Portrait of an Edwardian Lady - sold

Oil on canvas, 14"x11"

In this painting I wanted to evoke a fin-de-siècle mood. A willowy red haired lady in an elegant black dress creates a dramatic figure within a golden Parisian style interior. She reminds me of a character in a Henry James novel, or many of John Singer Sargent's portrait subjects...a beautiful young woman with a hint of mystery and turbulence beneath her composed exterior. While painted with loose, impressionistic brushstrokes, I enjoyed evoking details such as the rope of pearls and the charming cabriole leg salon chair in the background. 

Copyright © Pat Kelley. All rights reserved. 

Contemplation - sold

Graphite on paper, 11"x8.5"

This is a drawing of a handsome man in jeans relaxing on a sofa. It's a combination of portrait and figurative study of my favorite model. Somehow, even when I set out to do a figure study it becomes a portrait of that person. I like the open, lounging quality of his pose. It's so typical of the comfortably confident way men sit. There is an interesting combination of the classical and contemporary in this piece. While pondering his gentle, thoughtful expression I realized that this piece is about both my contemplation of him and his own inward contemplation.

I am a big fan of John Singer Sargent's superb male figure drawings and I've been inspired to explore drawing again after a long period of almost exclusively painting. It has been fun to focus on line and tone. I'm enjoying the spontaneity and expressive quality of these drawings.

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Portrait of Young Ernest Hemingway - sold

Oil on canvas, 10"x8"

This is a portrait of the 18 year old Ernest Hemingway at the start of his voluntary service as an ambulance driver in Italy during WWI. It's based on an old black and white photo and I thought it would be fun to paint Hemingway as though he had posed for a quick portrait study by John Singer Sargent, who went to capture the conflict in Europe as an official war artist. I kept the brushwork loose and I think it has the look of portrait from the early 20th century.

It was fascinating to contemplate the young Hemingway in this period shortly before encountering the horrors of war which would both inspire and mark him. I feel he emerged looking quite boyish yet confident, almost cocky...as though he knew that big things were ahead for him.

Copyright © Pat Kelley. All rights reserved. 

Man Sleeping in Antique Bed - sold

Oil on canvas 14"x18"

This painting is a classic male nude of a sleeping figure in an antique bed. The model is angled across the bed with the white sheets framed by the dark tones of the wooden bed and room interior. There is a vigorous, painterly quality to the brushwork while maintaining a high degree of realism. It's a contemporary work but the interior details and classical technique rich with impasto imbues it with a vintage feel. This is a sleeping figure but something about this figure, perhaps the bold foreshortening and the strong diagonal of the figure conveys a restless energy.

Copyright © Pat Kelley. All rights reserved. 

Sargent Study: Olimpio Fusco - sold

Oil on Gallery Wrap Canvas, 10"x8"

I believe in learning from the best and John Singer Sargent is one of the great masters of portrait and figurative work. This is a study with a twist; the original portrait was a drawing but I used oil on canvas based on what I imagined a Sargent oil study of this model would look like. A fun exercise and it really made me think about Sargent's flesh palette and brushwork.