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Lot 37: Aloysius C. O’Kelly (1853-1936) BRETON WOMEN IN A KITCHEN, 1905

Est: €25,000 EUR - €35,000 EURSold:
Whyte'sBallsbridge, IrelandNovember 25, 2013

Item Overview

Description

signed and dated lower right; with Ludwig Katzenstein Fine Art label [Baltimore] on reverse

Dimensions

h:39 w:32.25in.

Artist or Maker

Medium

oil on canvas

Provenance

with Ludwig Katzenstein Fine Art Gallery, Baltimore, Maryland;
Private collection

Notes

In the Pension Gloanec, where O'Kelly lived while in Pont-Aven, fellow artist, Corwin K. Linson noted the two great Breton beds 'flanking the fireside' where slept 'the mistress and her maids'. A number of O'Kelly paintings in the first decade of the twentieth century are set in the famous pension: Breton Woman Cleaning Pans (1909), Breton Women by the Fireside (probably exhibited as Devant le Feu at the Salon in 1908), By the Fireside (exhibited at the Art Institute of Chicago in the same year) and, it would seem, this earlier 1905 painting may also have been painted there.

During the long summer breaks from the École, artists from all nationalities made their way to Brittany, in keeping with the cult of peasant Realism that swept through the salons of France. But the aesthetic of modernity engaged few Irish artists who tended to identify with the more naturalistic modes of representing rural experience. It was in Brittany that O'Kelly learned to reconcile a range of styles derived from both traditional and avant-garde art, in effect blending academic, Realist and plein-air elements into an innovative mode of rural Naturalism.

These paintings demonstrate a marked stylistic cohesion and show O'Kelly's ability to handle figures in increasingly complex interior spaces. In these, O'Kelly's academic draughtsmanship and painting skills are evidence of his training with the illustrious Jean-Léon Gérôme, acquired while a student in the École des Beaux-Arts in Paris in the 1870s.

O'Kelly's connections to Brittany lasted for over fifty years, from his first sojourn in the mid 1870s, while a student in Paris, to his final visits in the 1920s. Indeed O'Kelly was the first Irish artist to discover Brittany. Pont-Aven and Concarneau were his main haunts, but he travelled extensively around the various painting spots of the peninsula over five decades.

Some late nineteenth-century painters, like O'Kelly, responded to the pressures of modernism by employing Impressionist techniques for outdoor subjects while retaining more academic methods for indoor genre scenes. This painting holds traditional high finish and modern informality in the balance. The strong architectonic qualities are countered by a looseness of handling. The tonation is achieved by the addition of vibrant touches of green, blue and red, enlivening what is otherwise a predominantly muted palette.

The upright figure is strong, the two girls sitting on the floor utterly delightful. The still-life elements - furniture, pottery, brass and copper - are rugged and rustic but, paradoxically, subtle and charming.

Prof. Emeritus Niamh O'Sullivan
October, 2013

For another Breton scene by the artist see lot 39 [25 November 2013].

Payment & Shipping

Payment

Accepted forms of payment: MasterCard, Money Order / Cashiers Check, Other, Personal Check, Visa, Wire Transfer

Shipping

The buyer will be responsible for all removal, storage and insurance charges in respect of any lot which has not been collected within fourteen days of the date of sale.

Auction Details

Important Irish Art

by
Whyte's
November 25, 2013, 06:00 PM GMT

Royal Dublin Society (RDS) Anglesea Road entrance, Ballsbridge, 4, IE

Terms

Buyer's Premium

18.0%

Bidding Increments

From:To:Increment:
€0€99€10
€100€699€20
€700€1,299€50
€1,300€2,999€100
€3,000€6,999€200
€7,000€12,999€500
€13,000€29,999€1,000
€30,000€109,999€2,000
€110,000€499,999€5,000
€500,000+€10,000

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Written or verbal condition reports may be supplied by the Auctioneer on request but these are merely statements of opinion, and any error or omission in these reports may not be taken as grounds for a cancellation of sale or refund of any part of the purchase price or the cost of any repairs to the lot or lots reported on (c) A purchaser shall be at liberty to reject any lot if he - (i) gives the auctioneer written notice of intention to question the genuineness of the lot within seven days from the date of sale; AND (ii) proves that the lot is a deliberate forgery and (iii) returns to the auctioneer within 20 days from the date of sale the lot in the same condition as it was at the time of sale; provided that the auctioneer may, at his discretion, on receiving a request in writing from the purchaser, extend for a reasonable period the time for return of the lot to enable it to be submitted to expertisation. 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Clause 6 The respective rights and obligations of the parties shall be governed and interpreted by Irish law, and the buyer hereby submits to the exclusive jurisdiction of the Irish Courts. SPECIAL CONDITIONS (a) The buyer shall pay the Auctioneer a commission at the rate of 25% (which includes VAT at the prevailing rate under The Margin Scheme and which is not reclaimable (b) The Auctioneer or its employees, servants or agents may, on request organise packing and shipping of lots purchased or may order on the buyer's behalf third parties to pack or ship purchases. Under no circumstances does the Auctioneer accept any liability whatsoever for any loss or damage howsoever occasioned in the course of such service. (c) The buyer authorises the Auctioneer to use any photographs or illustrations of any lot purchased for any or all purposes as the Auctioneer may require. The placing of a bid will be taken as full agreement to all the above conditions. 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Credit Cards, continued

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Condition

Whyte & Sons Auctioneers Limited, trading as Whyte's, hereinafter called "the auctioneer" exercises all reasonable care to ensure that all descriptions are reliable and accurate, and that each item is genuine unless the contrary is indicated. However, the descriptions are not intended to be, are not and are not to be taken to be, statements of fact or representations of fact in relation to the lot. They are statements of the opinion of the auctioneers, and attention is particularly drawn to clause 5 in our full Terms & Conditions. Comments and opinions, which may be found in or on lots as labels, notes, lists, catalogue prices, or any other means of expression, do not constitute part of lot descriptions and are not to be taken as such unless they are made or specifically verified by the auctioneers.

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Shipping

The buyer will be responsible for all removal, storage and insurance charges in respect of any lot which has not been collected within fourteen days of the date of sale.