Romy Rey was a RAG member since 1998 and a familiar figure at RAG exhibition openings and at artists’ talks in the UK and in Spain, most recently in ‘Riverside at Riverside’ at Riverside Studios, January 2020. Romy was a serious artist who produced surrealistic, strongly coloured oil paintings often with an ethnographical content. She had a special interest in tribal art and the pre-Columbian cultures.
“As a painter, I am fascinated by our perception of reality. Some of my paintings are a re-interpretation of landscapes visited during my travels, others render familiar elements in variable scales and combinations or portray images of ancient or tribal objects in imaginary settings.”
Romy Rey was born in Zurich, Switzerland, studied in Paris and Geneva, travelled widely, and settled in London in the early 1960s where she was a partner in two bookshops in Hampstead and Richmond. She shared her life with the artist, Brian Davies (1942-2014) in London and in the house they restored in Southern France. A strong woman, seen as unconventional and bohemian by some, who lived life on her own terms but was also well loved by family and friends who enjoyed her intellect and hospitality. We will miss her.
Brian Deighton, Chair