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Lot 44
Seán Keating PRHA, HRA, HRSA
AN ALLEGORY
Estimate: €70,000 - €80,000
Result: Not Sold
Seán Keating PRHA, HRA, HRSA, 1889 - 1977 Read Artist Bio

Seán Keating PRHA, HRA, HRSA, 1889 - 1977

Seán Keating's oil painting ‘An Allegory’ addresses the divisive nature of the Irish Civil War and has come to be regarded as one of the most important works in the career of an artist, clearly recognised as one of Ireland's most important painters of the 20th century.

‘An Allegory’ depicts the various facets of life in the New Irish Free State and central to the painting is a mother and her baby, wrapped in white for innocence and purity. This figure is Seán Keating’s wife, May, seated in the guise of ‘Mother Ireland’, with a baby in her arms. Keating portrays himself at her side, weary of the destruction of the Civil War, following the struggle for independence, in what is probably Keating’s best known political work. Now in the National Gallery of Ireland, this painting was first exhibited at the annual exhibition of the Royal Hibernian Academy in Dublin in 1925.

The work now on offer with Dolan’s Art Auction House was painted in the 1920’s and is a study for ‘An Allegory’ and this work has not been seen in public for decades.

May’s presence in the painting, writes Dr Eimear O’Connor, is “essential to Keating’s allegorical messages about family in post-Civil War Ireland . . . the entire narrative, allegorical and obvious, revolves around the family vignette of Keating, May and the baby . . . a call for peace and stability in post-Civil War Ireland . . . the 1922-23 Civil War had taught Keating a lesson that violence was not the way forward.”

In her 2013 volume on Seán Keating, Dr Eimear O’Connor asserts that “An Allegory, painted in 1923 and first exhibited in 1925, was meant as a socio-political assessment of the pointlessness of the Irish Civil War, in which Keating’s heroic self-portrait, constructed initially by Sir William Orpen, now lay disillusioned and worn out beneath the branches of an ancient tree . . . for the rest of his working life, Keating found heroes among the ordinary men and women of Ireland and he never created another image that might be seen to support violence.”

Born in Limerick, Seán Keating studied drawing at Limerick Technical School and won a scholarship in 1911 to the Dublin Metropolitan School of Art, where he studied under Sir William Orpen. In 1914 he won the Taylor scholarship and in 1919, Keating was elected an Associate RHA and a full member in 1923. In 1919 he also began to teach at the Dublin Metropolitan School of Art. In 1934, he was appointed Professor of the National College of Art in Dublin and later held the position of President of the Royal Hibernian Academy from 1948 until 1962. He was represented at the Royal Academy in London in1924, continuing to exhibit there for thirty years and represented Ireland at the New York World’s Fair in 1939. At home, Keating exhibited in the important exhibitions of his day, including the Victor Waddington Gallery in Dublin, the Hendriks Gallery, the Oireachtas etc. In 1963, a retrospective exhibition was held at the Municipal Gallery of Modern Art, which was opened by President De Valera.

As an artist and a teacher, Keating always took a firm stand on the side of traditional painting and was outspoken in his rejection of the modern movement. Keating was a superb draughtsman, capable of important work, often in pastel & charcoal, striking and distinctive work, presenting powerful characters, with strong facial expressions & gestures, testament to his style and genius, in thought-provoking work.

Much of Seán Keating's work is associated with the period of the foundation of the State, and ‘An Allegory’ is widely regarded as one of the most important works, by one the most significant Irish artists of the 20th century.
AN ALLEGORY
Watercolour & Charcoal 20"x26" (51x66cm) Signed & Dated 1926 “Every now and again, a rare painting comes up for auction, and so it is this week. The piece in question is a 1920’s watercolour & charcoal by Seán Keating, a study for his famous painting, An Allegory, which is in the collection of the National Gallery of Ireland.” Sylvia Thompson, The Irish Times, 17 Aug ‘24

Seán Keating's oil painting ‘An Allegory’ addresses the divisive nature of the Irish Civil War and has come to be regarded as one of the most important works in the career of an artist, clearly recognised as one of Ireland's most important painters of the 20th century.
‘An Allegory’ depicts the various facets of life in the New Irish Free State and central to the painting is a mother and her baby, wrapped in white for innocence and purity. This figure is Seán Keating’s wife, May, seated in the guise of Mother Ireland, with a baby in her arms. Keating portrays himself at her side, weary of the destruction of the Civil War, following the struggle for independence, in what is probably Keating’s best known political work. Now in the National Gallery of Ireland, this painting was first exhibited at the annual exhibition of the Royal Hibernian Academy in Dublin in 1925.
The work now on offer with Dolan’s Art Auction House was painted in the 1920’s and is a study for ‘An Allegory’ and this work has not been seen in public for decades.
May’s presence in the painting, writes Dr Eimear O’Connor, is “essential to Keating’s allegorical messages about family in post-Civil War Ireland . . . the entire narrative, allegorical and obvious, revolves around the family vignette of Keating, May and the baby . . . a call for peace and stability in post-Civil War Ireland . . . the 1922-23 Civil War had taught Keating a lesson that violence was not the way forward.”
In her 2013 volume on Seán Keating, Dr Eimear O’Connor asserts that “An Allegory, painted in 1923 and first exhibited in 1925, was meant as a socio-political assessment of the pointlessness of the Irish Civil War, in which Keating’s heroic self-portrait, constructed initially by Orpen, now lay disillusioned and worn out beneath the branches of an ancient tree . . . for the rest of his working life, Keating found heroes among the ordinary men and women of Ireland and he never created another image that might be seen to support violence.”
Born in Limerick, Seán Keating studied drawing at Limerick Technical School and won a scholarship in 1911 to the Dublin Metropolitan School of Art, where he studied under Sir William Orpen. In 1914 he won the Taylor scholarship and Keating was elected an Associate RHA in 1919 and a full member in 1923. In 1919 he also began to teach at the Dublin Metropolitan School of Art. In 1934, he was appointed Professor of the National College of Art in Dublin and later held the position of President of the Royal Hibernian Academy from 1948 until 1962.
He was represented at the Royal Academy in London in1924, continuing to exhibit there for thirty years and represented Ireland at the New York World’s Fair in 1939. At home, Keating exhibited in the important exhibitions of his day, including the Victor Waddington Gallery in Dublin, the Hendriks Gallery, the Oireachtas etc. In 1963, a retrospective exhibition was held at the Municipal Gallery of Modern Art, opened by President De Valera.
As an artist and a teacher, Keating always took a firm stand on the side of traditional painting and was outspoken in his rejection of the modern movement. Keating was a superb draughtsman, capable of important work, often in pastel & charcoal, striking and distinctive work, presenting powerful characters, with strong facial expressions & gestures, testament to his style and genius, in thought-provoking work.
Much of Seán Keating's work is associated with the period of the foundation of the State, and ‘An Allegory’ is widely regarded as one of the most important works, by one the most significant Irish artists of the 20th century.
Estimate: €70,000 - €80,000 *This lot is being sold on
behalf of the Dolan Family.
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