Alfred Henry O Keeffe
Alfred Henry O’Keeffe was born in Bendigo, Australia in 1858. He immigrated to New Zealand in 1862, living in Dunedin. He completed an apprenticeship in cabinet making, before travelling to Paris to study art between 1894 and 1895
Alfred Henry O’Keeffe was born in Bendigo, Australia in 1858. He immigrated to New Zealand in 1862, living in Dunedin. He completed an apprenticeship in cabinet making, before travelling to Paris to study art between 1894 and 1895
On his return to New Zealand he was not able to work professionally as an artist, and instead managed a country hotel from 1896 to 1905. He had two sons, both of whom died of wounds received at Gallipoli. Following the war he was commissioned to paint a posthumous World War One Victoria Cross portrait, working from a photograph.
O’Keeffe died in 1941.
Sources
Archives New Zealand Documentation, Series 898, National Collection of War Art