Each lot is put up subject to any reserve price imposed by the vendor
(b) Subject to sub-clause (a) of this clause, the highest bidder for each lot shall be the purchaser thereof
(c) If any dispute arises as to the highest bidder the auctioneer shall have absolute discretion to determine the dispute and may put up again and re-sell the lot in respect of which the dispute arises.
Clause 2
(a) The bidding and advances shall be regulated by and at the absolute discretion of the auctioneer and he shall have the right to refuse any bid or bids. NOTE: Where an agent bids, even on behalf of a disclosed client, the auctioneer nevertheless has the right at his discretion to refuse any such bid.
(b) The purchaser of each lot shall immediately on its sale, if required by the auctioneer, give him the name and address of the purchaser and pay to the auctioneer at his discretion the whole or part of the purchase money. If the purchaser of any lot fails to comply with any such requirement the auctioneer may put up again and re-sell the lot; if upon such re-sale a lower price is obtained than was obtained on the first sale the purchaser in default on the first sale shall make good the difference in price and expenses of re-sale which shall become a debt due from him.
(c) Where an agent purchases on behalf of an undisclosed client such agent shall be personally liable for payment of the purchase money to the auctioneer and for safe delivery of the lot to the said client.
Clause 3
(a) The auctioneer reserves the rights to bid on behalf of clients including vendors, but shall not be liable for errors or omissions in executing instructions to bid.
(b) The auctioneer reserves the rights, before or during a sale, to group together lots belonging to the same vendor, to split up and to withdraw any lot or lots at the auctioneer's absolute discretion and without giving any reason in any case.
(c) The auctioneer acts as agent only, and therefore shall not be liable for any default of the purchaser or vendor.
Clause 4
(a) Each lot shall be at the purchaser's risk from the fall of the hammer and shall be paid for in full before delivery and taken away at his expense within one day of the sale. The buyer will be responsible for all removal, storage and insurance charges in respect of any lot which has not been collected within one day of the date of sale.
(b) If any purchaser fails to pay in full for any lot within 21 days of the date of sale such lot may at any time thereafter at the auctioneer's discretion be put up for sale by auction again or sold privately; if upon such re-sale a lower price is obtained than was obtained on the first sale the purchaser in default on the first sale shall make good the difference in price and the expenses of re-sale which shall become debt due from him.
(c) Interest at 2 per cent per month and legal costs (if any) for recovery of monies due shall be payable by the purchaser on any overdue account.
Clause 5
(a) Each buyer, by making a bid, acknowledges that he has satisfied himself as to the physical condition, age and catalogue description of each lot (including but not restricted to whether the lot is damaged or has been repaired or restored).
(b) All lots are sold with all faults and imperfections and errors of description and the Auctioneer and its employees, servants or agents shall not be responsible for any error of description or for the condition or authenticity of any lot, save for Clause 5 (c) below. Written or verbal condition reports may be supplied by the Auctioneer on request but these are merely statements of opinion, and any error or omission in these reports may not be taken as grounds for a cancellation of sale or refund of any part of the purchase price or the cost of any repairs to the lot or lots reported on
(c) A purchaser shall be at liberty to reject any lot if he - (i) gives the auctioneer written notice of intention to question the genuineness of the lot within seven days from the date of sale; AND (ii) proves that the lot is a deliberate forgery and (iii) returns to the auctioneer within 20 days from the date of sale the lot in the same condition as it was at the time of sale; provided that the auctioneer may, at his discretion, on receiving a request in writing from the purchaser, extend for a reasonable period the time for return of the lot to enable it to be submitted to expertisation. NOTE: The onus of proving a lot to be a deliberate forgery is on the purchaser.
(d) Where a lot has been submitted to expertisation, all costs of such expertisation shall be paid by the person who retains the certificate of expertisation and item or items to which the certificate relates.
(e) Where the purchaser of a lot discharges the onus and acts in accordance with sub-clause (b) of this clause, the auctioneer shall rescind the sale and repay to the purchaser the purchase money paid by him in respect of the lot.
(f) No lot shall be rejected if, subsequent to the sale, it has been marked by an expert committee or treated by any other process unless the auctioneer's permission to subject the lot to such treatment has first been obtained in writing.
(g) Any lot listed as a "collection, range, portfolio etc." or stated to comprise or contain a collection or range of items which are not described shall be put up for sale not subject to rejection and shall be taken by the purchaser with all (if any) faults, lack of genuineness and errors of description and numbers of items in the lot, and the purchaser shall have no right to reject the lot; except that, notwithstanding the foregoing provisions of this sub-clause, where before a sale a person intending to bid at the sale gives notice in writing to, and satisfies the auctioneer that any such lot contains any item or items undescribed in the sale catalogue and that person specifically describes that item or those items in that notice, then that item or those items shall, as between the auctioneer and that person, to be taken to form part of the description of the lot.
