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Sir Gerald Festus Kelly:
Portrait of Jane XIX
Framed (ref: 1328)
Inscribed XIX on canvas edge
Oil on canvas

Tags: Sir Gerald Festus Kelly oil women 1.PORTRAIT OF AN ARTIST

Literature: Llewellyn, Sacha, and Paul Liss. Portrait of an Artist. Liss Llewellyn, 2021, p.129.

Kelly first met Lilian Ryan in 1916 when she was working as an artist's model, and the two were married four years later. Affectionately nicknamed Jane, Kelly went on to depict his wife in over fifty portraits and sketches throughout his career, titling them with roman numerals for the date that the work was first exhibited at the Royal Academy.

This composition was reused by Kelly some eight  years later in a more formal version of the portrait in which the the coral jewellery is omitted and the shawl fully covers Jane's shoulders.

Portrait of Jane with a white shawl XXVII
signed 'Kelly' (lower right)
oil on canvas
113 x 87 cm. (44 1/2 x 34 1/4 in.)
Provenance: The Contents of The Studio of the Late Sir Gerald Kelly; Christie's, London, 8 February 1980, lot 151.