Exhibited: Felix Kelly: Paintings of America, Spain, Italy & New Zealand, Cat. no. 20, December 1952 The Leicester Galleries, Leicester Square, London

Reference: p. 274 The Art and Life of Felix Kelly, Donald Bassett, Darrow Press 2008

The life of expatriate artist Felix Kelly (1914 - 1994) is as intriguing as his work. Born in Epsom, Auckland he attended Kings College but left New Zealand aged 21 years for the bright lights of London. Befriended and patronised by many leading society figures of the day, Kelly exhibited alongside Lucien Freud, Julian Trevelyan and on one occasion Frances Hodgkins. A life of glamour and creativity ensued.

Kelly painted the famous Garden Room Murals at Castle Howard, where the ITV series Brideshead Revisited was filmed, designed theatre sets for Sir John Gielgud and Dame Sybil Thorndike and illustrated magazines such as Harper's Bazaar. Kelly's distinctive work, rarely seen at auction, is held in British and American collections,

Te Papa and Hawke's Bay Museum and Art Gallery. A major retrospective was held at Gus Fisher Gallery, Auckland in 2010. Kelly's extraordinary life is documented in Donald Bassett's biography Fix: The Art & Life of Felix Kelly