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Seán Keating , Irish, 1889-1977

Title

Homage to Jimmy and Frans

Date1963

MediumOil on canvas

Dimensions

76.7 x 66.2 cm

Signedlower right: KEATING

Credit LinePresented, Olivia C. Ward MA, 2012

Object numberNGI.2012.16

Inscription(on canvas overlap): JIMMY O'DEA
Label TextThe title of this whimsical pastiche of seventeenth-century Dutch portraiture refers simultaneously to Jimmy O’Dea, the much loved actor and comedian, and the painter Frans Hals, who Keating is known to have admired. Keating demonstrated regularly in his art a penchant for costume, and presents O’Dea here in the approximated costume of a burgher or cavalier. O’Dea, known for his ‘unusually mobile’ features, enjoyed a very successful career on both stage and screen. His most famous character was the Dublin street-seller Mrs Biddy Mulligan, created by O’Dea and his long-term collaborator Harry O’Donovan.