edwardpovey
edwardpoveybiography
1951 Born in London, England on 1st May - the only child of a seaman and a shop girl
1952-67 Educated at Crown Woods Comprehensive School, Eltham, London
1959 Begins painting in oils - produces landscapes and still lifes for his family
1967-69 Works as an office boy in the city. Writes poetry and composes music
1969 Emigrates to Canada, tours and sings in music venues
1970 Lives with the Blackfoot Indians in Alberta, tours with his band Synergy, and begins making drawings and paintings
1971 Follows Viven Alsworth to Israel where he paints his first mural Abraham and Isaac. Returns to live on the English south coast to paint
1972-73 Marries Vivien Alsworth.
Completes an Art Foundation Course at Eastbourne College for Art and Design. Spends the summer painting in the Shetland Isles
1974 Moves to North Wales and enrolls at the University of Wales on a four-year art teacher training course. Paints during the vacations
1975 Buys a miner's cottage in Bethesda and paints shopfront murals in Wales. His art enters a period in which it is based on The Tapestry of History. His first son, Daniel, is born
1976-77 He accepts increasing government, coporate and private commissions for murals and paintings. His second son, Thomas, is born
1977 Leaves university with a Bachelor of Education degree, and commences full-time painting
1980 Returns to Israel and gathers material for a new period of work based on Observation and Experience
1981 Moves to Shropshire, England, to a large studio to work on The Trial of Saint Deiniol, 17 x 22 feet. His name is now established in Wales after painting 25 murals
1982 Moves to the West Indies in search of solitude in which to evolve his canvas painting, and a simple culture in which to raise his children
1983-85 Receives his first commissions from American art collectors. During these years of learning he develops the use of symbolism in many complex paintings. His international market slowly enlarges through visiting collectors. He continues to revisit Britain to paint public commissions
1986-87 Tackles spiritual and marital problems during artistic evolutions involving a new awareness of the importance of colour. He has his first reception with New York art collectors in April 1986 and begins to visit his collectors in Connecticut
1988 Moves to a studio in Cleveland, England. Exhibits in Brussels and begins visiting the USA twice-yearly to conduct initial lecture salons about his work
1989 His Body and Soul Together exhibition tours Wales. Divorces
1990 Expanding private sales and commissions involve the USA, Belgium, Canada, the West Indies and Britain
1991 The period of Observation and Experience draws to a close and he enters a dark period of Childhood Memories in his paintings
Art Gallery Gerard of the Hague introduces his work to the Dutch art market, and he commences a relationship with the Midtown Payson Galleries on 5th Avenue in New York
The Laguna Gloria Museum of Art in Texas acquires a Povey painting for their collection
He develops his first "Presentation Salons" in which he speaks in depth about the symbolism and evolvement of his work to private gatherings of art collectors in Texas
The University of Wales award a commission for a 20 x 40ft mural in their chamber concert hall
1992-93 He returns to Wales to complete the University of Wales commission
He is invited to become a member of the Royal Cambrian Academy of Wales - the Welsh version of the Royal Academy of Art
He increases his reputation through circles of collectors as he commences regular presentations of his art in New York, New Jersey, Connecticut and Texas
The University of Wales offer him a building for use as a studio, in return for paintings for their art collection
1994 Following the death of his father, his themes leave Childhood Memories and enter the Inner World in which he draws on his subconscious for his imagery
He accepts representation from the Martin Tinney Gallery in Cardiff, Wales
Two extensive presentation tours of American collectors
Representation commences at Louis Newman Gallery in Beverly Hills and the Horwitch Newman Gallery in Scottsdale, Arizona
1995 Represented at the Miami Art Fair by Horwitch Newman Galleries
Represented at the Islington Art Fair in London by Martin Tinney Gallery
Represented by Eleanor Ettinger Gallery, New York at ART ASIA in Hong Kong
1996 One man exhibition with Martin Tinney Gallery in Cardiff, Wales
Eleanor Ettinger Gallery begin to show Povey paintings in New York
Extensive presentation tours of his American patrons continue twice-yearly and also being to include educational lecture visits to Texas state prisons
Buys a home in Llansadwrn, Wales
1997 Hanson Gallery in New Orleans begin selling Povey paintings
The National Library of Wales buys its first three works and begins to document Edward Povey's art
The University of Wales offers him a larger studio on campus in Bangor
He employs a full-time assistant to allow him more hours in the studio
1998 Invited to Singapore. The British High Commission of Singapore purchases a painting
John Martin Gallery of London commences showing Edward Povey paintings
Hanson Gallery of both San Francisco and Carmel, California, being selling Povey paintings
Hanson Gallery in New Orleans stages a one-man show to coincide with the opening of the art season
Biannual tours of U.S. collectors. He conducts his first presentations in Washington, D.C., and Baltimore, and continues to visit his now wide circle of collectors in New York, New Jersey, Connecticut and Texas
