The would-be artist was an American (born Philadelphia) painter who first came to St Ives in 1904. Though he did exhibit a few landscape paintings, these seem to have been unregarded and there are no records of his work after 1910.  However, he 'immersed himself in the life of the colony', according to Tovey 2009 (p168). 

Keasbey is credited with creating the Island Studios in 1910 (which had ceased to exist as studios before the beginning of WWII). Tovey comments that this development 'was a unique instance of a visiting foreign artist making a large financial commitment to the colony. Unfortunately, it was ill-timed because he left for the USA as WWI approached, and demand for the studios fell off dramatically. He never returned to Cornwall, and at the end of their lease they were incorporated into the Cowley Estate. The story of this 'debacle' (despite his good intentions) is told on pp168-70 in Tovey's social history of St Ives (see his index for other refs).