Roy Petley Paintings

Roy Petley (born 3 April 1950 ) is a British painter. Petley paints en plein air to depict the wide expanse of English beaches and the gentle allure of Venetian landscapes. His work...

Roy Petley’s career has spanned over thirty years during which time he has established his reputation as one of the finest figurative artists living today. These fine watercolours,...

In an age of “virtual reality” when the art of picture making is possible through the screen, and imagery is well considered when floating in formaldehyde, it is reassuring to find a...

Roy Petley (born 3 April 1951) is a contemporary British artist renowned for his impressionist oil paintings. Petley paints en plein air, which is a French expression meaning "in th...

"Easter at the beach" oil on panel by Roy Petley The beach scenes is one of Petley' s favourite subjects, as it was for Eugène Boudin and Edward Seago, artist whom Petley receive an enormous influence. Petley has a great skilful to paint the clouds and to get very dramatic skies in motion. This landscape is perfectly balance: huge sky, very faraway skyline, families relaxing on the dunes, big animation on the beach. But the best is the happiness showed on this canvas. A painting that you don't get bored to look at every day. Dimension frame 38 cm H x 54 cm W x 4 cm D Dimension art: 20 cm H x 36 cm W About the artist: The first-born son of a large family, Roy Petley was born on 3 April 1950 in Grantham, Lincolnshire. When he was five, Petley was abandoned to the Woodlands School near Uckfield, Sussex. The school also doubled as a home for abandoned children. He escaped his rough and often violent surroundings through art, teaching himself how to paint and draw. At the age of sixteen, he received a scholarship to study art at Brighton University. But the pull of Italy and the country's old masters of art such as Leonardo da Vinci and Michelangelo proved too much. After a semester at Brighton University, he hitchhiked to Italy, settling in Florence where he eked out a living by drawing tourists who frequent the numerous cafes of the city, and studied the classics at the Uffizi Gallery and Palazzo Pitti. It was also in Florence that Petley had the chance to work with the collections of old master prints and drawings of the Gabinetto dei Disegni e Stampe of the Uffizi Gallery. "Roy Petley paints light; it is his passion. Every image he creates is alive with light; it reveals and conceals, taking possession of space. Whether he is painting sky, water or the human figure he uses a mass of colours revealing them through subdued lights. These colours, which arethe very material of which the light is made, pulsate with life. Roy interprets rather than reproduces nature. He does not take the viewer by the hand and point out every nuance of the view before him. He hints and cajoles; this is poetry rather than pedantry. A subject as prosaic as a Norfolk village is rendered poetic by his form, his colours and, most especially, his light. Following in the tradition of John Constable, John Sell Coteman and Edward Seago, Petley summons up the drama and lowering threat of those huge Norfolk skies which relegate mankind to a walk-on role. In depicting nature versus man he establishes an empathy with the viewer; there is almost a ‘madeleine-moment’ when we are taken back to a shared experience and want to say ‘Yes, it was justlike that!’ Constable said that he had never seen an ugly thing in his life because whatever forman object might take ‘light, shade and perspective’ would always render it beautiful. Likewise Petley’ssense of beauty is not that of the object itself but of light and shade. In his nudes the figures and the backgrounds constitute a whole; the same light which caresses the female figure also caresses the background features. At the same time he casts light as a player in the mise-en-scène of his painting, especially when he places his models contre-jour. The resulting translucence renders the nudes ethereal, almost otherworldly; they have an innocence which beguiles. There is a stillness about them which renders them unthreatening to the viewer; thereis no interchange, no sexual connotation. When he wishes to emphasise the sensual, rather than the sexual, Roy executes his nudes in sanguine. The figures in his pastoral scenes have a romantic, idealised, out-of-time quality which is veryappealing and, again, veryseductive. Wewish to share the same time and the same place with these people; we wish to be a part of the scene. This is Roy’s gift, he is able to render what he sees around him with such a straightforward and uncritical eye that we, the onlookers, are seduced into sharing with him his optimistic, unclouded view of the world". Síle Connaughton-Deeny Career Petley was only seventeen when he returned to England in 1968. At first, he headed for Belfast, Northern Ireland where the Bell Gallery provided support and encouragement for the young artist. But after some time in Ireland, Petley returned to London and succeeded in exhibiting his paintings in the galleries of the city's