WORKS BY PETER MARKEY COME TO AUCTION IN FROME

DORE & rEES TO OFFER WORKS BY WELL KNOWN AUTOMATA MAKER AND ARTIST PETER MARKEY IN THE FORTHCOMING SELECT INTERIORS AUCTION

Peter Markey (1930-2016), artist and automata maker, was a well known and prolific creator. His childhood years were spent in Swansea.  The motif of a solitary boat was a recurring theme in his work, both he and his sister Pauline would watch from their home on Town Hill to see their father Edgar return from his daily fishing trips as a trawlerman. 

Peter studied at Swansea School of Art and then trained to become a teacher.  He met his wife Beryl Owen, at potter and Chelsea Pottery, during his first teaching post in east London.  They married in 1956 and moved to Devon where Peter taught art and humanities.

Peter focused on his creative work from 1980 onwards, creating brightly coloured models animated by simple crankshaft mechanisms.  His automata were amongst the first to be exhibited and sold at Sue Jackson’s shop Cabaret Mechanical Theatre in Falmouth then later in Covent Garden, London. 

Peter and Beryl moved to Powys in the mid-1980s and he continued to work with energy well into his 70s.  His paintings and automata have been widely exhibited including solo shows at Studio 17 in Bristol and in 1995 at Cheltenham Art Gallery and Museum where he was artist-in-residence.

The onset of Alzheimer’s disease prompted a move for Beryl and Peter to Frome, to be closer to family, living out his remaining days in Somerset. 

SELECT INTERIORS

WEDNESDAY 18 OCTOBER 2023
10:30am 

VIEWING
Saturday 14 October 11:00am to 4:00pm
Monday 16 October 10:00am to 4:00pm
Tuesday 17 October 10:00am to 4:00pm