John O'Keeffe (painter)
Irish artist (ca. 1797 - 1838)
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Life
Born in Fermoy, County Cork of humble parentage, O'Keeffe began painting at an early age and was apprenticed to a coach painter. He began painting scenes for local theatres, working his way up to religious pictures for local Roman Catholic churches. In 1831 he sent a Portrait of a Lady and Crucifixion to the Royal Hibernian Academy.[1]
He left Cork in 1834 for Dublin and continued to exhibit portrait and subject paintings. A painting from this period, A Sibyl (1835) was, as of 1913, held in the Museum of Cork.[1] He exhibited a painting of the British army Field Marshal Edward Blakeney at the RHA in 1837. Just as his career was on the rise he died while on a visit to Limerick in April 1838. He left a widow and children.[1]
The Crawford Gallery holds a portrait of Nano Nagle attributed to O'Keeffe.[2]
