Felix Kelly New Zealand, 1916-94
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About Felix Kelly
Felix Kelly was born in Epsom, Auckland in 1914. He attended Kings College (secondary school) and left New Zealand for London in his early twenties, where he worked as a graphic artist and designer for an advertising agency. During the Second World War he served in the Royal Air Force and began to paint seriously in his spare time. He held his first solo exhibition in London in 1943, and after that he began to exhibit annually. He was popular in London social circles and was commissioned by his social contacts to redesign many country houses, paint murals and design theatre sets. He travelled to the United States in the late 1940s where he continued his work, returning to London in the mid-60s. he died in London in 1994. A touring retrospective of his work Felix Kelly: A Kiwi at Brideshead was shown in New Zealand in 2010.
The earliest auction listing we have for Felix Kelly is in 1972 and in total 120 works by the artist have been offered for sale, of which 86 (72%) were sold. The highest price recorded for the artist is $49,089 for 'African Capriccio' Post Office, Sierra Leone sold by International Art Centre in May 2020. This year 7 works have been offered for sale. Works by Felix Kelly are held by the Christchurch Art Gallery.
Felix Kelly is listed in the following standard biographical references:
- The Find New Zealand Artists web site: a database of artist names that directs researchers to the rich resources found in New Zealand's libraries, art society exhibition histories and published sources.
The Australian Art Sales Digest is a database of over 610,000 works by more than 12,000 artists who are listed as having either lived or worked in Australia or New Zealand, and an additional 36,000 foreign and other artists, offered for sale by auction in Australia and New Zealand from the early 1970s to the present day.
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