22
Seán Keating PPRHA HRA HRSA (1889-1977)
Estimate:
€80,000 - €120,000
Sold
€75,000
Live Auction
Important Irish Art
Size
36 by 48in. (91.4 by 121.9cm)
Description
Title: UNLOADING THE TURF BOAT, ARAN
Frame dimensions: 42.5 by 54in. (108 by 137.2cm)
Note: Well-known during his lifetime for his portrayal of the life of the people of Aran, this example by Seán Keating dates stylistically to somewhere between the mid-1950s and mid-1960s. Having met and worked with Robert Flaherty during the filming of Man of Aran in the early 1930s, Keating purchased a cine camera, the footage from which he used, along with his own photographs and sketches, to assist with the composition of paintings to fulfil the ever-increasing demand from his patrons at home and abroad for images of the Aran Islands. Keating's interest in photography derived from his student days at the Dublin Metropolitan School of Art, and it is known that he referred to his own photographs for several major early works including Men of the West (1915-17) and his series of paintings of the Stations of the Cross for Clongowes Wood College (1919-1921).The close-up composition of Unloading the Turf is an art historical device derived from photography, and seen in the work of Degas, for example. It is used to create a more intimate environment for the viewer. As the sun sets, reflected in the calm waters, a two-man currach sets out to sea, perhaps on its way to another of the three Aran Islands. Two large fishing boats, hookers, are anchored by the shore, sails down, the day is over. Meanwhile, four local men in traditional clothing, sit around the freshly unloaded turf. Two wear pampooties, the local soft shoe made from calf skin, while another, an older man, has a woven basket, known as a creel, at his back. He will fill the creel with turf when the gossip of the day is complete. You, the viewer, are sitting on a higher rock to the right, surveying the scene, listening to the quiet chatter of island men, the mild, rhythmic beat of the rigging on the boats, and the melodic lapping of the gentle sea. The scene is an elegy to a life long gone, and yet a metaphor to the rewards of hard work.Dr Éimear O'Connor HRHA, HRUA.Author, Seán Keating: Art, Politics, and Building the Irish Nation (Kildare: IAP, 2013).
Frame dimensions: 42.5 by 54in. (108 by 137.2cm)
Note: Well-known during his lifetime for his portrayal of the life of the people of Aran, this example by Seán Keating dates stylistically to somewhere between the mid-1950s and mid-1960s. Having met and worked with Robert Flaherty during the filming of Man of Aran in the early 1930s, Keating purchased a cine camera, the footage from which he used, along with his own photographs and sketches, to assist with the composition of paintings to fulfil the ever-increasing demand from his patrons at home and abroad for images of the Aran Islands. Keating's interest in photography derived from his student days at the Dublin Metropolitan School of Art, and it is known that he referred to his own photographs for several major early works including Men of the West (1915-17) and his series of paintings of the Stations of the Cross for Clongowes Wood College (1919-1921).The close-up composition of Unloading the Turf is an art historical device derived from photography, and seen in the work of Degas, for example. It is used to create a more intimate environment for the viewer. As the sun sets, reflected in the calm waters, a two-man currach sets out to sea, perhaps on its way to another of the three Aran Islands. Two large fishing boats, hookers, are anchored by the shore, sails down, the day is over. Meanwhile, four local men in traditional clothing, sit around the freshly unloaded turf. Two wear pampooties, the local soft shoe made from calf skin, while another, an older man, has a woven basket, known as a creel, at his back. He will fill the creel with turf when the gossip of the day is complete. You, the viewer, are sitting on a higher rock to the right, surveying the scene, listening to the quiet chatter of island men, the mild, rhythmic beat of the rigging on the boats, and the melodic lapping of the gentle sea. The scene is an elegy to a life long gone, and yet a metaphor to the rewards of hard work.Dr Éimear O'Connor HRHA, HRUA.Author, Seán Keating: Art, Politics, and Building the Irish Nation (Kildare: IAP, 2013).
Condition
Some suface dust visible. Otherwise very good condition.
Medium
oil on board
Provenance
Christie's, Dublin, 24 October 1988, lot 109;Private collection
