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John O'Shea

Painter. Born in Ballintaylor, Ireland on Oct. 15, 1876.

Baptized John Shea , he later added an "O" to his name.

At age 16 he immigrated to NYC. While living in Brooklyn,

he studied at the Adelphi Academy and the ASL, and

worked for a short time at Tiffany & Company as an

artisan-engraver. O'Shea moved to Pasadena in 1913

and was active there for about four years before settling

on the Monterey Peninsula.

While maintaining a studio in his home, he became active

with the art colony there and served as director-president

of the Carmel Art Ass'n. O'Shea painted along the Monterey

 coast and in Tahiti, South Seas, Arizona, Hawaii and Mexico.

His bold, vibrant paintings of figures, landscapes, fantasies

and portraits were very avant-garde. His style appears to

have been inspired by the Post-Impressionists and is

reminiscent of Cezanne and Van Gogh. O'Shea died in Carmel

on April 29, 1956.

Member: Bohemian Club; Calif. Art Club; Carmel AA;

Carmel Arts & Crafts Club; SFAA; Society for Sanity in Art;

American WC Society. Exh: Friday Morning Club (LA), 1914 (solo);

SFAA, 1918; LACMA, 191921; CPLH, 1934; GGIE, 1939;

Calif. State Fair, 1941 (1st prize); Monterey Peninsula Museum

and Walnut Creek (CA) Civic Arts Gallery, 1986 and Carmel AA,

1993 (retrospectives). In: Mills College (Oakland); Harrison Library

(Carmel); Monterey Peninsula Museum; Municipal Gallery of

Modern Art (Dublin, Ireland); Bohemian Club (SF); Irvine (CA)

Museum. CSL; John O'Shea, 1876-1956 by Walter Nelson-Rees;

YAMP; SCA; Art and Artists of the Monterey Peninsula; G&S;

AAA 1919-24.