Keating, Séan (1889–1977)

Irish painter, mainly of figure subjects and landscapes. Keating's work is traditional in style and presents a romantic, picturesque, and sometimes heroic image of Ireland. In particular, his most famous picture, Men of the West (c. 1915), now in the Hugh Lane Municipal Gallery of Modern Art, Dublin, Republic of Ireland, became something of a patriotic icon. Keating also painted various other types of work, including murals, religious pictures, and portraits. Throughout most of his career he was regarded as one of Ireland's leading artists.

Born in Limerick, Keating studied at the Technical College there and at the Metropolitan School of Art in Dublin, where he was taught by Irish portrait painter William Orpen. He worked in London, England, as Orpen's assistant (1915–16), then returned to Dublin, where he taught at the Metropolitan School from 1919. He was professor of painting there from 1936 until his retirement in 1954, and he was also president of the Royal Hibernian Academy from 1948 to 1962.