Gerald Kelly

Not to be confused with the American illustrator Gerald Kelley or the Scottish actor Gerard Kelly.

Sir Gerald Kelly
KCVO PRA
Gerald Kelly in 1953
Born
Gerald Festus Kelly

(1879-04-09)9 April 1879
London, England
Died5 January 1972(1972-01-05) (aged 92)
Exmouth, East Devon, England
NationalityEnglish
Known forPainting

Sir Gerald Festus Kelly KCVO PRA (9 April 1879 – 5 January 1972) was a British painter best known for his portraits. His sister, Rose Edith Kelly, was briefly married to Aleister Crowley.

Early life and education

Gerald Kelly was born in London. His father was the Rev. Frederic Festus Kelly (1838–1918), formerly the vicar at St Giles', Camberwell where the young Kelly grew up. His grandfather, also named Frederic Festus Kelly, was the founder of Kelly's Directories Ltd.

Kelly was educated at Eton College and Trinity Hall, Cambridge,[1] and later lived and studied art in Paris.[2] James McNeill Whistler was an early influence.[citation needed] Kelly travelled much, visiting Spain, America, South Africa, and Burma, which inspired a series of paintings of Burmese dancers.[citation needed]

Career

In 1920 he married Lilian Ryan, who became his model for a celebrated series of portraits. These were exhibited under the title Jane, followed by a Roman numeral that corresponded to the year of exhibition.[3] Other sitters included T. S. Eliot, Ralph Vaughan Williams, and Somerset Maugham, whom he painted 18 times.[4]

Maugham, a lifelong friend of Kelly, wrote an introduction to a catalogue (1950) of an exhibition of Kelly's work. Maugham regularly portrayed Kelly in his works, as Lionel Hillier in Cakes and Ale, as Frederick Lawson in Of Human Bondage and as O'Malley in His Excellency presenting him as "the young Irish painter called O'Malley", and dedicating Ashenden to him.[5]

He became a favourite painter of the Royal Family. He was elected to the Royal Academy in 1930, was the Academy's Keeper from 1943–45, and served as its president from 1949–54. Kelly held a number of official positions, such as his membership of the Royal Fine Arts Commission, 1938–43, and was knighted in the 1945 King's Birthday Honours List. The artist John Napper (1916–2001) worked as his assistant.[2][6] In 1950 he was elected to the National Academy of Design as an Honorary Corresponding Academician.

Death and legacy

Kelly's English Heritage blue plaque at Gloucester Place in Marylebone, London

Kelly died in Exmouth in 1972. He is represented in many public collections, including the Tate Gallery, which holds seven works.[citation needed]

Kelly's London residence at 117 Gloucester Place in Marylebone is marked by an English Heritage blue plaque placed in 1993.[7]

Notes

  1. ^ "Kelly, Gerald Festus (KLY897GF)". A Cambridge Alumni Database. University of Cambridge. Archived by the Wayback Machine.
  2. ^ a b "Sir Gerald Festus KellyPortfolio at Liss Fine Art". Archived from the original on 7 August 2007. Retrieved 28 June 2007.
  3. ^ Postle and Vaughan, 1999, p. 104.
  4. ^ Hudson, Derek, 1975, p. 31.
  5. ^ Rintoul, M. C. (1993). Dictionary of Real People and Places in Fiction. United Kingdom: Routledge. pp. 560. ISBN 0-415-05999-2.
  6. ^ Wilkinson, Martin (3 April 2001). "John Napper". The Guardian. Archived from the original on 10 May 2014. Retrieved 20 December 2021.
  7. ^ "KELLY, Gerald (1879-1972)". English Heritage. Archived from the original on 6 April 2020. Retrieved 14 January 2020.

References

  • Hudson, Derek (1975). For Love of Painting.[full citation needed]
  • Postle, Martin; Vaughan, William (1999). The Artist's Model from Etty to Spencer. London: Merrell Holberton. ISBN 1-85894-084-2.
Cultural offices
Preceded by President of the Royal Academy
1949–1954 		Succeeded by

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