Abstract
This dissertation offers a detailed study of the life and art of the Dunedin artist and teacher Alfred Henry O'Keeffe (1858-1941). It is concerned with establishing an art historical context for his work and exploring its relationship to that of other artists, art institutions and art criticism during his six-decade-long career. It also includes an overview of O'Keeffe's biography and considers his contribution to art education in New Zealand, through his teaching both at the Dunedin School of Art and Design and privately in his studio. Particular attention is given to four areas of subject matter: portraiture and genre subjects, especially those representing the elderly; seascapes; and still lifes, particularly flower paintings.
Despite the length of O'Keeffe's career, much of the existing scholarship has tended to emphasise his Victorian paintings at the expense of his later works. Greatest attention is usually given to his association with immigrant artists during the 1890s, such as Petrus van der Velden and Girolamo Nerli, together with his period of study at the Académie Julian in Paris during that same decade. The present dissertation considers the evidence relating to this period and assesses the validity of claims previously made. In doing so, it challenges the widespread assumption that O'Keeffe's work failed to develop in any substantial way beyond the 1890s.
Instead, it considers the full breadth of O'Keeffe's lengthy career and reassesses the importance of his late works. It argues that in terms of both quality and quantity O'Keeffe's paintings from the 1920s and 1930s represent his greatest achievement. His relationship to more avant-garde developments in New Zealand art during these decades are also examined, showing that while he was not hostile towards modernism there were certain stylistic features he was reluctant to adopt himself. His own style is best understood as part of a broad trend where the innovations of Impressionism were combined with qualities drawn from the European old masters. However, despite the strong parallels that exist with the works of other artists, O'Keeffe's paintings nonetheless retain distinctive qualities, both in mood and technique. They represent a largely overlooked but by no means insignificant facet of New Zealand art.