Maryport from the Brows

Percy Kelly was born in Workington and joined the postal service at the age of 14, a job he held until 1985, when he resigned to spend more time on his art. He exhibited and sold rarely, but received a great deal of support from Abbot Hall, including an exhibition in 1976.

He concentrated primarily on landscapes and townscapes, but never included figures, feeling that they would ‘spoil the human image he saw in houses’. His works have a striking graphic quality, combining architectural precision with fluid washes of intense colours.