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Kenneth Webb FRSA is a British artist and founder of the Irish School of Landscape Painting. Known chiefly for his richly coloured impressionist landscapes, he has also produced figurative and abstract work over the course of his career which spans seven decades. He was Head of Painting at the Ulster College of Art (now Belfast School of Art) from 1953 to 1960.
In 1959 Webb was commissioned to paint the altarpiece for Bangor Abbey, which stands 25 ft high and took two years to complete. It depicts Christ rising, wearing a crown of blackthorn, a motif that runs throughout much of his work. Blackthorn can also been seen at the foot of the mural, surrounding three saints. In the wake of this project he was in great demand for commercial work, being commissioned by British Steel, Shell, and The Post Office among others.
The highest price paid at auction for a work by Kenneth Webb was recorded in 2005, when his Galway - City of Tribes series, was sold at Whytes, in Dublin, for €132,000.
File:Illumination (2018).jpgIllumination
30" x 40" / 76 x 102 cm
Oil on Canvas (2018)
Biography
Born in London in 1927, he moved to Gloucestershire aged 14 after his home was destroyed by a parachute mine. There he attended Lydney Grammar School, the first co-educational school in the country, and the Lydney School of Art. Outside of school he had a keen interest in art and started sketching landscapes of the Forest of Dean. In 1945 he received a scholarship to the Slade School of Fine Art but was called up for national service in the Fleet Air Arm. After his national service in 1948, he decided not to take up his scholarship and instead enrolled in the Gloucestershire College of Art studying painting, pottery and graphics and graduating with a National Diploma of Design. He moved to Belfast in 1953, where he took up the post of Head of Painting at the Ulster College of Art. In 1954 he began his Solo Exhibition career with continual shows with Galleries both in Ireland and England. He later moved toBallywalter
Ballywalter ( and ''Walter'') is a village or townland (of 437 acres) and civil parish in County Down, Northern Ireland. It is on the east (Irish Sea) coast of the Ards Peninsula between Donaghadee and Ballyhalbert. Ballywalter was formerly know ...
, where he established the Irish School of Landscape Painting in 1957. He became known for tutoring notable Irish landscape painters including Cecil Maguire
Cecil Maguire (20 January 1930 – 7 May 2020) was an Irish landscape and figure painter. His work appears in such collections as those at the UN headquarters in New York and the Ulster Museum in Belfast.
Biography
Maguire was born in Lurgan, ...
and Basil Blackshaw
Basil Joseph Blackshaw ''HRUA, HRHA'' (July 1932 – 2 May 2016) was a Northern Irish artist specialising in animal paintings, portraits and landscapes and an Academician of the Royal Ulster Academy.
Early life and education
Born in Glengormley, C ...
.
In 1962, Webb started painting on the beach, resulting in the Tidewrack series. Ballywalter would remain their home until the political instability of the 1970s, made them decide to return to Gloucestershire. He purchased a derelict cottage in Clifden and converted it into a studio. Over the years he made numerous paintings Connemara landscape, and his wild garden there. Many of Webb's favorite subjects for painting are the bog
A bog or bogland is a wetland that accumulates peat as a deposit of dead plant materials often mosses, typically sphagnum moss. It is one of the four main types of wetlands. Other names for bogs include mire, mosses, quagmire, and muskeg; a ...
s, wildflower and rocks of Connemara.
In 2018, he opened an exhibition of his work at the Royal Dublin Society
The Royal Dublin Society (RDS) ( ga, Cumann Ríoga Bhaile Átha Cliath) is an Irish philanthropic organisation and members club which was founded as the 'Dublin Society' on 25 June 1731 with the aim to see Ireland thrive culturally and economi ...
. The exhibition included 170 of his paintings from between 1955 and 2018.
Commissioned Work
In 1959 Webb was commissioned to paint the altarpiece for Bangor Abbey, which stands 25 ft high and took two years to complete. It depicts Christ rising, wearing a crown of blackthorn, a motif that runs throughout much of his work. Blackthorn can also been seen at the foot of the mural, surrounding three saints. In the wake of this project he was in great demand for commercial work, being commissioned by British Steel, Shell, and The Post Office among others.
The highest price paid at auction for a work by Kenneth Webb was recorded in 2005, when his Galway - City of Tribes series, was sold at Whytes, in Dublin, for €132,000.
Gallery
30" x 40" / 76 x 102 cm
Oil on Canvas (2018)
References
External links
* Who Are the 25 Top-Selling Irish Artists of the Last Decade? - https://news.artnet.com/market/top-25-irish-artists-last-decade-452297 * Kenneth Webb (British, born 1927) - http://www.artnet.com/artists/kenneth-webb/ * KENNETH WEBB (IRISH ARTIST DIRECTORY) - https://www.adams.ie/irish-artist-directory/kenneth-webb-art-sold-at-auction * Kenneth Webb at Kenny Gallery http://www.thekennygallery.ie/artists/webbkenneth/ * Kenneth Webb at Gormleys - https://www.gormleys.ie/artists/kenneth-webb/95/ * Kenneth Webb and the Tec-Tank - https://visualartists.ie/events/kenneth-webb-and-the-tec-tank-exhibition-at-rds-concert-hall-dublin/ * Crawford Art Gallery permanent collection - https://www.crawfordartgallery.ie/pages/paintings/KennethWebb2.html * Kenneth Webb at Clifden Arts Festival Highlights 2019 - https://www.clifdenartsfestival.ie/event/kenneth-webb-colour-and-texture-an-art-demonstration/kenneth-webb/ * Kenneth Webb - 'The west always called me' - https://www.advertiser.ie/galway/article/93910/kenneth-webb-the-west-always-called-me * Kenneth Webb Chronology - http://www.treasuresirishart.com/webb_kenneth.html * Kenneth Webb Artwork and Bio Analysis of the British Artist - https://www.artlex.com/artists/kenneth-webb/ * Kenneth Webb at Auction - https://www.lotsearch.net/artist/kenneth-webb/archive?locale=en_GB&perPage=80&page=6&orderBy=lccs-score&order=DESCFurther reading
* Josephine Walpole. ''Kenneth Webb: A Life in Colour''. ACC Art Books (1 Jan. 1999). . * Thomas Kenny. ''Webb: A profile''. Kennys Bookshop & Art (1 Jan. 1990). . {{DEFAULTSORT:Webb, Kenneth 1927 births 20th-century British male artists 20th-century British painters Living people British landscape painters Alumni of the Slade School of Fine Art Artists from London British male painters People from Gloucestershire People from Clifden Artists from County Galway