Acclaimed west Cumbrian artist Percy Kelly is to be the subject of a major exhibition at the Theatre by the Lake in Keswick.
More than 50 paintings, drawings and original prints direct from Kelly’s estate will be showcased.
Some of the works have never been seen before and all are available for sale.
Sales of exhibited works in the Gallery will include paintings, drawings and a collection of prints made by Percy Kelly, as well as limited editions of etchings created from Kelly’s original plates.
The sales will be open to the public throughout the exhibition, with proceeds donated to the theatre.
In addition the Theatre by the Lake is putting on a world premiere screening of unseen footage of Percy Kelly’s works on 8mm.
In spring last year Chris Wadsworth, founder of Castlegate House Gallery and representative of the Percy Kelly estate, received a mysterious email asking if she would be interested in a film.
It was accompanied by a letter from an artist called Percy Kelly addressed to a gallery owner in Paris.
Chris replied with caution; Percy died 30 years ago leaving nothing about ever being in Paris.
The correspondent had not been able to watch the 8mm cinefilm footage, but the letter, signed and dated 1964, proved to be genuine.
What followed is an astonishing tale, which is still unfolding today.
The premiere public screening of the 8mm footage will take place in the Theatre by the Lake Studio on Saturday 13 April, including an introduction and Q&A with Chris Wadsworth.
There will also be a special guest who was present when the film was made.
The exhibition of his paintings at the Theatre by the Lake will run from Saturday 30 March until Saturday 20 April.
Born Robert Percy Kells at Corporation Road, in Workington he was one of seven children (and a twin, brother John).
As a child he was a pupil of Victoria Road Primary School.
The family moved to the Oval, Salterbeck and he then attended Workington’s Central Secondary School,
Afterwards he worked for the General Post Office as a telegraph messenger boy from 1932 to 1939 before serving in the Royal Corps of Signals from 1939 to 1946.
He worked for the Post Office again after the war, becoming sub-postmaster at Great Broughton from 1952 to 1958 which is now commemorated with a plaque.
It has been said that in the mid-1950s, he played football for Workington Reds while Bill Shankly was manager, but certainly never played League football with the first team.
His artistic talent had first shown as a schoolboy when his teachers suggested to his parents he should aim for Gramar School and Art College – but the family could not afford it.
During the Second World War, while working with the Royal Signals, his section was transferred to Churchill’s war rooms, where Kelly later said he had discussed art with Winston himself.
Kelly’s early works were part of an exhibition of artwork by servicemen in London and were accepted by the Royal Academy of Arts.
Although he did not attend art school until he was in his forties, Kelly gained recognition among royalty where he was known to King George V1 and admired by Princess Margaret.
A great supporter back in his native Cumberland was Sir Nicholas Sekers, an entrepreneur who founded Rosehill Theatre.
He commissioned Kelly to paint watercolours of his West Cumberland Silk Mills’ looms as well as landscapes of Whitehaven and Parton. He put on the first public exhibition of Kelly’s work at Rosehill Theatre.
Married and divorced twice, with one son from his first marriage, Kells was a cross-dresser who changed his name to Roberta Penelope Kelly by deed poll in 1985, but changed it back again after seven years.
Kelly died from throat cancer in Norwich in 1993.
During his life he was well known for refusing to sell his artwork except to individuals he truly liked. While he was alive, he held only five exhibitions, with most of his artwork marked “not for sale”.
He lived in poverty but remained intransigent, even as art dealers and collectors visited him to try to buy his drawings and his friends tried to help him make a living from his work.
He hid many of his paintings away, reportedly so that neither his ex-wife nor the benefits agency would find out the true value of his collection
There has long been a debate about whether Kelly ever included a human being in any of his completed paintings.
None have appeared it seems in public although a friend of the family believes that Kelly did one of a doctor he met and liked in the Army.
That completed picture was given to the doctor at the time.
It will be interesting to see if that picture resurfaces in the upcoming Keswick exhibition, or are there others on show which contain people?
