Irish & International Art Auction 5th December 2016 : Click Lot Title for More info & Pictures & Picture for in frame.

rish

& I

nternational

uction

onday

ecember

2016

6.00

signed lower left

oil on canvas

44 x 53.5cm (17 x 21in)

Provenance:

Private Collection

€15,000-20,000 (£13,043-17,391)

McKelvey was born in Belfast in 1895. He attended the Belfast School of Art and won the ‘Sir Charles Brett’ prize in 1912. He

started exhibiting in the RHA in 1918 and was granted full membership in 1930. In 1921 he became a member of the Belfast Art

Society. ‘Feeding the Hens’ is a subject that McKelvey painted regularly in the 1920’s and throughout his career. In his papers he

later stated that “It was through this opportunity that I was able to study poultry in all effects of sunlight - a subject in which I have

always been deeply interested”. McKelvey was influenced by artists such as Walter Osborne (1859-1903) and Jean-Francois Millet

(1814-1875). The subject matter of this painting is instinctively recognisable to McKelvey admirers.