John Butler Yeats, Walter Frederick Osborne and a ‘Grand Dame in Kildare’

Artist and art historian Gearóid Arthur hayes discusses his reattribution of Portrait of a Lady Seated at a Writing Table from Walter Frederick Osborne to John Butler Yeats.

In this lecture, Gearóid Arthur Hayes opens up the investigative process behind one of his most significant recent discoveries: the reattribution of Portrait of a Lady Seated at a Writing Table from Walter Frederick Osborne to John Butler Yeats. Through detailed stylistic scrutiny, comparative analysis, and extensive archival research, Hayes reconstructs the painting’s true authorship and historical context. He will also share several of his other recent reattributions, including works by John William Waterhouse and William Orpen. Hayes concludes with a critical assessment of connoisseurship’s current position in Ireland, advocating for a renewed engagement with the materiality of artworks as a foundational component of art historical inquiry.

Gearóid Arthur Hayes (b. 1980) is an Irish figurative painter, art historian, and doctoral researcher whose work integrates classical studio practice with archival and connoisseurial scholarship. Educated at Clongowes Wood College and University College Dublin, he undertook formal training in Florence at the Accademia Italiana and subsequently at the atelier of Charles H. Cecil, later continuing his studies at Sarum Studios, Salisbury, under Nicholas Beer.

Hayes returned to Ireland in 2008 to establish his portrait practice and served for several years as principal instructor at the Drawing School, Dublin. His portraiture has been recognised with the Adams Award at the Royal Hibernian Academy (2011), and he was shortlisted for the AIB Portrait Prize at the National Gallery of Ireland (2024).

He completed his MPhil at Trinity College Dublin in 2018 and is currently engaged in doctoral research on Walter Frederick Osborne (1859–1903). Hayes has consulted on Osborne attributions for cultural institutions, private collectors, and international auction houses including Christie’s and Bonhams. His recent research has resulted in several notable reattributions, among them works in the collections of the Royal Irish Yacht Club and the Office of Public Works. He is represented by the Gorry Gallery, Dublin.

The 2026 talks’ series at Castletown House is dedicated to the memory of the late Jeanne Meldon and is presented by the Office of Public Works (OPW) in association with The Castletown Foundation. Doors open at 3pm and the talk runs from 3.30pm to 4.30pm. Tickets are €5 and are available from www.eventbrite.ie

www.gearoidhayesart.com

www.castletown.ie

www.castletownfoundation.com

For further details contact Michelle Wyse at michelle.wyse@opw.ie

Description supplied by the event organiser.