Keith Betts

During construction of the light rail in the Sydney CBD, there was a time when George Street had no traffic and trams. Pedestrians had free reign. It created a festive, pre-Covid winter atmosphere where buskers played in the middle of the road and shoppers crossed from one side of the street to the other without having to watch where they were going. That was the setting for the streetscapes in this series for GOST.

The smaller paintings of assorted open landscapes are free sketches loosely based on remembered scenes from Sydney, Hobart and the countryside in between.

Keith Betts has been painting and receiving awards for his work for more than 50 years. He was born and educated in Sydney and continues to paint in and around Sydney foreshores and cityscapes. Keith has participated in numerous solo exhibitions as well as group shows and many art award exhibitions in Australia. 

Keith has been a finalist twice in the Doug Moran National Portrait Prize, the 2012 Black Swan Prize for Portraiture and twice in the 2014 Glencore Percival Portrait Painting Prize. He has also been awarded for landscape painting in the Sydney Royal Easter Show, the 2019 Mosman Art Prize, Drummoyne Art Prize, Hornsby Art Prize, Heysen Prize for Landscape and numerous regional art shows. In March 2022, Keith was awarded the Members Choice prize at the Inaugural Acquisitive Art and Exhibition Sale, Mosman, Sydney.

Keith’s artworks are housed at Lost Bear Gallery, Katoomba, NSW; Montville Art Gallery, Montville, QLD; The Corner Store Gallery, Orange (NSW); Audrey Fine Art, Pyrmont and Rochfort Gallery, Sydney and Gallery of Small Things (GOST), Canberra.

His work is represented in corporate, municipal and private collections in Australia. Keith also has his work held in private collections including the USA, Canada, Germany and the UK.