English Artist Bernard Kay at Gees Gallery

It has been just over two months since Gees’ reopening, perfectly timed with the summer season, and both of our brand new dining spaces are thriving… the ‘Secret Garden’ is glowing in the sun and our private dining space, ‘Gees Gallery’, has been manifesting its Mediterranean essence amidst many lively gatherings.

Since our re-launch in May, ‘Gees Gallery’ has had its bare stone walls adorned with a prime collection of works by Bernard Kay, an English painter and engraver who started working in the post-World War II period and was at the forefront of British art in the 1950s.

About the artist…

Kay was born and raised in Southport and went on to attend the Liverpool School of Art (1943-1946), and the Royal Academy School of Painting in London (1948-1949) where he painted his abstracts alongside his friends Robyn Denny, David Hockney and Richard Smith. Later, he taught drawing at the Southport School of Art and Crafts (1950-1952) and etching at the Birmingham College of Arts and Crafts.

In 1953, Kay moved to London permanently and won a French Government Scholarship for Painting a year later.  From 1954 to 1955, he studied at the Académie Ronson in Paris, later moving on to study etching at the Atelier Friedlander, also in Paris. Kay was one of a number of post-war English artists whose work was exhibited in group shows and individually in London in the 1950s and attracted very favourable attention from national critics.

Kay’s exhibition may be viewed by the public by arrangement, free of charge. Gees Gallery also endeavours to invite promising new artists to exhibit their work for a limited period of time to launch their careers.

Click here to take a virtual tour of ‘Gees Gallery’…