Making history

The Crawford Art Gallery in Cork puts the work of Seán Keating in a modern context, writes Tina O’Sullivan

SEÁN Keating: Contemporary Contexts is the major summer exhibition at the Crawford Art Gallery in Cork. It features the paintings of Seán Keating (1889-1977) as well as those of other artists, such as Colin Middleton and Robert Ballagh, who engage with similar themes. The show is curated by Dr Eimear O’Connor, an art historian whose PhD focused on Keating’s work.

O’Connor spent 15 years working as a visual artist before studying art history at UCD. Her third year paper on Keating was the starting point for her interest in his work and she has since spent over ten years researching Keating’s art alongside her lecturing post and other projects.