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Cecil Kennedy

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Cecil Kennedy

Cecil Kennedy (1905-1997) is one of the most well-known members of the English Contemporary School. Before he was 24 he had shown at the Royal Scottish Academy and the Royal Hibernian Academy and he then went on to exhibit regularly at the Royal Academy and in the provinces.

His wife was a huge part in his art, sixty-four years they worked together as a creative team; she was very skilled at creating the beautiful flower arrangements that Kennedy painted and over the years the couple collected many mid-eighteen century Waterford vases which continually featured in his work. In the Second World War Kennedy was called up and fought in the Eighth Army in Europe. During the winter of 1944 he was based in Antwerp where he familiarized himself with the Dutch and Flemish Old Master flower paintings first hand. From the 1950’s until the 1970’s Kennedy exhibited regularly at the Fine Art Society who were keen advocates of his work. He was awarded a silver medal at the Paris Salon in 1956 and a gold medal in 1970. Queen Mary is quoted as saying “When I see Cecil Kennedy’s pictures I can smell the flowers and hear the hum of the bees.” It was she who noticed a ladybird that Kennedy had painted on the stem of a flower and Kennedy always incorporated a ladybird into his paintings thereafter. Cecil Kennedy is widely regarded as the finest British painter of flowers of the 20th century.

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