Artist Statement:
For me painting is about three things. It is about revelation, communication and celebration. By revelation I mean giving people a way of seeing, revealing the world around them in a way they have never seen before, opening their eyes. The first time I became conscious of this was as a young man. I was painting a railway siding in North London. A railway worker stopped to watch me paint and after some time said 'Young man I have walked across this place for many years and this morning forthe first time I see that it is beautiful.' That was a revelation for me.

By communication I mean revealing the world with a personal language, speaking directly in an instantly recognisable style. The artist spends his life refining that language in order to express his personal world more clearly and directly For me drawing is the basis of all visual language, for the art of drawing is a way of seeing and celebrating the world.

My last criterion, celebration, is perhaps more difficult to explain. We all suffer in our lives, we loose loved ones, we suffer illnesses and the stresses and strains of normal life. But I want art to raise me above that, when I look at painting I want it to be elevating, I want it to celebrate life whether it be human dignity expressed by Velasquez or Cezanne, or the wonders of nature expressed by Corot or Monet. For me my main inspiration is light and it is through light that I want to celebrate my world.

Source:
http://www.kenhoward.co.uk/

Born: 1932, London, England

Education:

1949-53 Hornsey College of Art
1955-58 Royal College of Art
1958-59 British Council Scholarship, Florence

Affiliations:

1962 Member of the New English Art Club
1966 Member of the Royal Institute of Oil Painters
1979 Member of the Royal Society of Painters in Watercolours
1981 Member of the Royal West of England Academy
1983 Associate of the Royal Academy
1988 Honorary Member of the Royal Society of British Artists
1988 Honorary Member of the Royal Institute of Oil Painters
1992 Member of the Royal Academy

Solo Exhibitions:

1955 Plymouth Art Center, Plymouth
1966 John Whibley Gallery
1968 John Whibley Gallery
1971 New Grafton Gallery, London
1972 Retrospective Exhibition, Plymouth Art Gallery
1973 Official artist in Northern Ireland
1974 New Grafton Gallery, London
1976 New Grafton Gallery, London
1978 New Grafton Gallery, London
1979 New Metropole, Folkestone
1979 Hong Kong Art Center
1979 St. Helier Gallery, Isle of Wight
1980 St. Helier Gallery, Isle of Wight
1980 Official artist in Northern Ireland
1981 New Grafton Gallery, London
1982 Nicosia, Cyprus
1983 Delhi, India
1984 New Grafton Gallery, London
1984 St. Helier Gallery, Isle of Wight
1986 Linton Court Gallery
1986 New Grafton Gallery, London
1987 Lowndes Lodge Gallery
1988 New Grafton Gallery, London
1989 New Grafton Gallery, London
1990 Lowndes Lodge Gallery
1990 New Grafton Gallery, London
1991 Lowndes Lodge Gallery
1991 Brian Sinfield Gallery, Burford
1992 Lowndes Lodge Gallery
1992 Lowndes Lodge Gallery
1993 New Grafton Gallery, London
1993 Brian Sinfield Gallery, Burford
1995 New Grafton Gallery, London
1995 Brian Sinfield Gallery, Compton Cassey
1996 Bankside Gallery, London
1997 New Grafton Gallery, London
1998 Everard Read Gallery, Johannasburg
2000 New Grafton Gallery, London

Group Exhibitions:

1993 Hollis Taggart Galleries, Washington, DC
1994 Montgomery Gallery, San Francisco, California
1994 Barney's Art Gallery, Greenwich, Connecticut
1995 Barney's Art Gallery, Greenwich, Connecticut
1995 Prints Ancient & Modern, Lansing, Michigan
1996 Montgomery Gallery, San Francisco, California
1996 Belloc Lowndes Fine Art, Chicago, Illinois
1996 Prints Ancient & Modern, Lansing, Michigan
1997 Valley House Gallery, Dallas, Texas
1997 Amarillo Museum of Art, Amarillo, Texas
1997 Newman & Saunders Galleries, Wayne, Pennsylvania
2006 Summer Show, Valley House Gallery, Dallas, Texas
2010 Shorelines, Valley House Gallery, Dallas, Texas

Awards:

1966 First prize Lord Mayors Art Award
1969 First prize Arundel Art Centre
1978 Prize winner, John Moores Exhibition
1979 Prize winner, John Laing Exhibition
1982 First prize, Hunting Group Awards
1983 Prize winner, Royal West of England Academy
1985 Critics prize, Sparkasse Karlsuhe
1986 Prize winner, New English Art Club Centenary Exhibition

Literature:

Ken Howard, "Masterclass: Figures in Groups," The Artist, June 1983, pp. 11-15.

Ken Howard, "Painting in Venice," The Artist, May 1987, pp. 27-30.

Ken Howard, "A Question of Style," The Artist, June 1988, pp. 12-15.

Ken Howard, "Painting the Figure," The Artist, July 1989, pp. 13-15.

Michael Spender, The Paintings of Ken Howard, England: David & Charles, 1992.

Julian Halsby, "Ken Howard: In Conversation," The Artist, June 1992, pp. 14-16.

Ken Howard, "Masterclass: The Magic of Light," The Artist, February 1996, pp. 29-31.

Ken Howard, Inspired by Light 1998

Public Collections:

Guildhall Art Gallery, London
Hove Museum and Art Gallery, Hove, England
Imperial War Museum, London
National Army Museum, London
Plymouth City Art Gallery, Plymouth, England
Sheffield Art Gallery, Sheffield, England
Southern Museum and Art Gallery
Ulster Museum, Northern Ireland