Why choose Kelley Gallery? Choose experience.

The Kelley Gallery specializes in Early California artists active 1880-1950 (from Victorian to early modernism), and American, English & European paintings by Pre-Raphaelite, Romantic and Symbolist artists active 1830-1920. The gallery handles a wide spectrum of painting styles and subjects from these categories and periods, with a special emphasis on figurative works and pictures of historical interest. We cater to the independent-thinking and progressive-minded collector looking for the unique and the unusual.

Established in 1986, the Kelley Gallery has built its reputation as a valuable source for collectors, scholars, museums, and other galleries interested in acquiring, selling, or researching fine original paintings of the 19th and early 20th centuries.

For the discriminating and serious collector, the Kelley Gallery offers a special range of personal curatorial services: Guidance & consultation in the areas of selective acquisition, conservation & restoration, authentication, art historical research, and forensics.

The Kelley Gallery roster of Early California artists includes major names such as Guy Rose, Granville Redmond, Joseph Kleitsch, E. Charlton Fortune, Agnes Pelton, Maynard Dixon, John Gamble, William Wendt, Franz Bischoff, and Armin Hansen.

The Kelley Gallery has represented the estates of California artists Anna Hills, Benjamin C. Brown, F. Tolles Chamberlin, Bert and Meta Cressey, Jean Mannheim, Joseph Kleitsch, Donna Schuster, Elmer and Marion Wachtel, and Dedrick Stuber.

Gallery director Michael Kelley has conducted extensive research into the lives and work of numerous Early California artists, with a special focus on Joseph Kleitsch and Agnes Pelton. In addition to the ongoing representation and research of early California artists, Michael Kelley is also currently researching the life and work of English Pre-Raphaelite/Romantic painter John William Waterhouse (1849-1917).

Kelley Gallery

Established 1986

Director: Michael Kelley

Focus: Original paintings circa 1840-1950, specializing in early California artists, and European & American Pre-Raphaelite/Symbolist works.

Institutional and commercial references:

Research consultant: "California Light, 1900-1930", curated by Patricia Trenton, 1990; Crocker Art Museum, Sacramento, California; Laguna Art Museum, Laguna Beach, California; Dixon Gallery and Gardens, Memphis, Tennessee.

 

Curator: "Dreams, Visions and Imagination: Symbolic and Imaginative Paintings by California Artists, 1910-1930" (Mabel Alvarez, Claude Buck, Agnes Pelton, and Adele Watson), Sept. ­ Oct. 1990.

 

Research consultant: "Independent Spirits: Women Painters of the American West, 1890-1945", curated by Patricia Trenton; Autry Museum of Western Heritage, Los Angeles, California; Museum of Fine Art, Provo, Utah, 1996-1997.

 

Research consultant: "Agnes Pelton, Poet of Nature", curated by Michael Zakian, Frederick R. Weisman Museum of Art, Pepperdine University, Malibu, California, 1997.

 

Production consultant: "Impressions of California", PBS television documentary, 1996, produced by Paul Bockhorst.

 

Research consultant: "California Progressives, 1910-1930", curated by Susan Anderson; October 26, 1996 - January 12, 1997; Orange County Museum Of Art, Laguna Beach, California.

 

Research consultant: "The American Century: Art and Culture in America, 1900-2000" (a centennial exhibition); various curators; The Whitney Museum of American Art, New York City, New York, 1999-2000.

 

Research consultant: "Circles of Influence: Impressionism to Modernism in California Painting, 1910-1930"; Orange County Museum of Art, Newport Beach, California; June-September, 2000.

 

Guest Art Appraiser: The Questers Antique Appraisal Clinic, Bustamante Antique Show, Pasadena Convention Center, March 1999/2000.

 

Research consultant: "The Art and Life of John William Waterhouse", a monograph currently being written by Peter Trippi, due for publication in 2002 by Phaidon Press.

 

Research consultant: "Murielle: The Story of a Model, a Painting, and the Artistry of John William Waterhouse" by James Kaye, due for publication July, 2000 by Xlibris.

Research consultant: "Joseph Kleitsch: A Kaleidoscope of Color", a monograph currently in preparation by Patricia Trenton and Jean Stern, to be published by the Irvine Museum in 2002.

Research consultant: "Impressionism and Beyond: The Art Students League of Southern California, 1910-1940", exhibition with accompanying catalogue, essay by Will South; Laband Gallery, Loyola Marymount University, Los Angeles, California; slated for summer 2001.