Sir Gerald Festus Kelly KCVO PRA (9 April 1879 – 5 January 1972) was a British painter best known for his

portrait A portrait is a painting, photograph, sculpture, or other artistic representation of a person, in which the face is always predominant. In arts, a portrait may be represented as half body and even full body. If the subject in full body better r ...

s. His sister, Rose Edith Kelly, was briefly married to

Aleister Crowley Aleister Crowley ( ; born Edward Alexander Crowley; 12 October 1875 – 1 December 1947) was an English occultist, ceremonial magician, poet, novelist, mountaineer, and painter. He founded the religion of Thelema, identifying himself as the pr ...

Early life and education

Gerald Kelly was born in

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

. 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 Eton College ( ) is a Public school (United Kingdom), public school providing boarding school, boarding education for boys aged 13–18, in the small town of Eton, Berkshire, Eton, in Berkshire, in the United Kingdom. It has educated Prime Mini ...

and

Trinity Hall, Cambridge Trinity Hall (formally The College or Hall of the Holy Trinity in the University of Cambridge, colloquially "Tit Hall" ) is a Colleges of the University of Cambridge, constituent college of the University of Cambridge. Founded in 1350, it is th ...

, and later lived and studied art in

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

James McNeill Whistler James Abbott McNeill Whistler (; July 10, 1834July 17, 1903) was an American painter in oils and watercolor, and printmaker, active during the American Gilded Age and based primarily in the United Kingdom. He eschewed sentimentality and moral a ...

was an early influence. Kelly travelled much, visiting

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America The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

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, and

Burma Myanmar, officially the Republic of the Union of Myanmar; and also referred to as Burma (the official English name until 1989), is a country in northwest Southeast Asia. It is the largest country by area in Mainland Southeast Asia and ha ...

, which inspired a series of paintings of Burmese dancers.

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 Roman numerals are a numeral system that originated in ancient Rome and remained the usual way of writing numbers throughout Europe well into the Late Middle Ages. Numbers are written with combinations of letters from the Latin alphabet, ea ...

that corresponded to the year of exhibition. Other sitters included

T. S. Eliot Thomas Stearns Eliot (26 September 18884 January 1965) was a poet, essayist and playwright.Bush, Ronald. "T. S. Eliot's Life and Career", in John A Garraty and Mark C. Carnes (eds), ''American National Biography''. New York: Oxford University ...

Ralph Vaughan Williams Ralph Vaughan Williams ( ; 12 October 1872– 26 August 1958) was an English composer. His works include operas, ballets, chamber music, secular and religious vocal pieces and orchestral compositions including nine symphonies, written over ...

, and

Somerset Maugham William Somerset Maugham ( ; 25 January 1874 – 16 December 1965) was an English writer, known for his plays, novels and short stories. Born in Paris, where he spent his first ten years, Maugham was schooled in England and went to a German un ...

, whom he painted 18 times. 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 ''Cakes and Ale, or, The Skeleton in the Cupboard'' (1930) is a novel by the British author W. Somerset Maugham. Maugham exposes the misguided social snobbery levelled at the character Rosie Driffield, whose frankness, honesty, and sexual free ...

'', as Frederick Lawson in '' Of Human Bondage'' and as O'Malley in ''

His Excellency Excellency is an honorific style (manner of address), style given to certain high-level officers of a sovereign state, officials of an international organization, or members of an aristocracy. Once entitled to the title "Excellency", the holder ...

'' presenting him as "the young Irish painter called O'Malley", and dedicating '' Ashenden'' to him. He became a favourite painter of the Royal Family. During the Round Table Conferences in London, he encountered Shan princess Sao Ohn Nyunt. Struck by her grace and beauty, Kelly convinced her to pose for a series of portraits that would become some of his most celebrated works. Although he served as the court painter to the Royal Family during

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, it was the 20 portraits of Sao Ohn Nyut that brought him unparalleled acclaim. These portraits, reproduced as posters, have sold over 50,000 copies and remain available to this day. He was elected to the

Royal Academy The Royal Academy of Arts (RA) is an art institution based in Burlington House in Piccadilly London, England. Founded in 1768, it has a unique position as an independent, privately funded institution led by eminent artists and architects. Its ...

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 A knight is a person granted an honorary title of a knighthood by a head of state (including the pope) or representative for service to the monarch, the church, or the country, especially in a military capacity. The concept of a knighthood ...

in the 1945 King's Birthday Honours List. The artist John Napper (1916–2001) worked as his assistant. In 1950 he was elected to the

National Academy of Design The National Academy of Design is an honorary association of American artists, founded in New York City in 1825 by Samuel Morse, Asher Durand, Thomas Cole, Frederick Styles Agate, Martin E. Thompson, Charles Cushing Wright, Ithiel Town, an ...

as an Honorary Corresponding Academician.

Death and legacy

Sir Gerald Kelly 1879-1972 Portrait Painter lived here 1916-1972

Kelly died in

Exmouth Exmouth is a harbor, port town, civil parishes in England, civil parish and seaside resort situated on the east bank of the mouth of the River Exe, southeast of Exeter. In 2011 it had a population of 34,432, making Exmouth the List of settl ...

in 1972. He is represented in many public collections, including the

Tate Gallery Tate is an institution that houses, in a network of four art galleries, the United Kingdom's national collection of British art, and international modern and contemporary art. It is not a government institution, but its main sponsor is the UK ...

, which holds seven works. Kelly's London residence at 117 Gloucester Place in Marylebone is marked by an

English Heritage English Heritage (officially the English Heritage Trust) is a charity that manages over 400 historic monuments, buildings and places. These include prehistoric sites, a battlefield, medieval castles, Roman forts, historic industrial sites, Lis ...

blue plaque placed in 1993.

Notes

References

*Hudson, Derek (1975). ''For Love of Painting''. *Postle, Martin; Vaughan, William (1999). ''The Artist's Model from Etty to Spencer''. London: Merrell Holberton. .

External links

*
His paintings and short biography

2008 article on Newport exhibition that includes Gerald Kelly painting
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Kelly, Gerald Festus 1879 births 1972 deaths Royal Academicians Alumni of Trinity Hall, Cambridge 20th-century British painters British male painters Knights Bachelor Keepers of the Royal Academy People educated at Eton College 20th-century British male artists