Photo: The Girls of the Fishery, Ardglass (c1931) by Georgina Moutray Kyle (1865-1950). Courtesy Naughton Gallery.

A Distinctive Palette: The Art of Georgina Moutray Kyle is on in the Naughton Gallery at Queen's University until August 20.

Despite her influence on the Belfast art scene of the 1920s and 30s, Georgina Moutray Kyle is a much overlooked artist and this is the first public exhibition of her work in 60 years.

On show, in some cases for the first time, are scenes of Northern Ireland life in the early 20th century and images from France and Holland, places the artist visited.

Whether painting a bustling market in Brittany or Belfast's St George's market, she used a distinctive subdued palette enlivened with bold splashes of colour and showed her appreciation of local working people.

Among her favourite painting spots were Ardglass, County Down, Concarneau in Brittany and Volendam in Holland.

Shan McAnena, curator of art at Queen's was first struck by the quality of the artist's work when she came across it in a catalogue of the university's collection compiled by Dr Eileen Black, curator of Fine Art at Ulster Museum.

Together they resolved to plan an exhibition of her work: A Distinctive Palette is the result.

"This major retrospective of Georgina's life and work will I hope be the first step in giving this scandalously neglected artist her rightful place in the history of art," said Shan.

Photo: the artist, who travelled extensively, photographed in France in the early 1930s. Courtesy Naughton Gallery.

"Travelling widely throughout her life, the subtleties and sophistication of her compositions are quite unlike anything else that was produced in Belfast at the time and must have been quite striking to her contemporaries. I hope that visitors looking at the works we have assembled for this exhibition, will experience a similar frisson of excitement and discovery!"

Born in Craigavad, County Down in 1865 to an affluent family, Georgina Moutray Kyle was educated quietly at home until the age of 18.

Without ever having even travelled into Belfast city centre alone, she went to Paris to study art at the Academie Colarossi (one of only a few that welcomed female students). Soon after her return, she began a long involvement with the Belfast art scene.

"During her lifetime, she was a figure of consequence on the local art scene, admired for her paintings and respected for the time and effort she devoted to the Belfast Art Society," explained Dr Black.

"Her place in Ulster art of the 1920s and 1930s was unique, for she was the first local artist of note to exhibit Breton scenes in Belfast, works which must surely have brought a breath of Continental air to the exhibitions of the Belfast Art Society and Ulster Academy of Arts."

Two of her paintings on show are from Queen’s own collection, while others have been lent by Ulster Museum, Belfast City Council, Armagh County Museum, North Down Borough Council, Ulster Folk and Transport Museum, Royal Ulster Academy and private collectors.

"It is highly fitting that her life and art are commemorated in this exhibition – an event long overdue and entirely appropriate," added Dr Black.