Respite From the Midday Sun, Brittany
Aloysius O'Kelly (1851-1926)
Born in Dublin, studying in Paris, painting in Brittany and traveling widely, exhibiting regularly in Dublin and London, O'Kelly was virtually forgotten in Ireland until recently, for he emigrated to America. He was born in Dublin in 1851. In about 1875, he went to Paris and became a student of Bonnat and Gerome at the Ecole des Beaux Arts. O'Kelly was thus one of the first Irish artists in Brittany, exhibiting Breton scenes in Dublin and in London in the late 1870's, and again in the mid-1880's. O'Kelly's painting varies so much in subject, manner and quality, that it is difficult to establish a chronology or identify him with a particular style. He painted examples of 1880's Realism, and plein-air scenes in the 'square-brush' style, Pre-Raphaelite subjects and light 'impressionistic' harbor scenes. Then he would revert to heavy works with black shadows (à la Verlat), or academic Egyptian subjects with precise draftsmanship à la Gérôme.
Picking Roses in a Breton Garden
Old Lady Crocheting
Fishing Vessels, Concarneau, Brittany
Figures On a Sunlit Street, Cairo
Fete Concarneau
At the Well, Brittany
Corpus Christi Procession, c.1880
Breton Figures In A Street
Awaiting the Return, Concarneau, 1889
Awaiting the Return, Concarneau
O'Kelly painted girls in interiors and sunny harbour scenes. Awaiting the Return, Concarneau, representing two girls on the bridge to the old walled town, shows an embracing of impressionism, in its relaxed brushwork, and bright cheerful colors.
O'Kelly's Girl in a Meadow an outdoor portrait captures the spirit of the period, the 1880's. The attractive girl is viewed in close-up and is well integrated into the landscape of grasses and poppies, as in contemporary plein-air painting, with also a suggestion of idyllic Pre-Raphaelite scenes. O'Kelly uses a deft 'square-brush' technique, and renders the white dress, the flowers and grasses with considerable delicacy. The red hair gives the girl an Irish appearance, but the picture may well have been painted in Brittany. Her eyes are sensitively painted and she has an endearing expression and air of abstraction. Her hands are clasped as if in prayer, and she could be kneeling.
Seaweed Gatherers, Connemara, c. 1884
In the early 1880s,
O'Kelly visited Co. Galway, staying at Salruck near Killary harbor, one of the most remote parts of the west. Seaweed, Gatherers, Connemara is a remarkable piece of contemporary realism applied to the west of Ireland (years before Paul Henry or Jack B. Yeats). O'Kelly observes the traditional headwear of the figures, their homespun clothing and bare feet, and the donkey with its wickerwork creeis, with loving detail. The flat sand on which the figures stand leads towards an enticing blue sea.
Game of Draughts
O'Kelly traveled to Egypt in the mid-1880's, painting in and around Cairo. Scenes of bazaars, mosques, streets and deserts were reflected in his paintings for the next few years. There is assurance in the variety of pose among the figures and the use of recession from modeled and richly highlighted figures in the foreground, to the shadowy, transparent background. Particularly attractive are the colors of the clothes, set off by rich whites, and the delicate patterning of the carpet.
