About Geoffrey Key

figures with clouds 1967

Background information

Geoffrey Key was born in Manchester, England, in 1941. His early education was at Manchester's High School of Art. In 1958 he commenced degree and post graduate studies at the Manchester Regional College of Art , from where he gained the National Diploma of Design and the Diploma of Associateship of Manchester; the latter with distinction, leading to a postgraduate scholarship in sculpture. His academic awards include the Heywood medal in Fine Art and the Guthrie Bond Travelling Scholarship.

His work has been and is exhibited  widely and features in important public, corporate and private art throughout the world.

Comments and Quotes

David Gunning, director, Todmorden Fine Art:

'We have been dealing in Geoffrey Key's work for the past fifteen years, During that time, we have watched his reputation grow both nationally and internationally. He is an excellent draughtsman, a brilliant colourist and he has an apparently inexhaustible imagination. Every new intake of pictures creates the same feverish excitement amongst the serious collectors who frequent our gallery. He is certainly one of the North's most talented and original painters.'

Caroline Farmiloe, London:

His proud, powerful figure forms ooze sensuality....In his landscapes, vibrant colour pervades, restrained by a confident handling of line and form. Geoffrey Key's works touch the viewer on many sensory levels. Fine draughtsmanship and sure handling of colour work alongside his at times bizarre imagination, revealing his joy at creating images that bridge the gap between dream and reality.

Sandra Walters,  fine art consultant:

'Rather than just painting his 'Key Figures' he almost treats them like sculptures; honing the composition and interaction of his figures in order to maximize the drama.....there is an underlying dynamic of powerful and often humorous works for everyone who loves life and art!'

Mark Nulty, proprietor, The Oriel Gallery, Dublin:

"We are delighted to welcome Geoffrey Key back to the Oriel Gallery.  This is the third visit, and we never know who he will bring with him: party revellers in bright, festive dresses; musicians wrapped up in their instruments, tipplers, dreamers and dancers.  Then there are the landscapes.  More than one critic has identified Key as a kind of tough romantic.  His landscape is pastoral, but there is a sculptural quality to it.  Even his rolling hills have more than a hint of the steel of his native northern England.  But Geoffrey Key does not so much paint landscapes as collect them.  A church from one location might appear in a valley from another.  A seascape might appear behind two figures spotted in a Midlands bar.  It is the same with his still-lives and figure studies: a literal record is of no interest to him.  He prefers to remember, forget, rearrange and amalgamate.  Nothing in the natural or man-made world escapes his attention, and his take on human folly is good-humoured and affectionate.  He has patiently developed the means to express that affection in paint."

urn figure 1973

the embrace 1992

bathers 1982

    sunbird 2005

two bathers 2000