01/09/2026
Several years ago I developed a real passion for Cumbria, but when the weather was wet and cold I found sanctuary in Carlisle with its cathedral ceiling star-studded blue and gold. Outside was the Tullie House Gallery where the work of Cumbrian artist Percy Kelly was shown in 2017.
Kelly was born in Workington to a poor, working class family. From a very early age it was clear that he was gifted artistically. How I loved his paintings of North West Cumbria: Maryport, Allonby, Whitehaven and Loweswater, all of which I recognised.
Creativity was as vital to his wellbeing as eating and drinking, and he would sketch between customers at his job in the Post Office. He didn’t go to art college until his 40s, where he studied print making.
Artists have a tendency to see the world differently, and to be complex, troubled souls. Kelly was self-absorbed, egotistical and personality disordered. Throughout his life he could scarcely part with any of his paintings. Despite mixing with high society, he gradually slid into poverty.
Much of Percy Kelly’s work is in the form of beautifully written and illustrated letters to his acquaintances. Almost all of his life he had found strong women to lean on in order to cope. He died lonely, confused and intestate - tragic considering his talent as an artist, his love of capturing the lines and shapes of the landscape around him, and his desire to share this joy with the recipients of his letters (although few were allowed to own his art). It’s quite possible that he was autistic, with his obsessive nature. What is clear is that his art could have made him a million if his genius had not been matched by his eccentricity.
