Aloysius O'Kelly

Washington D.C., Contemporary American Oil Paintings, 1907, details untraced.

Original canvas. There are some areas of craquelure, limited mainly to the garments of the figure on the right and there is also some light blooming to the clothes of both sitters and some additional spots of staining to the upper right body of the girl on the left and between her legs. There is an area to the sea by the upper left edge where the paint surface is slightly lifting and there are some minor specks of corresponding paint loss. There are nine very small pinholes along the right edge from old stretcher nails. There is a minor spot of paint loss to the basket on the right. Under ultraviolet light, there are several spots which flouresce however these correspond to the scattered spots of staining and there are also spots to the aforementioned pinholes along the right edge which flouresce. Held under glass in an ornate gilt frame in fair condition. The picture is unexamined out of frame.
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There is a sketch of a seated lady on the reverse.

Although the exact location of the present work is unknown, the composition captures the vibrant coastline near Pont-Aven and Concarneau in Brittany, France. The two girls are wearing traditional Breton dress and O'Kelly has captured an intimate moment between two friends on their way to market day. 

O'Kelly first went to Brittany in 1876 during the summer months whilst studying in Paris and the fresh rural subject matter would have been in direct opposition to the meticulous studio training Gérôme advocated. Like most of his contemporaries, he cannot have failed to be inspired by the naturalism of Jules Bastien-Lepage and his followers.

The loose handling of Breton Girls on a Beach clearly reflects O'Kelly's knowledge of the French master's edict of painting directly en plein air. The fluid style and manner of O'Kelly's signature in the present work suggest that it most likely dates to the first decade of the 20^th century. Having returned from the United States, O'Kelly went to Brittany in 1902 and stayed there for prolonged periods over the next twenty years.