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DESCRIPTION:
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Frank McKelvey exhibited his work in the R.H.A. annually from 1918 until 1973, which is 54 years – a remarkable
feat! In the last fifteen years of his life he exhibited seven market scenes at the R.H.A. including Fair Day,
Creaslough, Co. Donegal (1965), Cattle Fair (1971), and Fair Day (1973).
The painting opposite, which is Fair Day, Ardara, Co. Donegal, was painted in 1965 and purchased directly from
McKelvey. The artist had a love for this part of Ireland, drawing his subject matter from the countryside and
villages of Donegal.
This painting is a visual, cultural, topographical and historical comment on a Donegal Fair Day. With the advent of
E.U. legislation, fairs of this kind will not be witnessed again. McKelvey, always the consummate draughtsman,
has succeeded in leaving us with an accurate impression, of what it must have been like to be there!
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