Clause 6
The respective rights and obligations of the parties shall be governed and interpreted by Irish law, and the buyer hereby submits to the exclusive jurisdiction of the Irish Courts.
Special Conditions
a) The buyer shall pay the Auctioneer a commission at the rate of 20% (Art sales) or 24% (Collectibles sales). The Buyer's Premium is added to the hammer price of all lots and is subject to VAT at the prevailing rate.
(b) The Auctioneer or its employees, servants or agents may, on request organise packing and shipping of lots purchased or may order on the buyer's behalf third parties to pack or ship purchases. Under no circumstances does the Auctioneer accept any liability whatsoever for any loss or damage howsoever occasioned in the course of such service.
(c) The buyer authorises the Auctioneer to use any photographs or illustrations of any lot purchased for any or all purposes as the Auctioneer may require. The placing of a bid will be taken as full agreement to all the above conditions.
WHYTE AND SONS AUCTIONEERS LIMITED, 2022
We hold two types of auction - TIMED and LIVE SALEROOM
1. TIMED AUCTIONS
WHAT IS A TIMED AUCTION?Timed auctions do not have an auctioneer calling the bids – there’s just a bidding time frame and whoever bids highest during the time frame wins. Each lot can be bid on for a defined time period. At the end of this period, the bidder who has submitted the highest bid wins the lot, provided the bid exceeds the reserve price. You tell us the most you’re willing to pay – and we’ll bid intelligently for you, only bidding enough for you to meet the reserve or stay in the lead. Don’t worry, your maximum bid is not disclosed, and is held in confidence on our bidding system.
WHEN ONLINE BIDDING STARTS - YOU CAN LEAVE BIDS online and your bid will start at one step above the previous bid or at the start price if no other bid. You will be notified by email if you get outbid before the auction starts.
ONCE THE AUCTION BEGINS TO FINISH, ON THE DATE AND TIME SPECIFIED, THE EMAIL NOTIFICATIONS CEASE and you should follow the auction on-line to see how your bids are doing. Make sure you have logged in if you wish to bid.
WHEN THE AUCTION BEGINS TO FINISH ON THE DATE AND TIME SPECIFIED,THE BIDDING FOR EACH LOT REMAINS OPEN FOR 45 SECONDS at a start price determined by the reserve or bids already received. Each lot will be open and remain open for bidding until its end time is reached; the end time will be extended by 45 seconds if another bid is received. At the end time, if there are no further bids and the highest bid received equals or exceeds the reserve price the lot is sold to highest bidder.
The Buyers Premium for Art sales is 20% plus VAT ( 24.6% gross). The Buyers Premium for Collectibles sales is 24% plus VAT (29.52% gross). The Buyers Premium will be added to your winning bid amount. Your invoice will detail all the payment, collection and shipping particulars.
2. LIVE SALEROOM AUCTION:
If you can't attend the auction in the saleroom you can email or post or telephone bids to us, or you can book a telephone line to bid during the sale. Contact us on +353 16762888 or bids@whytes.ie
To bid on-line at a Live Saleroom Auction:
• Log in or register bid.whytes.ie
• Visit the online auction catalogue
• Find the lot number you are interested in.
· The current highest bid will be displayed
• The minimum bid required to beat the highest bid will also be shown.
· You can place your bid. The screen will show the new highest bid and will indicate if that bid is yours. Note: if a previous bidder has left a bid that equals yours the previous bidder will win the lot unless you outbid them. If the screen doesn’t confirm that your bid is winning you will need to bid again if you wish to buy the lot. Don’t worry -the system will not allow you to bid against yourself.
• The live auction will begin at the announced date and time and will be sold in lot number order by the auctioneer.
• Invoices will be issued to successful bidders on the next working day after the sale has ended.
BIDDING STEPS:
Up to €300 x€10
Up to €700 x €20
Up to €1,300 x €50
Up to €3,000 x €100
Up to €7,000 x €200
Up to €13,000 x €500
Up to €30,000 x €1,000
Up to €40,000 x €2,000
Up to €70,000 x €2,000
Up to €130,000 x €5,000
Up to €500,000 x €10,000
A FEW TIPS FOR ABSENTEE BIDDERS:
Bid the maximum price you would pay for the lot; we will try and secure the lot for you at the lowest possible price. For instance if you bid €2,000 on a lot and the highest other bid we receive is €1,200 you get it for €1,250. Most people tend to bid in round numbers, e.g. €500. It’s often a good idea to bid an odd number, e.g. €520, or €540 which will outbid an even number. Check the results the day after the sale: these are published on our website www.whytes.ie at about 10am on the day after the sale. Successful bidders are also notified of results by mail.
TIE BIDS: if two or more equal bids are received the lot will be sold to the first received.
The Buyers Premium for Art sales is 20% plus VAT ( 24.6% gross). The Buyers Premium for Collectibles sales is 24% plus VAT (29.52% gross). The Buyers Premium will be added to your winning bid amount. Your invoice will detail all the payment, collection and shipping particulars.