He makes his first edition of bronze sculptures, and, in collaboration with the University of Texas, he makes his first stone lithograph
1999 Continues sculpting, refining his technique with two more bronze sculpture editions. Invited to be artist-in-residence at an American Art College in Florence, Italy
Begins building his estate; Arcady in Llansadwrn, Wales
2000 Invited to join group exhibitions in Brittany, France; Amarillo Art Museum, Texas; and Bangor Art Museum, Wales
One-man shows in Cardiff and San Francisco
Executes his first major bronze commission for a private collector in New Jersey
Invited by Her Majesty the Queen to a gargen party at Buckingham Palace, London
2001 Gains media attention for his 7-foot bronze A Man Giving Birds to the Sky, commissioned by Texas Tech for the atrium of a new teaching hospital in Amarillo, Texas
Shows at the Hanson Gallery in New Orleans
Commissioned by the Contemporary Art Society of Wales to create a stone lithograph for placement with all teh art museums in Wales. The remainder of the edition sold out in three months
2002 Declines representation with an established mid-town New York Gallery
Completion of Arcady in Wales - his first architectural project
Group shows in the Royal Cambrian Academy of Wales
He increases his reputation through circles of collectors as he commences regular presentations of his art in Seattle and Florida
Shows with The Martin Tinney Gallery in Wales, Hanson Gallery and New Orleans
The University of Wales offers him a building for use as a studio in return for paintings for its art collection
2003 Continued Salon Lectures in six states of the USA twice yearly
Group shows with Hanson Gallery in New Orleans. Accepts representation from the Serendipity Gallery in West Palm Beach, Florida
Leaves the Martin Tinney Gallery in Wales
Meets Donna Tolar, commercial real estate agent, in Sarasota, Florida
2004 Reduces Salon Lecture tours and begins creatively re-evaluating his art in preparation for a new commercial approach
Shows with the Royal Cambrian Academy in Wales
Shows with the Serendipity Gallery in West Palm Beach
Begins discussions with the BBC and HTV about two major life and work documentaries
Initial discussions with publishers in Wales for a biography
The Wales International centre in the Chrysler building, New York approaches Edward Povey to discuss future plans to promote him
Returns to West Indies to create a series of paintings based on the T.S. Eliot poem "Sweeny amoing the Nightingales"
2005 Studies the gay theatre community in New York for a collection of paintings
Shows with the Kooywood Gallery in Wales
His gallery in New Orleans is hit by Hurricane Katrina and, tragically, his gallery owner in West Palm Beach dies.
He is invited to present lectures about his life and career at the Royal Cambrian Academy in Wales, and Plas Glyn Y Weddw museum in Wales
He creates two further sculptures
He and Donna Tolar link on a Salon Presentation lecture tour of the USA
The BBC interview him about changing government arts funding policies. He presents the radical view that all funding should be diverted into art education
2006 The University of Wales announces plans to demolish the building currently used as the Edward Povey Studio. The local government discusses the notion of an Edward Povey Museum of Art for North Wales
The BBC features Arcady, which is called The Most Artistic House in Wales on the BBC Web site and in the press
He and DL Tolar conduct two Salon Presentation Tours of the USA, introducing their new bronzes
Edward Povey and DL Tolar present lectures at the Royal Cambrian Academy in Wales and at Plas Glyn y Weddw museum in Wales
Proposed for Knighthood, O.B.E. supported by Sir Kyffin Williams, Lady Anglesey, Professor Eric Sutherland, Paul Islwyn Thomas - Head of Arts for the BBC in Wales, and professor Anthony Jones CBE, Dip. Ad., BA, MFA, DFA, HonAIA, FRCA, FRSA President of the Chicago Art Institute College
2007 Edward Povey and DL Tolar found the Povey Tolar Studio in Wales, connecting their figurative symbolist paintings in several ventures
They are hosted by a famous political consultant in Virginia, are welcomed by the mayor of Virginia Beach, and offered a showing of their art in the museum
Tragically, two well-known Povey paintings, jointly worth £40,000, are stolen in London. Interpol and the major auction houses go on alert, and local and national newspapers, radio stations, and the BBC and other television companies cover the story extensively.
Edward Povey publishes a series of lithographs of the murals painted in Wales in the 1970s with extensive press coverage. The original designs for the murals are offered to local and national museums in Wales for presentation.
Edward Povey artworks from the 1970s appear in auction houses for the first time, arousing media attention
The BBC film the interior of The Edward Povey Studio at the University of Wales before its closure for demolition and site replanning in an extraordinary documentary
Povey and DL Tolar work at the famous Curwen Studio in the publication of two lithographs of their paintings, shortly before the half centenary of the studio is celebrated in, Tate Britain, Tate Modern and in wide media circles
He buys land in the USA and Povey and DL Tolar commence designing plans for an extensive studio there
He presents lectures about his art at The Royal Cambrian Academy, Plas Glyn Y Weddw Museum in Wales and in six states of the USA prior to entering a long-expected period of designing ambitious paintings for museums and major galleries
© Copyright Edward Povey 2009