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Seán Keating PRHA HRA HRSA (1889-1977)
Study of Four Men, in discussion
Charcoal and chalk, 56 x 76cm (22 x 30”)
Signed
Although this series of distinctive drawings (Lots 18-21) by Seán Keating pres-
ent a range of characters, they are not commissioned portraits. Rather, they are
non-commissioned studies, purpose-made for exhibition, in which the features of
his models are deeply observed, then excavated with charcoal, in order to reveal
their highly individual characteristics. The drawings are typical of the artist’s late
style, from the 1960s onwards, for which he used charcoal on paper highlighted
with white gouache.
Keating exhibited in the inaugural exhibition of the Ritchie Hendriks Gallery, 3
St. Stephen’s Green, Dublin in 1956, and had a commercially successful one-per-
son exhibition with the gallery in December of that year. Owing to the popu-
larity of his work, the gallery kept a stock of Keating’s drawings, and although
he didn’t have another formal exhibition with them, the work was available to
anyone wishing to purchase it. In 1969 the space became known as the David
Hendriks Gallery, and according to the labels on the reverse of each, it was after
at that point that these four examples of Keating’s work were framed. Keating’s
arrangement with the Hendriks Gallery as it was invariably known ceased in 1974.
In the meantime, the artist began to exhibit with the Kenny Gallery in Galway in
1968, and they too kept a stock of his work until the artist died in 1977. Keating’s
late non-commissioned portrait studies proved hugely popular among the buying
public, but unfortunately the artist didn’t record his titles onto the actual drawings.
So, although the labels indicate where the drawings were framed, it is not possible
to ascertain whether they were purchased from the David Hendriks Gallery, or
from the Kenny Gallery. However, titles such as
The Toast
, and
Study for Quarrel,
given in exhibition catalogues for Keating’s exhibitions with the Kenny Gallery
between 1968 and 1973, and which could easily apply to two of the four examples
illustrated, certainly offer a flavour of the themes on the artist’s mind during those
years.
Dr Éimear O’Connor, Research Associate
TRIARC Irish Art Research Centre
Trinity College Dublin
February 2015
€4,000 - 6,000