high-end shops, such as Liberty's and Heal's. To support his art, he worked in the art department of the Greenwich Theatre. By the age of 21, Petley left the theatre world altogether and began exhibiting his works on the railings of Green Park in London. In the 70s, the perimeter of the park was home to mostly struggling local artists selling their works to the passing public. Exhibiting on Sundays, the Green Park railings were then respectably called "The Open Air Art Show". Though this tradition still continues, railings has since been occupied by individuals peddling tourist gifts and paintings made in China. He achieved minor success with American art dealers who took great interest in his work. Following a chance encounter with The Duchess of Kent, a member of the late Queen Mother's household staff came to look at his works. Soon after William Tallon, the late Queen Mother's steward, returned to her with Petley's portrait study of Prince Charles, Petley was summoned to the Palace. Thus began the artist's long-standing friendship with the British Royals, which includes HRH The Prince of Wales, HRH The Duke of Edinburgh and The Duchess of Norfolk as his supporters. Exhibitions ensued in London and Dublin, and in places as far away as Dallas, Texas and the island of Barbados. Art In every work of art, Petley incorporates a play of light and shadows. As he moves from his natural medium of oil to watercolour or pastel to sanguine, there remains a certain youthful light emanates from his paintings. A plein air painter, his works reflect his surroundings - from the quiet beaches of Norfolk and the picturesque parks of Paris, to his subtle nudes draped with sheets and sunlight. He captures the romanticism of days gone by, with nary a modern automobile or electrical appliance blemishing his canvas. Renowned British art critic, Brian Sewell, described Petley as "a painter who still paints, who brushes watercolour onto paper and oil paint onto canvas, a painter who even settles down to draw the nude from life - an absurdly old-fashioned discipline for an artist to pursue." List of exhibitions 1968: Drawings, Bell Gallery, Belfast 1970: Liberty's Gallery, London; Heal's Gallery, London 1972: The Open Air Art Show, Green Park, London 1973: Crome Gallery, Norfolk 1975: Liberty's Gallery, London 1976: Heal's Gallery, London; One-Man Exhibition, Crome Gallery, Norwich; The Small Gallery, Norwich 1977: Crome Gallery, Norwich 1978: Traveling Show, East Anglian Marine Artists, Cambridge; One-Man Exhibition, Century Gallery, Henley-on-Thames 1979: Traveling Show, East Anglian Marine Artists, Ipswich; Watercolours of Venice, Crome Gallery, Norwich; Century Gallery, Henley-on-Thames 1980: Traveling Show, East Anglian Marine Artists, Cambridge 1981: Century Gallery, Henley-on-Thames 1982: Australian Paintings, Century Gallery, Henley-on-Thames 1983: Century Gallery, Henley-on-Thames; Fermoy Gallery, King's Lynn 1984: Figures and Flowers, Century Gallery, Henley-on-Thames; Casa de Cultura, Estepona, Spain; Alpine Gallery, London 1985: Century Gallery, Henley-on-Thames; One-Man Exhibition, Don Carlos Hotel, Marbella, Spain; Alpine Gallery, London; The Open Air Arts Show, Green Park, London 1986: Galeria Arte, Benehavis, Spain; Paintings from the Mediterranean, Century Gallery, Henley-on-Thames 1987: Alpine Gallery, London; Century Gallery, Henley-on-Thames; Fine Art Trade Guild Gallery, London 1988: Fine Art Trade Guild Gallery, London; Century Gallery, Henley-on-Thames 1989: One-Man Exhibition, Oughertson Gallery, Barbados; Fine Art Trade Guild Gallery, London; One-Man Exhibition, Mistral Gallery, London 1990: One-Man Exhibition, Oughertson Gallery, Barbados 1991: One-Man Exhibition, Solomon Gallery, Dublin 1992: The Bruton St. Gallery, London 1993: Davis Messum, Cork St, London 1994: Davis Messum, Cork St, London (watercolours); David Messum, Cork St, London (oil paintings) 1995: Jorgensen Fine Art, Dublin; David Messum, Cork St, London 1996: The Victorian Gallery, Dallas, Texas 1997: The Victorian Gallery, Dallas, Texas; David Messum, Cork St, London; Jorgensen Fine Art, Dublin 1998: David Messum, Cork St, London; Sammer Gallery, Marbella, Spain 1999: David Messum, Cork St, London; The Victorian Gallery, Dallas, Texas 2000: David Messum, Cork St, London 2001: The Eakin Gallery, Belfast 2002: The Little Gallery, Saint Emilion, France 2003: Stables Gallery, County Antrim; Petley Fine Art, London 2004: Petley Fine Art, London & Monte Carlo; The Little Gallery, Saint Emilion 2005: Petley Fine Art, London & Monte Carlo 2006: Petley Fine Art, London & Monte Carlo 2007: Petley Fine Art, London & Monte Carlo; The Little Gallery, Saint Emilion 2008: Petley Fine Art, London & Monte Carlo 2009: Petleys 2010: Petleys 2011 - 2017 : The Little Gallery, Saint Emilion, France Collections HRH The Prince of Wales HM Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother Her Grace The Duchess of Norfolk Durban Museum The Lord Hanson Frederick Forsyth Mr & Mrs R. K. Black HRH The Duke of Edinburgh HRH The Duchess of Kent Ulster Museum Harvard University Susan George...