Jane XXX, 1930

Sir Gerald Kelly PRA (1879 - 1972)

RA Collection: Art

In 1920 Kelly married Lilian Ryan, a young artist’s model, who first sat for him in 1916. Kelly re-named his wife ‘Jane’ and painted her no fewer than fifty times in varying guises and poses throughout his career. He exhibited a portrait of her nearly every year at the Royal Academy with the simple title ‘Jane’ and roman numerals referring to the year that the painting was first exhibited at the Academy.

The glamorous image portrayed here of a richly dressed woman in evening attire is in fact a studio concoction. Apparently Jane had bought a yard of moiré silk to fashion into a strap of a dress as well as some velvet onto which she attached a fur collar. The challenge of painting various contrasting materials with a high degree of finish was one that Kelly relished.