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Old 09-29-2016   #1
Robin Davies
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Felix Kelly
I've just finished reading an excellent, profusely illustrated book about Felix Kelly.

 
Fix the Art and Life of Felix Kelly: Amazon.co.uk: Donald Bassett, Alan Peat, Brian A. Whitton: 9780957079656: Books
Fix the Art and Life of Felix Kelly: Amazon.co.uk: Donald Bassett, Alan Peat, Brian A. Whitton: 9780957079656: Books

I first encountered his work many years ago via his atmospheric illustrations for Joseph Braddock's book Haunted Houses, but I was unaware of the strangeness and surreality of some of his other work. It's hard to categorise, which is probably why his work has received little attention. At times it's like a hybrid of Canaletto and Giorgio de Chirico.
"felix kelly" - Google Search
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Old 09-29-2016   #2
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Re: Felix Kelly
I get your comparison. Good stuff!
Put your faith in God; he won't expect you.
Put your faith in death, because it's free.
If you believe in nothing, honey, it believes in you.
-Robyn Hitchcock
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Old 09-29-2016   #3
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Re: Felix Kelly
Thanks for posting this. I hadn't seen Felix Kelly's work, and find it enormously appealing. My first reaction was to think it had a superficial resemblance to the Romantic paintings of Caspar David Friedrich: http://www.bing.com/images/search?q=...ch&FORM=HDRSC2

But Kelly's work seems richer, more inventive. I suspect that if Kelly's work has attracted little attention, the reason is it seems a little to romantic for present jaded and cynical tastes.



Felix Kelly



Caspar David Friedrich

I'm sure I remember a painting of an ocean-going steamer stranded half-way up a mountainside---which evoked much derision from a tellycritic years ago---I was reminded of it by Kelly's ancient bus on a beach. The closest I can find at the moment is this painting of a ship in the ice. Did I imagine that insanely stranded steamer?
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Old 09-29-2016   #4
Robin Davies
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Re: Felix Kelly
Quote Originally Posted by Calenture View Post
I'm sure I remember a painting of an ocean-going steamer stranded half-way up a mountainside---which evoked much derision from a tellycritic years ago---I was reminded of it by Kelly's ancient bus on a beach. The closest I can find at the moment is this painting of a ship in the ice. Did I imagine that insanely stranded steamer?
It doesn't ring a bell, but could it have helped to inspire Herzog's FITZCARRALDO?

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Old 09-29-2016   #5
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Re: Felix Kelly
I'm sure you must be right, Robin. Over the years my memory of a smarmy art critic on BBC 2 deriding Romantic art has blurred with that almost-surreal memory of the ship in the jungle in Fitzcaraldo. The age of the film (1982) certainly seems about right. Funny how some things persist in memory---albeit in distorted and confused ways.

Rog

P.S. That ancient bus on the beach looks like an illustration for a story Bradbury never got around to writing.

Very late edit: Sorry, I've just re-read your comment "It doesn't ring a bell, but could it have helped to inspire Herzog's FITZCARRALDO?" My emphasis added there as I thought I must have simply mistaken the Fitcaraldo image with a painting I'd seen, and responded to that effect. Painting, film image, or both? Looks like it'll remain a small mystery.
Last edited by Calenture; 09-30-2016 at 03:27 AM..
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Old 12-13-2016   #6
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Re: Felix Kelly
I loved his cover for the Faber Best Horror Stories when I was eleven - possibly the first hardcover I ever saved up to buy.
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Old 12-13-2016   #7
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Re: Felix Kelly
Quote Originally Posted by Ramsey Campbell View Post
I loved his cover for the Faber Best Horror Stories when I was eleven - possibly the first hardcover I ever saved up to buy.
That is creepy. It looks like he did one called Haunted Houses too. For some reason I am unable to post images. Here is the link to a Google Advanced Search.

faber "felix kelly" - Google Search
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Old 12-13-2016   #8
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Re: Felix Kelly
The cover for Best Detective Stories is pretty good too.
I think the interior black-and-white illustrations for Joseph Braddock's Haunted Houses are better than the cover.
Books in Wernicke: Felix Kelly: Visions of Haunted Houses
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