Aloysius O'Kelly (1853-1936)A Breton Garden Oil on canvas, 80 x 100cm (31½ x 39¼'')SignedQuintessentially a work by Aloysius O’Kelly, this painting dates to the early twentieth century. The subject matter, style and treatment is typical of O’Kelly’s Breton work at this time. In 1874, O’Kelly had enrolled in the École des Beaux-Arts in Paris, gaining access to the most prestigious studio, that of Jean-Léon Gérôme. From the mid 1870s, during the summer recess, huge numbers of artists made the annual painting pilgrimage from the ateliers of Paris to Brittany, initially to Pont-Aven then Concarneau and beyond, in keeping with the cult of peasant realism that swept through the salons of the day. O’Kelly was constantly on the move around the region.Here he reconciled a range of styles derived from both traditional and avant-garde art, blending academic, realist and plein-air elements into a beguiling mode of naturalism. O’Kelly was wont to employ an Impressionist-type technique for his outdoor subjects, while relying on more traditional academic techniques for his indoor scenes. In this summer scene, he enlivens the rather heavily-composed farmhouse and outhouses with some spontaneity, evident in the handling of the verdant foliage.Niamh O’Sullivan