05/07/2025 General News
One of the most rewarding aspects of working the Fine Art department of an auction house is that you never know what will come through the door on any given day, writes Daniel Smith.
Fortunately we frequently see exciting works of art brought in for appraisal and consignment. I was particularly pleased recently when a local collector brought in not one but four works by an artist of Irish descent who was educated here in Norfolk, and whose work is steadily making waves in salerooms across Europe: James MacKeown.
MacKeown was born in London in 1961, the grandson of renowned Irish artist Tom Carr (1909-1999). He was educated at Gresham’s in Holt; when he wasn’t in Norfolk, his childhood was somewhat peripatetic, spending time in Turkey, Wales and Ireland as well as in England.
He received no formal training at all. But being born into an artistic family, he was encouraged to paint from an early age, both by his father (the painter Martin MacKeown) and his famous artist grandfather, who had studied at the Slade School in London and who was closely associated with the Euston Road School of painters during the 1930s.
It was this immersion in an artistic and creative environment which inspired MacKeown junior’s love of painting, and by the age of 15 he was already seeing his works exhibited both in Ireland and the UK, enjoying his first solo exhibition when he was just 17.
He was in fact offered a place at several art schools, but on the advice of family friend Wiiliam Coldstream – also an artist – he decided not to take up these offers and to make his own way in the art world. In 1988, at the age of 27, he moved to Étretat in Normandy, and he has lived in France ever since, now settled in Brittany.
His work is almost entirely figurative, with seascapes, beaches, café scenes and portraits all featuring. Influenced by the Impressionists, his paintings are marked by a soft ambience and intimate scenes of everyday life. It has been said that his work exhibits a certain ‘luminous melancholy’.
MacKeown is someone who likes his paintbrushes to do the talking, writing, ‘I have often reflected on the difficulties of writing about painting, or about art, or indeed about anything. I find it so much easier and agreeable to disappear into my studio with a brush in hand and avoid all conversation about my work.
‘While I may spend time contemplating what I do, or what I don’t do, the very idea of having to describe and analyse the results without the aid of my paint brush leaves me in a cold sweat.’
MacKeown has certainly been successful both in terms of exhibiting and in the saleroom. His paintings feature in a number of prestigious collections including the Colas Foundation and the National Library of Wales, and he has been featured in solo exhibitions across Europe.
In the saleroom, MacKeown’s modernist and contemporary style has won many fans, and his works are much sought after today. So we were very excited to have four of his paintings, all from one private collection, consigned to our Summer Fine Sale, which takes place later this month.
The works are very representative of Mackeown’s style, and we are expecting strong interest from collectors both in the UK and overseas.
Keys Summer Fine Sale, which will include the four works by James MacKeown, takes place on Wednesday 23rd and Thursday 24th. For more information, visit www.keysauctions.co.uk.