Seán Keating
Born in Limerick in 1889, Keating’s mother decided to send him to the Technical School in Limerick to study drawing. He then won a scholarship in 1911 to attend the Dublin Metropolitan School of Art where he studied under William Orpen. In 1914 he won the Taylor scholarship and went to visit the Aran Islands with his friend Harry Clarke. It was a turning point in his career as the islands and their inhabitants were to become the subjects of many of his paintings. In 1915 he succeeded in showing three of his paintings at the RHA and was elected an associate in 1919 and a full member in 1923. In 1919 he also began to teach at the Dublin Metropolitan School of Art. He was represented at the Royal Academy in 1924 and continued to exhibit there for the next thirty years. He represented Ireland at the New York World’s Fair in 1939 with a huge mural while winning first prize at the same fair in an IBM competition from seventy-nine countries. He resigned from the presidency of the RHA in 1962 and the following year a retrospective exhibition was held at the Municipal Gallery of Modern Art, opened by President De Valera. As an artist and a teacher he always took a firm stand on the side of traditional painting and was outspoken in his rejection against the modern movement. Keating died in 1977 in Dublin. His work can be seen in institutions throughout Ireland, including the National Gallery of Ireland and the Ulster Museum.
For further reading see Dr. Eimear O’Connor Sean Keating: Art, Politics and Building the Irish Nation, Irish Academic Press, 2013.
For further reading see Dr. Eimear O’Connor Sean Keating: Art, Politics and Building the Irish Nation, Irish Academic Press, 2013.
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'ARAN BOATMAN'
- Price Realised: €5,700
- Sale: 21 September 2004
- charcoal and pastel on buff-coloured paper
- 38 by 29cm., 15 by 11.5in.
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'KING OF ARAN'
- Price Realised: €5,700
- Sale: 16 September 2003
- charcoal on paper
- 41 by 33cm., 16 by 13in.
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'STUDY OF HANDS'
- Price Realised: €5,000
- Sale: 21 February 2006
- charcoal on paper
- 24 by 36cm., 9.5 by 14.25in.
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'STUDY FOR BRETHREN SO RUN, 1935'
- Price Realised: €4,800
- Sale: 29 September 2008
- gouache, pastel and charcoal on paper
- 61 by 50cm., 24 by 19.7 5in.
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'PORTRAIT OF NOEL PURCELL (ACTOR)'
- Price Realised: €4,700
- Sale: 19 February 2002
- charcoal
- 41 by 30cm., 16 by 12in.
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'PORTRAIT OF DR. JOSEPH CHRISTOPHER WALSH OF CLONMEL (ONLY BROTHER TO MAY KEATING, THE ARTIST'S WIFE), c.1930-32'
- Price Realised: €4,600
- Sale: 31 May 2010
- oil on board
- 97 by 83cm., 38 by 32.5in.
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'SELF PORTRAIT'
- Price Realised: €4,500
- Sale: 16 September 2003
- pastel
- 44 by 38cm., 17.5 by 15in.
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'SELF PORTRAIT'
- Price Realised: €4,400
- Sale: 27 May 2019
- charcoal heightened with white
- 14¾ x 11¾in. (37.47 x 29.85cm)
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'PORTRAIT OF A WOMAN WITH HEADSCARF'
- Price Realised: €4,400
- Sale: 24 February 2014
- chalk pastel on tinted paper
- 19 by 14in., 47.5 by 35cm.
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'HEAD OF AN OLD MAN, c. late 1950s'
- Price Realised: €4,400
- Sale: 27 May 2013
- pastel on buff-coloured paper
- 16 by 11.5in., 40 by 28.75cm.
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'PORTRAIT OF HARRY BROGAN (ACTOR)'
- Price Realised: €4,400
- Sale: 08 May 2002
- pastel and charcoal on buff paper
- 36 by 28cm., 14 by 11in.
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'MOVITA'
- Price Realised: €4,200
- Sale: 18 November 2003
- charcoal and pastel
- 27 by 29cm., 10.5 by 11.5in.
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'GALWAY HOOKER'
- Price Realised: €4,200
- Sale: 16 September 2003
- charcoal on paper
- 38 by 48cm., 15 by 19in.
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'PORTRAIT OF A MAN'
- Price Realised: €4,000
- Sale: 30 April 2007
- pastel on buff-coloured paper
- 43 by 33cm., 17 by 13in.
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'PORTRAIT OF ÉAMON DE VALERA'
- Price Realised: €4,000
- Sale: 18 November 2003
- charcoal drawing heightened with white
- 46 by 36cm., 18 by 14in.
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'GREETING THE PRIEST'
- Price Realised: €3,800
- Sale: 04 March 2019
- pastel
- 19 x 28in. (48.26 x 71.12cm)
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'D¦IL LAND COURT SITTING IN WESTPORT, COUNTY MAYO, 1920'
- Price Realised: €3,800
- Sale: 18 November 2003
- charcoal on paper
- 15 by 41cm., 6 by 16in.
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'MAN OF ARAN'
- Price Realised: €3,600
- Sale: 16 September 2003
- charcoal on paper
- 74 by 51cm., 29 by 20in.
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'THE HELLFIRE CLUB, 1944'
- Price Realised: €3,500
- Sale: 28 November 2022
- oil on canvas board
- 18 x 27in. (45.72 x 68.58cm)
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'PORTRAIT OF A YOUNG GIRL'
- Price Realised: €3,500
- Sale: 18 November 2003
- pastel on tinted paper
- 34 by 25cm., 13.5 by 10in.
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'PORTRAIT OF 'OLD JOE', late 1920s - mid-1930s'
- Price Realised: €3,000
- Sale: 21 May 2012
- charcoal and pencil on paper
- 12 by 12in., 30.48 by 30.48cm.
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'WOMAN'S HEAD'
- Price Realised: €3,000
- Sale: 02 March 2009
- charcoal on paper
- 39 by 30cm., 15.5 by 12in.
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'WOMAN'S HEAD'
- Price Realised: €3,000
- Sale: 26 April 2005
- charcoal on paper
- 39 by 30cm., 15.5 by 12in.
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'THE GENEOLOGIST (PORTRAIT OF MICHAEL P. CRONIN)'
- Price Realised: €2,900
- Sale: 06 March 2023
- pastel
- 16½ x 12¼in. (41.91 x 31.12cm)
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'THE TALLYMAN'S WIFE'
- Price Realised: €2,900
- Sale: 28 September 2020
- pastel
- 20½ x 20in. (52.07 x 50.80cm)
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'PORTRAIT OF PADDY DALY'
- Price Realised: €2,800
- Sale: 02 October 2023
- pastel on paper
- 15¼ x 12in. (38.74 x 30.48cm)
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'STUDY FOR STATION OF THE CROSS [CHRIST BEFORE PILATE, NO. 1] ST. JOHN'S CHURCH, TRALEE, c.1955-1958'
- Price Realised: €2,800
- Sale: 30 May 2011
- pencil and conte on buff coloured paper
- 75 by 50cm., 29.5 by 19.5in.
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'A NICE POINT - PORTRAIT OF A JUDGE'
- Price Realised: €2,800
- Sale: 29 September 2008
- charcoal
- 37 by 25cm., 14.5 by 10in.