Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco
The Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco (FAMSF), comprising the de Young Museum in Golden Gate Park and the Legion of Honor in Lincoln Park, is the largest public arts institution in the city of San Francisco. The permanent collection of the ...
, the
Abbey Theatre
The Abbey Theatre ( ga, Amharclann na Mainistreach), also known as the National Theatre of Ireland ( ga, Amharclann Náisiúnta na hÉireann), in Dublin, Ireland, is one of the country's leading cultural institutions. First opening to the p ...
, Dublin,
Wigmore Hall
Wigmore Hall is a concert hall located at 36 Wigmore Street, London. Originally called Bechstein Hall, it specialises in performances of chamber music, early music, vocal music and song recitals. It is widely regarded as one of the world's leadi ...
Geary was born in 1952 in Lincoln, England. His mother was the violinist Gloria Pashley.
Three generations of Geary's family, including his Irish grandfather and great-grandfather, were marine artists.
In 1966, at the age 14, Geary won an award from the Royal Drawing Society of Great Britain.
Career
Although good at art and playing the piano, Geary's ambition as a child was to be a political cartoonist. Geary contacted Leslie Gilbert Illingworth a political cartoonist for the '' Daily Mail'' and ''
Punch
Punch commonly refers to:
* Punch (combat), a strike made using the hand closed into a fist
* Punch (drink), a wide assortment of drinks, non-alcoholic or alcoholic, generally containing fruit or fruit juice
Punch may also refer to:
Places
* Pun ...
''. Illingworth encouraged with the words "It's difficult, but genius will out." His first job, in 1971, at the age of 19, was as political cartoonist for the ''
Financial Times
The ''Financial Times'' (''FT'') is a British daily newspaper printed in broadsheet and published digitally that focuses on business and economic current affairs. Based in London, England, the paper is owned by a Japanese holding company, Ni ...
''. He became acquainted with Prime Minister
Edward Heath
Sir Edward Richard George Heath (9 July 191617 July 2005), often known as Ted Heath, was a British politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1970 to 1974 and Leader of the Conservative Party from 1965 to 1975. Heath a ...
after calling on his offices in the House of Commons and presenting the staff with one of his drawings of Heath which Heath later bought. That cartoon is in the Arundells collection. Geary's work for the ''Financial Times'' came to an end due to artistic differences.
After working for the ''Financial Times'' Geary worked for an advertising agency.
Geary's first one-man show was opened in 1972 by the next prime minister, Harold Wilson who lent his portrait to the show.
Wilson personally presented a Geary portrait of Golda Meir to her on a visit to Israel soon after the one-man show.
In 1973 Geary had painting lessons with
Carel Weight
Carel Victor Morlais Weight, (10 September 1908 – 13 August 1997) was an English painter.
Biography
Weight was born in Paddington in 1908. His father was a bank cashier and his mother, who was of Swedish and German descent, was a chirop ...
and also studied colour theory and anatomy.
Geary's poetry writing started in the 1970s after he was encouraged by
Stephen Spender
Sir Stephen Harold Spender (28 February 1909 – 16 July 1995) was an English poet, novelist and essayist whose work concentrated on themes of social injustice and the class struggle. He was appointed Poet Laureate Consultant in Poetry by th ...
who read one of his poems in London.
In 1975 drawings by Geary of the Stations of the Cross were installed in the Catholic Church of Christ the Eternal High Priest,
Gidea Park
Gidea Park () is a neighbourhood in the east of Romford in the London Borough of Havering, south-east England.
Predominantly affluent and residential, it was historically within the county of Essex and saw significant expansion in the early 20t ...
Chelmsford
Chelmsford () is a City status in the United Kingdom, city in the City of Chelmsford district in the county of Essex, England. It is the county town of Essex and one of three cities in the county, along with Southend-on-Sea and Colchester. It ...
, Essex.
In the mid 1970s Geary was in Ireland living in
Waterford
"Waterford remains the untaken city"
, mapsize = 220px
, pushpin_map = Ireland#Europe
, pushpin_map_caption = Location within Ireland##Location within Europe
, pushpin_relief = 1
, coordinates ...
and
Dublin
Dublin (; , or ) is the capital and largest city of Ireland. On a bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the province of Leinster, bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, a part of the Wicklow Mountains range. At the 2016 c ...
where he held one of his early one man shows at the Setanta Gallery.
On 1 February 1982 a portrait by Geary of the pianist
Ivor Newton
Ivor Newton (15 December 1892 – 21 April 1981) was an English pianist who was particularly noted as an accompanist to international singers and string players. He was one of the first to bring a distinct personality to the accompanist's role ...
was unveiled by
Edward Heath
Sir Edward Richard George Heath (9 July 191617 July 2005), often known as Ted Heath, was a British politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1970 to 1974 and Leader of the Conservative Party from 1965 to 1975. Heath a ...
at the
Wigmore Hall
Wigmore Hall is a concert hall located at 36 Wigmore Street, London. Originally called Bechstein Hall, it specialises in performances of chamber music, early music, vocal music and song recitals. It is widely regarded as one of the world's leadi ...
.
Geary lived in
Paris
Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), ma ...
in 1983/1984.
