‘Sean Keating in Focus’
Last Saturday a friend and I went to see the ‘Sean Keating in Focus’ exhibition in the Hunt Museum, Limerick. This is an exhibition of the work of Limerick born artist, Sean Keating.
The exhibition contained 33 paintings from a number of galleries and private collections, giving a good representation of his work. It is housed downstairs in one room in the Hunt. At the beginning, we had the place to ourselves. The man on duty offered to give us a quick tour. We took up his offer and he told us various interesting anecdotes.
Born in 1889, Keating attended school in Limerick, though it appears badly. As he later himself said ‘I was always drawing and scribbling.’ His mother seemed to understand him and sent him to the Technical School in Limerick for drawing. (This was later to become today’s Limerick School of Art and Design). At the age of 22 he won a scholarship to the Dublin Metropolitan School of Art, (now the National College of Art and Design), where he came under the influence of William Orpen, the leading Irish painter.
Keating was a prolific painter. Over his long life he was awarded many commissions, exhibited widely and won prestigious competitions. His major bodies of work include paintings of early troubled Ireland, paintings from the Aran islands, portraits, murals and religious works. He also taught at the Dublin Metropolitan School of Art.
At the age of 37, in 1926 he painted a series of pictures illustrating the development of the hydro-electric scheme on the river Shannon. This series of twenty-six drawings and paintings, showed the progress of the work until its completion in 1929. Four of these paintings were included in the exhibition. What I was interested in was the fact that Keating apparently lived with the workmen on the building site at Ardnacrusha. Our John had done his Leaving Cert history project on this very subject, so I had learned a little more from John on the building of this hydro-electric power station!
Interestingly Keating included various family members as subjects in paintings, without identifying them as family though.
Keating is reputed to have said ‘he could never shake the dust of Limerick from his shoes’. However at almost 60, he was awarded an Honorary Freeman of the City of Limerick. Photographs/memorabilia from this ceremony were included in the exhibition. Later he didn’t win many friends in Limerick when on national television, he described the Limerick of his youth as ‘a medieval dung heap’.
Close to how the late Frank McCourt described his Limerick!
Lest anyone gets very insulted with how he felt about Limerick, Keating apparently later grew to hate both Dublin, where he lived most of his adult life, and the Aran Islands, where he had spent much time painting.
The elderly Keating described Dublin as a ’sordid run down battered old hag, of a place …’ The elderly Keating refused to get off the boat, on a trip to the Aran Islands with his son, hating how commercialised the islands had become.
The elderly Keating sounds like he may have been a slightly difficult character!
The guide told us that Orpen had actually come as an inspector to the Limerick school where he spotted Keating’s work. My friend, an Art teacher, is a graduate of this same school, though many years later! Maybe she was unlucky that Orpen hadn’t come to the school when she was a student …
One thing he pointed out to us was to notice how well Keating painted hands. This was indeed true.
Particular paintings I really liked at the exhibition were:
The long voyage home
Night Candle’s are Burnt Out
The Reconciliation
Keating completed his training in Dublin by winning the RDS Taylor Award for this painting of his three siblings. He was awarded a £50 prize. When the exhibition was over, he gave the painting to his mother. (Three mice, please note!)
There was an amusing hand-written note from Orpen which said, ‘My dear Keating = good for you. I’ve just heard the Taylor news and am delighted = go on working like a black and keep the health good = I’ll be over next Wednesday and we’ll have a drink.’
I liked his good-humoured note!
The Artist’s Wife in an Interior
This is a painting of his wife May Walshe from Eadestown, Co. Kildare, (very near where I am from). They had two children Michael and Justin (later a Labour Minister and MEP). Towards the end of his life, Keating said, “I never loved any woman but one woman and I couldn’t live without her’.
Denis will be glad to know that in a recent report in the Irish Times, the only significant GAA-themed painting in State ownership, is actually The Tipperary Hurler, painted by Keating though this painting was not included in this exhibition.
Sean Keating, who died in 1977, was truly a gifted artist
All in all a very interesting exhibition and well worth a visit. It will close in early October. More information can be found here, here, and here.
