The World of Horses and Portraiture

Anthony O'Keefe is a self-taught artist who, having previously specialised in portraits on canvas, has successfully transferred his oil painting skills to the equine world. He has been undertaking commissions for over thirty years and now also shows his work at exhibitions in the south west.

The majority of Anthony’s work has been portraiture of either single sitters or family groups. Anthony works from a combination of life sittings and photographic references, with the life sittings at the beginning and end of the process. Anthony aims to portray the character of a sitter through detail and realism in a carefully composed painting, particularly important considerations when the portrait portrays both horse and rider or owner. The techniques Anthony uses hark back to the renaissance period of under-painting and glazes, applied to a contemporary composition.

Until an injury prevented Anthony from riding he was a keen dressage rider, and it is this passion that he brings to his equine paintings, aiming to capture the power and beauty of the horse and the subtle communication between horse and rider.

For more information visit http://www.harbourhouse.org.uk/gallery-anthonyokeefe15.html