Oil on panel, signed at lower left, presented in a giltwood frame.

Panel 30 x 20 in.; Frame dimensions 39 x 29 in.

From the Collection of the late Lane Harvey Montgomery, New York, NY

Roy Petley was born in Grantham, Lincolnshire, and was surrendered to the Woodlands School for abandoned children at a young age. He escaped his often violent surroundings through art, teaching himself how to paint and draw. At the age of sixteen, he received a scholarship to study art at Brighton University. After a semester, he hitchhiked to Italy, settling in Florence where he made a living by drawing tourists while studying classics in the surrounding museums.

Petley moved to Belfast, Northern Ireland in 1968 where the Bell Gallery supported him for a time before he returned to London. He exhibited paintings in high-end shops while working in the art department of the Greenwich Theatre. By 21, Petley left the theatre and began exhibiting his works on the railings of Green Park in London. One day, a member of the Royal household staff came to look at his works and returned to the Palace with Petley's portrait study of Prince Charles. Petley was summoned to the Palace and began the a long-standing friendship with the British Royals. His work can be found in the collections of Royals including ​The Prince of Wales, Queen Elizabeth, The Duchess of Norfolk, The Duke of Edinburgh, and The Duchess of Kent, as well as the Ulster Museum and Harvard University.

Good estate condition.