Sir Gerald Festus Kelly PRA RHA (1879-1972) Ma Than E Oil on Canvas, 97 x 84cm (38 x 33'’) Exhibited: The Royal Academy London, Summer Exhibition 1938, Cat. No. 253; Brighton Exhibition 1938 untraced; The Royal Hibernian Academy 1939, Cat. No. 35 (N.F.S.); ''Sir Gerald Festus Kelly Retrospective Exhibition'', Royal Academy London 1957, Cat. No. 189, where lent by A.P. Reynolds Esq. In correspondence from the artist to the current owners in March 1969 in relation to this painting, Sir Gerald refers to it as ''one of the very best paintings I ever did of a Burmese Girl, who, by the way, was a little duck’’. Sir Gerald Festus Kelly was born in London, 1879. He was educated at Eton College followed by Trinity College Cambridge. After his university studies he travelled to Paris where he remained for many years, receiving an artistic training and befriending Degas, Renoir, Monet, Rodin and Cezanne among others. Kelly travelled extensively during his lifetime, choosing exotic locations such as Burma and Africa as well as the closer climes of Italy and Spain for his inspiration. He painted many pictures of beautiful, porcelain-skinned young Burmese ladies, sometimes dancing but often posed as in this portrait, kneeling with a blanket covering their lower body. Although Kelly's choice of subject for his paintings was varied, it was perhaps for his portraits that he became best known, executing several State portraits and many paintings of society ladies and gentlemen, bishops and lords of the time. Brian Kennedy writes in his book 'Irish Art and Modernism 1880-1950' (p.167): Apart from Dermod O'Brien, the other outstanding portraitists year after year were Sir William Orpen (until 1917 when he last exhibited), Sir John Lavery and Sir Gerald Kelly, but as they lived in England their influence was less than it might otherwise have been. Sir Gerald Festus Kelly exhibited over 300 works at the Royal Academy in London from 1909 until 1970 and held the Presidency from 1949-54. This painting was shown at the Royal Academy in 1957 as part of the 'Sir Gerald Festus Kelly Retrospective Exhibition'. In Ireland Kelly exhibited at the Royal Hibernian Academy from 1905-1969, the Oireachtas Art Exhibition in 1932 (No. 9 - Mrs Hamilton - 500 and No. 10 - Celestine del Pino of Trinidad - 600) and also at the Ulster Academy of Arts in 1948 (No. 41 - Her Majesty the Queen). Gerald Kelly received a knighthood in 1945 - no doubt for his astounding talent in representing people and places with extreme delicacy and beauty. He was a highly successful artist during his lifetime but his name seems not to have lived on as it did with his peers Sir William Orpen and Sir John Lavery. Sir Gerald Festus Kelly died in London in 1972. His work is housed in several public collections, among them the National Portrait Gallery, London, the Tate Gallery, London and the Royal College of Music, London. Literature: D. Hudson, 'For the Love of Painting - The Life of Sir Gerald Kelly', 1975; S.B. Kennedy, 'Irish Art and Modernism 1880-1950', Institute of Irish Studies, Queens University, Belfast, 1991; Brian Stewart and Mervyn Cutten, 'Dictionary of Painters in Britain up to 1920.