In 1986 Geary moved to the United States of America, first living in
Seattle
Seattle ( ) is a seaport city on the West Coast of the United States. It is the seat of King County, Washington. With a 2020 population of 737,015, it is the largest city in both the state of Washington and the Pacific Northwest regio ...
, Washington, then
Los Angeles
Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, largest city in the U.S. state, state of California and the List of United States cities by population, sec ...
, California (1987-1989),
San Francisco
San Francisco (; Spanish for " Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the fourth most populous in California and 17th ...
, California (1989-1998),
Hudson, New York
Hudson is a city and the county seat of Columbia County, New York, United States. As of the 2020 census, it had a population of 5,894. Located on the east side of the Hudson River and 120 miles from the Atlantic Ocean, it was named for the rive ...
(1998/1999) and
Scottsdale, Arizona
, settlement_type = City
, named_for = Winfield Scott
, image_skyline =
, image_seal = Seal of Scottsdale (Arizona).svg
, image_blank_emblem = City of Scottsdale Script Logo.svg
, nick ...
(1999).
In 2003 Geary exhibited at the Cathedral Center for the Arts in
Phoenix, Arizona
Phoenix ( ; nv, Hoozdo; es, Fénix or , yuf-x-wal, Banyà:nyuwá) is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Arizona, with 1,608,139 residents as of 2020. It is the fifth-most populous city in the United States, and the on ...
Jerome, Arizona
Jerome is a town in the Black Hills of Yavapai County in the U.S. state of Arizona. Founded in the late 19th century on Cleopatra Hill overlooking the Verde Valley, Jerome is located more than above sea level. It is about north of Phoenix alo ...
in September of that year.
Geary read from his book ''Paris and Other Poems'' at the Sedona Arts Center on 6 August 2010.
Portraits
Geary's portraits include those of
Vladimir Ashkenazy
Vladimir Davidovich Ashkenazy (russian: Влади́мир Дави́дович Ашкена́зи, ''Vladimir Davidovich Ashkenazi''; born 6 July 1937) is an internationally recognized solo pianist, chamber music performer, and conductor. He ...
,
Count Basie
William James "Count" Basie (; August 21, 1904 – April 26, 1984) was an American jazz pianist, organist, bandleader, and composer. In 1935, he formed the Count Basie Orchestra, and in 1936 took them to Chicago for a long engagement and the ...
Cyril Cusack
Cyril James Cusack (26 November 1910 – 7 October 1993) was an Irish stage and screen actor with a career that spanned more than 70 years. During his lifetime, he was considered one of Ireland’s finest thespians, and was renowned for his in ...
,
Plácido Domingo
José Plácido Domingo Embil (born 21 January 1941) is a Spanish opera singer, conductor, and arts administrator. He has recorded over a hundred complete operas and is well known for his versatility, regularly performing in Italian, French ...
Ella Fitzgerald
Ella Jane Fitzgerald (April 25, 1917June 15, 1996) was an American jazz singer, sometimes referred to as the "First Lady of Song", "Queen of Jazz", and "Lady Ella". She was noted for her purity of tone, impeccable diction, phrasing, timing, in ...
Lord Goodman
Arnold Abraham Goodman, Baron Goodman, CH, (21 August 191312 May 1995) was a British lawyer and political advisor.
Life
Arnold Goodman was born at Hackney, London, son of Jewish parents Joseph Goodman (1879/80-1940), a master draper, and Be ...
,
Henry Kissinger
Henry Alfred Kissinger (; ; born Heinz Alfred Kissinger, May 27, 1923) is a German-born American politician, diplomat, and geopolitical consultant who served as United States Secretary of State and National Security Advisor under the presid ...
Golda Meir
Golda Meir, ; ar, جولدا مائير, Jūldā Māʾīr., group=nb (born Golda Mabovitch; 3 May 1898 – 8 December 1978) was an Israeli politician, teacher, and '' kibbutznikit'' who served as the fourth prime minister of Israel from 1969 to ...
,
Princess Michael of Kent
Princess Michael of Kent (born Baroness Marie-Christine Anna Agnes Hedwig Ida von Reibnitz, 15 January 1945) is a member of the British royal family of German, Austrian, Czech and Hungarian descent. She is married to Prince Michael of Kent, ...
,
Ivor Newton
Ivor Newton (15 December 1892 – 21 April 1981) was an English pianist who was particularly noted as an accompanist to international singers and string players. He was one of the first to bring a distinct personality to the accompanist's role ...
,
Seán O'Casey
Seán O'Casey ( ga, Seán Ó Cathasaigh ; born John Casey; 30 March 1880 – 18 September 1964) was an Irish dramatist and memoirist. A committed socialist, he was the first Irish playwright of note to write about the Dublin working classes.
...
,
Pope John Paul II
Pope John Paul II ( la, Ioannes Paulus II; it, Giovanni Paolo II; pl, Jan Paweł II; born Karol Józef Wojtyła ; 18 May 19202 April 2005) was the head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 1978 until his ...
,John Williams, and Harold Wilson.
Geary's portraits are made using graphite on Fabriano paper.
Geary's portrait of London Symphony clarinettist Jack Brymer is in the primary collection of the National Portrait Gallery, London.
Membership
Geary is a member of the Contemporary Portrait Society.