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K E V I N G E
A R Y A R T
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Biography
Kevin
Geary was born in 1952 in Lincoln, England, to Irish parents whose
ancestries in Cork and Waterford span centuries.
At the age of 13, he won an
award of excellence for his work from the Royal Drawing Society
in England.
He
studied Anatomy and Colour Theory at the Royal Academy in London, as
well as having private instruction under the late Professor Carel
Weight, R.A.., who became something of a mentor to the artist.
At the age of 19, Geary was the political cartoonist for the Financial
Times. An original cartoon of his from that time, of Edward
Heath, hung in No. 10 Downing Street, the prime minister's
residence, and is now in the collection
of the late Sir Edward Heath's Museum, Arundells, in Salisbury,
England.
At
age 20, he had his first solo exhibition at the King's Gallery in
London, opened by the British Prime Minister Harold Wilson, who also
lent Geary’s portrait of him to the show. Since the artist's first
one-man show in 1972, he has had over 80 exhibitions of his works in
Europe, as well as the U.S.
For
over thirty years Kevin Geary has received international acclaim for
his commissioned portraits, which have depicted such prominent
subjects as Pope John Paul II, Dr. Henry Kissinger, Golda Meir, Sen.
John McCain, Leonard Bernstein, Ella Fitzgerald, Count Basie, and
Placido Domingo, among many others.
Works
by Kevin Geary are included in the collections of several major
museums, including the Primary Collection of the National Portrait
Gallery in London, and the Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco.
In
2004, Geary stopped accepting regular portrait commissions to
concentrate on his abstract and "face" paintings, which have
been acquired by many major private collectors in Ireland, England, Europe, Japan and the US.
In
2007 his biography was included in the prestigious Allgemeines Künstlerlexicon,
the German published Encyclopedia of Biographies of prominent artists
in the world, both past and present.
Geary’s works have sold at Christie’s in London, Whyte’s
Auctions in Dublin and Doyle, New York.
______________________________________________________________________
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 on a regular basis, concentrates on his abstract
and "face" paintings.
2004-2012
Work starts appearing at auction at
Whyte's in Dublin; Doyle Auctions, in New York; Christie's, in London.
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