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T Kevin Geary was born in 1952 in England to Irish parents whose ancestry goes back centuries, in Cork and Waterford. At the age of 13, he was awarded a prize for his drawing by the Royal Drawing Society. At the age of 19, he was the youngest political cartoonist at the Financial Times in London. At 20, he had his first one man show opened by Harold Wilson, the Labour prime minister.He has since had over 60 exhibitions of his work in Europe and the United States. For over 30 years Geary did portrait commissions of some of the most renowned people in the world, including Pope John Paul II, Henry Kissinger, Golda Meir, Sen. John McCain, Leonard Bernstein, Ella Fitzgerald, Count Basie and Placido Domingo, to name just a few. Geary's work is in several major museum collections, including the Primary collection of the National Portrait Gallery in London and the Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco , the Kachaturian Museum in Yerevan, Armenia, the Abbey Theatre in Dublin and the Wigmore Hall in London. His work is also in the private collections of Henry Kissinger, Golda Meir, Princess Michael of Kent, Leonard Bernstein, Count Basie, Sir Colin Davis, Vladimir Ashkenazy, and two former British prime ministers: Harold Wilson and Edward Heath.Geary's biography was recently included in the prestigious Artists' Biographical Encyclopedia, the Allgemeines Künstlerlexicon, published in Munich. Since 2004, his paintings have sold at major auction international auction houses, including Christie's in London, Doyle's in New York, and Whyte's in Dublin. There are more than 20 auction records of his work.Selected Exhibitions, Commissions, Museum collections, etc. Born 1952 in Lincoln, England. 1966 Awarded prize for drawing by the Royal Drawing Society, London. 1971 Works as a political cartoonist for the Financial Times, London. 1972 King's Gallery, London. (First one man show, opened by Harold Wilson). 1973 Hornchurch Public Library, Essex. (Invited one man exhibition). 1974 Polytechnic of Central London. (Invited one man exhibition, with an introduction by David Wehl, OBE.). 1974 Commissioned to do portraits of Count Basie, Ella Fitzgerald, Errol Garner, and Vladimir Ashkenazy. 1974 Commissioned to do Stations of the Cross for a Catholic Church, "Christ the Eternal High Priest" in Gidea Park, Essex. 1974 One man show, "Music and Musicians" at the Ansdell Gallery. (Introduction by the artist Carel Weight, RA). 1974 Vladimir Ashkenazy portrait donated to the International Piano Archives, Maryland. 1974 Contemporary Portraits exhibition at Wildenstein Gallery, London. 1975-76 Lives in Ireland, in Waterford and Dublin. 1975 Setanta Gallery, Dublin. 1975 Curwen Gallery, invited exhibit, "Figures into Spaces", London. 1975 2nd Cleveland International Drawing Biennale, Cleveland. 1976 Returns to live in London. 1976 National Museum of Wales. 1976 Birmingham Art Gallery. 1976 Carlisle Art Gallery. 1976 Charlotte Square Gallery, Edinburgh. 1976 Laing Art Gallery, Manchester. 1976 Camden Arts Centre, London. 1976 Commissioned to do portrait of Cyril Cusack, the actor. 1977 Thumb Gallery, London. (Exhibition of the Cyril Cusack portrait, which he gives to the Abbey Theatre) 1977 Commissioned to do portraits of Karl Böhm, Jack Brymer, Aram Khachaturian, Sir Colin Davis, Vladimir Ashkenazy 1978 Commissioned to do portraits of Sergiu Celibidache, James Galway, Claudo Abbado and Alfred Brendel. 1978 Royal Festival Hall, London. (Exhibition of the Khachaturian portrait at the memorial concert for the composer). 1978 Sets up a studio in Chelsea, London 1978 Portrait of Khachaturian acquired and donated to the Kachaturian Museum in Yerevan. 1979 Commissioned to do the portrait of Pope John Paul II for his trip to Ireland. 1979 Commissioned to do portraits of Princess Michael of Kent, Oscar Peterson. 1979 Royal Society of Portrait Painters, London. 1980 Starts doing his first purely abstract paintings. 1980 Commissioned to do portrait of Placido Domingo for 10th anniversary appearance at Covent Garden. 1980 Commissioned to do portrait of Dizzy Gillespie. 1981 Royal Society of Portrait Painters, London. 1981 Fieldbourne Galleries, London. (Invited exhibition, "Music and Musicians"). 1982 Royal Society of Portrait Painters, London. 1982 Royal Festival Hall, London (Invited exhibition of musician's portraits). 1982 Chenil Gallery, London (One man 10 year retrospective exhibition). 1983 Royal Society of Portrait Painters, London. 1983 Wigmore Hall, London (Unveiling of the portrait of Ivor Newton by Edward Heath and William Rees-Mogg). 1983 Carmichael Fine Art, London (Major one man show, covering 12 years of work). 1983-84 Lives in Paris. 1984 James Mayor Gallery, Paris. (First showing of abstract work). 1984 Stroud Festival, England (Invited one man exhibition of portraits and paintings) 1985 First trip to the United States. 1985 Contemporary Art Fair, London. 1986 Lives in Seattle. 1986 Matzke Runnings Gallery, Seattle. 1986 Commissioned to do portrait of Gerard Schwartz, for the Seattle Symphony Orchestra. 1987 Lives in Los Angeles. 1987 Otis Parsons Gallery, Los Angeles. (Invited exhibition) 1989 Lives in San Francisco. 1991 Jack Brymer portrait purchased by the National Portrait Gallery, London. 1992 National Portrait Gallery, London (Recent Acquisitions) 1994 Commissioned to do a portrait of Henry Kissinger. 1995 Work acquired for the collection by the Achenbach Foundation for Graphic Arts, (Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco). 1996 Becomes U.S. permanent resident. 1996 Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco. (Recent Acquisitions). 1999 Moves to Arizona 2000 Lives in Sedona 2001 Commissioned to do portrait of Senator John McCain. 2002 New Urban Art Gallery, Phoenix, Arizona. (Shows abstract paintings) 2003 Cathedral Center for the Arts, Phoenix, Arizona. (Invited one man exhibition, "Abstracts and Portraits") 2004 First work sells at auction at Whyte's Auctions, Dublin. 2005 Ceases accepting portrait commissions, concentrates on his abstract painting. 2004-2006 Work starts appearing at auction at Whyte's in Dublin; Doyle Auctions, in New York; Christie's, in London.
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