John Keating

An Aran Fisherman

Seán Keating is best known as the artist who gave visual expression to the quest for national identity. After visiting the Aran Islands in 1914, he called for a national school of painting, which would draw upon traditional Irish life in the west. In a series of memorable allegorical works, Keating portrayed an idealized and heroic people. After the War of Independence, his paintings became the primary visual icons for the developing Irish Free State.

The rugged man of Aran, whom writer John Millington Synge saw as the enduring representative of traditional Gaelic values, became for Keating a symbol of the new nation's strength and resilience. Painted on Aran, this work reflects the luminous colors typical of that rocky limestone landscape, where generations of fishermen eked out their livings from stone and sea. In his journal The Aran Islands, Synge reports that the Aranman wears three colors - natural wool, indigo and grey flannel - as well as the woolen beret and colorful "crios," the belt that we see in this painting. The portrait depicts a nationalist version of heroic man molded by hardship, standing with pride and dignity.

Video tour from the exhibit opening at the Yale Center for British Arts, September 1997 The collector, Brian Burns, comments on Keating and his work The Aran Fisherman watch the video [22 seconds] Each video clip above requires the RealPlayer, available at http://www.real.com. To view the video, just click on the links above. Downloading and installation instructions are also available.