Ramsey County History – Summer 2004: “From Farm to Florence: The Gifted Keating Sisters and the Mystery of Their Lost Paintings”

From Farm to Florence: The Gifted Keating Sisters and the Mystery of Their Lost Paintings
Author: Margaret M. Marrinan

This article centers on two Irish farm girls, Anysia and Sophia Keating who became nuns and developed into prolific painters. The mystery had to do with a search for information on how that happened and the location of their mostly forgotten paintings. The article also relates some of the history of the College of St. Catherine and of St. Agatha’s Conservatory of Art and Music, which was operated by the Sisters of St. Joseph of Carondelet. Sister Anysia entered the convent in 1884, followed by Sister Sophia two years later. Because they excelled in visual arts they were sent for three years of study in Europe. There they expertly copied over 300 old paintings to use at the school and did some of their own original work as well. After St. Agatha’s closed and because tastes in art had changed, their paintings were scattered to the wind, sold or given away. Along with help from Keating relatives, the author was able to locate a number of their works of art.
PDF of Marrinan article