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Seán Keating PRHA HRA HRSA (1889-1977)
SALUD, 1924
oil on board; with a second, incomplete self portrait on reverse
signed in Irish lower right
36 by 41.5in. (91 by 105cm)
Provenance:
RHA, Dublin, 1924;
Purchased by Lady Longford from the artist, 1926;
Edward Pakenham, 6th Earl of Longford;
By whom given as a wedding gift to the parents of the present owner, 1949
One of the most important lessons passed to Seán Keating by his teacher at the Dublin Metropolitan School
of Art, William Orpen, was the necessity to paint every day. Rather like a trained musician, such practice
keeps the eyes and hands in constant coordination. It was for this purpose, and not for reasons of vanity,
that Keating painted so many self-portraits throughout his life. When without a model or a commission,
nothing was easier for the artist than to follow the journey of his life by observing the ever-changing lines
and contours of his face. Keating’s wife, May, spent many years in Spain and is said to have even dreamed in
Spanish. The couple maintained an interest in Spain and in later years had some involvement with the ambu-
lance brigade that supported Irish men fighting on the republican side of the Spanish civil war. Keating rarely
inscribed his paintings with their correct titles, and over the years new titles have been ascribed according to
the content of the work. It is, therefore, a genuine pleasure to be in a position to reinstate the correct title to a
previously mistitled work.
Painted in 1924 at the artist’s home in Woodtown, Rathfarnham, Salud meaning good health or cheers, is an
early, light filled and visually pleasing example of Keating’s work. The artist has positioned himself in front
of what appears to be a Spanish hacienda, with a Spanish-style blue and white majolica jug to his right; two
visual signals which led to the painting being previously mistitled Self Portrait at the Hacienda. Holding his
ubiquitous cigarette in one hand, with a drink of whatever in the other, and wearing his fedora hat, the artist
appears extremely content amid the colourful landscape. His attitude is in stark contrast to the incomplete
self-portrait on the reverse of the painting in which he stands minus his fedora hat and other accoutrements,
and without his Spanish-style landscape.
Keating sold the painting to Lady Longford in 1926,
and from there it made its way to a private collection.
Consequently, it has not been seen on public exhibition
as Salud since 1924; it is an exciting rediscovery and
a wonderful addition to the artist’s lifelong series of
self-portraits.
Dr Éimear O’Connor HRHA
Author of Seán Keating: Art, Politics and Building the
Irish Nation
(Kildare: Irish Academic Press, 2013)
May 2016
€35,000-€45,000 (£27,560-£35,430 approx.)
Large Image & Place Bid Lot 30Fig. 1