Background
Diarmuid Kelley was born in 1972, in Stirling, United Kingdom. He grew up in the north of England.
Newcastle University, Newcastle upon Tyne NE1 7RU, United Kingdom
In 1991, Kelley entered Newcastle University to study Fine Art, graduating in 1995.
16 John Islip St, Westminster, London SW1P 4JU, United Kingdom
Between 1996 and 1997, Diarmuid attended Chelsea College of Art and Design (present-day Chelsea College of Arts), where he received a Master of Arts degree in Painting.
Newcastle University, Newcastle upon Tyne NE1 7RU, United Kingdom
In 1991, Kelley entered Newcastle University to study Fine Art, graduating in 1995.
16 John Islip St, Westminster, London SW1P 4JU, United Kingdom
Between 1996 and 1997, Diarmuid attended Chelsea College of Art and Design (present-day Chelsea College of Arts), where he received a Master of Arts degree in Painting.
Diarmuid Kelley was born in 1972, in Stirling, United Kingdom. He grew up in the north of England.
In 1991, Kelley entered Newcastle University to study Fine Art, graduating in 1995. Between 1996 and 1997, he attended Chelsea College of Art and Design (present-day Chelsea College of Arts), where he received a Master of Arts degree in Painting.
Kelley has long been associated with Offer Waterman & Co, having had five solo-exhibitions at the gallery, including those, held in 1998, 2001 and 2006. His work is regularly represented in the BP Portrait Award, held at the National Portrait Gallery, London. In addition, Diarmuid has taken part in a number of other group exhibitions, including "The Figure", Browse & Darby Gallery, London; "Hinterland", Thomas Williams Fine Art Ltd., London; and "Illuminate", Jasmine Studios, Hammersmith, London.
Every year, the artist undertakes a limited number of portrait commissions, which he often paints on location, working at his studio as well. For example, in 2010, Diarmuid received a commission to paint Dame Anne Owers, Her Majesty's Chief Inspector of Prisons.
Diarmuid Kelley is one of the United Kingdom's leading portrait and still life artists. In 1995, he was the youngest artist ever to win the prestigious Nat West Art Prize. The prices for his works range from $40,000 to $50,000 for small still lifes and to $120,000 for a large subject.
The artist's works are often purchased by celebrity collectors, such as the film director Steven Spielberg, and are kept in the National Portrait Gallery, London, and Chatsworth House, Derbyshire.
Kangaroo
Courbet, Saviour of the World
The Bayeux Tapestry
Lives of the Great Composers
Red Onions
Supermassive Black Hole
Rhashan
Live at the Witch Trials
Cox's Apples
Seville Oranges
Portrait of The Duke of Devonshire
I'm Backing Britain
I Didn't Know You Cared
Every Home Should Have One
England is Mine
Keats and Yeats are On Your Side
A Guide to the New Elizabethans
Untitled (Rosie)
Summer
Winterreise
Copenhagen
Portrait of Sir Richard Thompson
Peony
Untitled (Red Grapes)
Forty-one False Starts
Garden Rose
Hawfinches
Throughout his career, Kelley has been experimenting with the methods, employed by the Dutch masters of the seventeenth century and Joseph Wright of Derby, recreating timeless scenes, where natural light is a key component. Using a specially constructed "room" in his studio, which has a window frame to one side, exposed to strong daylight, he adjusts the curtaining to carefully control the dramatic counterpoint of light and shade to recreate a sense of what he terms "a loaded stillness". The result is a series of beautifully constructed portraits and still lifes with an arresting, timeless quality and enigmatic names, such as "The Thirty Years War" and "Indian Red".
The subjects of his paintings are frequently friends, including the actress Olivia Williams – a longstanding muse, whom he has cast in a wide range of roles within his work, from Regency beauty to contemporary femme fatale.
