Gordon Kelly (1924-2018) was a painter born in Wells County, Indiana. While a student at the Art Students League of New York, Kelly was a promising portrait painter and a protege of Kenneth Hayes Miller. Kelly also studied with Reginald Marsh. Kelly helped Miller develop his (unpublished) manuscript "The Third Dimension in Painting" and Miller supported Kelly's teaching appointment at the League. Kelly taught at the Art Students League for one year before moving back to Indiana and finally settling in Maryland.