Ken Howard passed away on 11 September 2022. He had been a NEAC member since 1962 and was our President from 1998 to 2003. He was not only a magnificent painter but also a great friend that will be sorely missed by our members who pay tribute in this article.

ARTIST STATEMENT

For Ken, painting was about three things: about revelation, communication and celebration. By revelation, he meant giving people a way of seeing, revealing the world around them in a way they have never seen before, opening their eyes. By communication, he meant revealing the world with a personal language, speaking directly in an instantly recognisable style. He wanted it to celebrate life whether it be human dignity expressed by Velasquez or Cezanne, or the wonders of nature expressed by Corot and Monet. For Ken, his main inspiration was light and it was through light that he wanted to celebrate his world.

 

METHOD OF WORKING

When Ken was in Cornwall, he would paint Monday to Saturday, with a model coming in every morning. "Painting is very seldom an easy thing to do. At the start of the day, you are full of belief in the thing you are going to do. If you've had a really bad day, the last thing you want to do is get up and work, but if you've got a model knocking on the door at ten to seven, you've got to get up, and you've got to start work again. As soon as you've got a brush in your hand, after about ten minutes you've got belief again and you think, Yes, it may not have worked yesterday but it’s going to work today. Drawing is the basis of everything. All the way through the painting you must be questioning the drawing, right up to the very end. Otherwise you get the drawing right and fill it in with colour. As long as you get the effect you want, that’s the important thing. You can use a piece of rag, a sable brush, a hog hair brush or a knife - it doesn’t matter what. Paint what you see, not what you know. What you know is not surprising and is very seldom true."

 

BIOGRAPHICAL DETAILS

2006 Elected as an Honorary Fellow of the Royal Institute of Oil Painters
2004 Professor of Perspective, Royal Academy of Arts
1998 Elected as President of the New English Art Club
1973 Appointed Official Artist in Ireland by the Imperial War Museum
1959 First exhibited at the New English Art Club
1955-58 Studied at the Royal College of Art
1949-53 Studied at the Hornsey School of Art

 

OTHER SOCIETY MEMBERSHIPS

Royal Academy

Royal Institute of Oil Painters 

Royal Society of British Artists 

Royal Birmingham Society of Artists

Royal West of England Academy

Honorary Member of Graphic Fine Artists

 

SCHOLARSHIPS, AWARDS & PRIZES

2001 Critics’ Prize, New English Art Club
1986 Prize Winner, New English Art Club Centenary Exhibition
1985 Critics’ Prize, Sparkasse Karlsruhe
1982 First Prize, ‘Hunting Group Awards Prize’, Royal West of England Academy
1978 John Moores Exhibition Prize
1978 Prize Winner, John Laing Exhibition
1969 First Prize, Arundel Art Centre
First Prize, Lord Mayor’s Art Award

 

Read our tribute to the life and work of Ken Howard