Brian Keany

Brian Keany, RSW, DA (Edin) (1945 – February 2007) was a Scottish painter and teacher, who was elected as a member of The Royal Scottish Society of Painters in Watercolour.

Keany was born in Forfar in 1945, and grew up in Brechin.He studied at Edinburgh College of Art in the 1960s, under Sir William Gillies, John Houston, Elizabeth Blackadder and Robin Philipson.

Following graduation, Keany taught art at St Andrew's High School in Kirkcaldy, and he continued to teach there until taking early retirement in 2001.

He worked in many media; in 1977 he was elected as a member of The Royal Scottish Society of Painters in Watercolour (RSW), and he was equally at home producing paintings in oils. He was also commissioned to design a large tapestry for the Dunfermline Carnegie Trust in Fife, which is now permanently on display in Dunfermline.

Keany exhibited in a number of group shows at galleries across Scotland, including Colours Gallery and the Torrance Gallery in Edinburgh, Roger Billcliffe Fine Art in Glasgow, the Aberfeldy Gallery, the Jerdan Gallery in Crail and the Stenton Gallery. He exhibited regularly in the Royal Scottish Academy, the Royal Glasgow Institute of Fine Arts, and annually in the RSW, where he twice served on the council.

Keany’s subject matter was diverse. He painted still life, marine paintings and Scottish and French landscapes. His work now hangs in collections in the UK, US, South Africa, Éire, The Netherlands and Australia.