Aloysius O'Kelly (1853-1936)
Figures in a Cottage Interior
Oil on canvas, 72 x 61cm (28¼ x 24'')

Provenance: From the collection of the late Gillian Bowler.

Although originally catalogued...

Aloysius O'Kelly (1853-1936)
Figures in a Cottage Interior
Oil on canvas, 72 x 61cm (28¼ x 24'')

Provenance: From the collection of the late Gillian Bowler.

Although originally catalogued by Christies in May 1989 as being by Augustus Burke, this unsigned painting features the same girl, probably in the same kitchen, as OKellys unfinished "Kitchen, West of Ireland", painted in the early 1880s, the seated woman, barely blocked-in in the latter, being perhaps the older woman in this painting.

At the time, OKelly was living in Lugnanaugh in a cottage nestled below Maol Chnoc or Garraun Mountain which rises above Lough Fee on the Kylemore estate of Mitchell Henry, the Home Rule MP. On his departure in 1884, OKelly left behind many unfinished works.

Burke was in the west of Ireland around the same time as OKelly, but the subject, location and style would indicate that OKelly was the artist. The painting is probably a preliminary sketch for a larger work. The older woman in mid conversation, and the younger immersed in her own sad thoughts, suggest a narrative, not evident in this fragment.

See Niamh OSullivan, Aloysius OKelly: Art, Nation, Empire, Field Day, 2010.

Niamh OSullivan

 

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