The Keeping Gallery holds the extensive collection of Renate and Charles Keeping’s work. As can be seen below, the gallery has an extensive range of original works on show.
For students of art and illustration, the gallery is a wonderful place to see the range of techniques used by these two artists. Guided tours are given which explain in detail the techniques used and the way the work has evolved. To contact the gallery, call 020 8460 7679 or email info@thekeepinggallery.com. Visiting the gallery is by appointment only.
The Gallery is in Shortlands (Bromley) 20 minutes from Victoria Station. The opening times are fairly flexible but Renate prefers visitors to come on weekdays at about 2pm.
Every visit is a personally conducted tour of the Gallery and lasts about 2 hours including light refreshments and occasional demonstrations.
A group of between 6 – 20 people is preferred.
The gallery tour always starts with a short talk by Renate, both about the language of visual art and some personal details of both Charles and Renate to show the influences of these on their work.
There is a room displaying originals from Charles’ picture books and another room showing a display in chronological order of his Black and White work with the books also on display. There are lithographs of working horses and old London stables in the hallway.
Renate has a large gallery showing the story of her family done in a mixture of fabric, paint and stitch and based on old bits of rubbish paper. There are nearly 100 pieces of work in this display. another room shows a symbolic life cycle as seen through an apple done both in many watercolours and soft sculptures. This marks the beginning of lots of other work on the subject of ageing in all living things and it’s similarity in people, leaves, flowers etc. In the same room there is a project again in many watercolours and soft sculptures called temptation and confusion depicted through cakes. There is another display of experiments in drawing with thread and more work on the ageing projects.
This part of the gallery shows a wide range of monochrome illustrations.
This gallery also shows some wonderful unpublished artwork by Charles Keeping.
This rooms shows a wonderful range of artwork for the books of Charles Keeping.
This, and the picture below, show part of the gallery of Renate Keeping's autobiographical work.
Visitors can walk around this part of the gallery to see Renate's story as it unfolds.
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