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The only Sean Keating I know was my grandnephew. Thanks for the history and Art lessons!
thanks for the review – been meaning to get down to that all summer, will try and get my act together now!
he did sound like a grumpy old man, even as a young fella… I’m not a fan but I find him fascinating. I’ve been reading about Mainie Jellett who went head-to-head with him for years, battling over what ‘Irish art’ should look like – I don’t think Keating was a pluralist
Grannymar, lessons over, out to play!
Helen, welcome to the blog. Yes this exhibition is definitely worth going to. I like your line, ‘he did sound like a grumpy old man, even as a young fella’. When you say ‘I’m not a fan’, do you not like his painting? I do. I really admire his work but I don’t think I would have liked the man.
Very interesting L! Your writing must have been influenced by that very beautiful, well-informed and highly intelligent art teacher friend of yours.
Ber,
Yes it’s me! Sorry for the delay in answering L, but I was hiding behind my high-backed computer chair. I need to put on my dark glasses as disguise. (Note to self: learn how to insert smiley with dark glasses). Yesterday’s very witty message was my first visit, through the Comments door, into the blogosphere. Today I feel a little exposed because I’m wearing my old pajamas and ancient slippers. I feel a bit like one of those elderly women who felt they should tidy the room before turning on the brand new television set and allowing that nice handsome man, Charles Mitchell, who reads the news (inside in the set) see them in presentable surroundings. I’m afraid someone will click on my name and I’ll be transported to foggy blogland ala star trek and will be destined to be badly dressed forever. Must put on my trekky pjs…
Or should I have changed into virtual clothes or at least given my face “a rub of the puff” as my dear mother would say (she was 90 on Thurs by the way) Back to Sean Keating, re his Ardnacrusha paintings. My mother told me the other day about how she remembers her own mother standing at the front door of their house when she got home from work with an excited look on her face. Then as a great surprise she switched on the new electric bulb. So it was goodbye to the oil lamp in the kitchen and eventually to the candles in the bedrooms. Goodbye too it seemed to the cozy atmosphere created by the warm, naked, natural flames and a stilted “how do you do” to the cold light glaring from the glass bulb hanging from a wire in the centre of the ceiling. Must learn to put link in to further stories from my mother before I turn into Alice Taylor. Sean Keating: another frien inherited one of his paintings. I must ask her if I can put a photo of it into this blog. Must go now L. Am I being rude by not talking to Helen and Grannymar on this page? This is fun!
Hi Lily,
I saw the great Sean Keating exhibition last night at the Hunt. I had the added advantage of a very informative and interesting guided tour. One painting that grabbed my attention was called ‘On The Run War Of Independence’ .
Ber, just going to reply to Peter’s comment and realise I hadn’t replied to yours! Will give you a shout.
Peter, liked that painting too. You went for Culture night? I think it would be great if Culture night was done more often. Because things are open at night, it sometimes makes them more accessible.
I live in Limerick and my art class went to that exhibition one day
Despite the fact that if I do aspire for a career in art I would like to draw manga, I still do of course recognise Keating’s talent.
Hi Lily,
Congrats on your stamina and stick at it policy.I will now try your highly rated salads.It was great to share your trip to Boston.Delighted to here John has taken up the rowing.James enjoyed same for many years.He used get up at 6 for training.What style of camera did you get?
Daniel came right on the dot of the appointment!!Absolutely gorgeous guy and unashamedly told me he was a nerd as he has no interest in sport!!.I am delighted as he cleaned up my computer and sorted me out on the web site.He is not available and the task is too big for 1 person.I would agree as it is a big job.However he is going to tweek a few more bits for me in December.He is not overly expensive either.James is in the jungle in Costa RICA as we speak.All I know is he arrived safely.
.We opened a new branch in Killarney,a foolish move in these times but we had signed off a few years ago.This is keeping me busy at the mo.
Talk soon,
Anne
Aaron, welcome to the blog. I think your comment sums up art appreciation, – appreciating other talent, even if very different to one’s own.
By the way, mine is nil!
Anne, glad to see you up and running again! As I say ’stamina and stick at it’ can just = stubbornness! Got what Patrick told me!
a Panasonic DMC-ZS3, a small digital, easy to use. Talk soon when you get free.