Ken Howard is like an Impressionist for today. He is also a judge in our painting competition. Carol Cordrey meets the celebrated artist
Arranging our painting competition, ‘Glorious Richmond’, was pure pleasure. Not least because it provided the opportunity to invite one of this country’s greatest living painters, Professor Ken Howard OBE, RA, to be our principal judge.
At 85 years of truly grand old age, Professor Howard remains a prolific, energetic artist, giving time to endless art projects in addition to his own abundant work. Securing his services for a specific judging date would surely require perseverance, so I was thrilled to receive a prompt “Yes!” to my hopeful invitation. He even found time for an interview. Cue a relaxed, lengthy conversation that focused first on his previous judging experiences.
“I’ve been on lots of panels and committees, including the Selection Committee for the Royal Academy’s Summer Exhibition,” says Ken. “That attracts around 140,000 submissions from artists working in all media and on all scales.”
Ken himself, of course, has been the recipient of more prizes than one could possibly list. So he knows, at first hand, the effect of such accolades upon an artist’s self-esteem and their power to propel a career. From the age of 18, he found his paintings in frequent demand: first via commissions received during his National Service, then through his subsequent work with the British Army and as the Official War Artist to Northern Ireland, and finally from prestigious art galleries for exhibitions. For five years he was President of the New English Art Club. But while his clients are drawn from around the globe, his inspiration nowadays stems from three specific locations.
“London, Mousehole [in Cornwall] and Venice are my main hunting grounds,” he reveals. “I spend about four months a year in each place because I have studios there.”
Having visited his London (Chelsea) studio for several interviews in the past, I can testify to its being an elegant, cavernous space with gloriously large windows and all the paraphernalia one would expect of such a busy and accomplished artist. Paintings of various sizes pepper the huge walls; table tops and shelves are dotted with Ken’s materials, tools and preparatory works. Most memorable of all are the big easels that support his 60 x 72 compositions – what Ken himself affectionately refers to as his “six footers”.
“Constable used to say that if he didn’t have a six footer on the easel, he didn’t feel he was painting. I’m the same.”
One easel, in particular, Ken holds in the highest regard, as it was bequeathed by one of his late tutors, Carel Weight (1908-97), who was Professor of Painting at the Royal College of Art during Ken’s studies there in the 1950s.
But back to the present. What will Ken be looking for, I enquire, when assessing the Glorious Richmond submissions?
“The main element in any painting is revelation,” he asserts. “So the artists must not only work within the brief, but reveal something new to the viewer – especially important in a well known scene.
“I always tell people that, in order to make their compositions successful, they must paint with three objectives in mind: revelation, celebration of some aspect of life and direct communication, which should be neither ambiguous nor symbolic.”
Direct communication, in fact, is something for which Ken Howard has gained considerable acclaim – and not just through his actual paintings. His array of videos and books on art have proved immensely popular with professional and amateur alike, as well as members of the public who just love his work.
His most prestigious teaching role came through the Royal Academy of Arts which, in 2004, appointed him Professor of Perspective, a post held previously by a long line of distinguished artists – most notably Turner. And successful books include Ken Howard, A Personal View: Inspired by Light, which was published in 1998 and reprinted 10 years later.
“I describe myself as the last Impressionist,” he reveals with more than a hint of amusement. “Light is the inspiration for all my work.”
Consequently, perhaps, he has always loved to paint en plein air and then finish his compositions in the studio. Should you find yourself on a London street, don’t be surprised to stumble upon the master: a short, avuncular figure wielding paint and brushes, sporting a large, dark brimmed hat and, possibly, a dark cape on days of inclement weather. His brilliant handling of light, which extends to all his scenes – interiors and marine subjects, landscapes and cityscapes – will leave you mesmerised and enthralled.
Such consummate skill has been developed over many years. And the process continues: straight after our interview, Ken is dashing back up to town to complete the body of work for his next show at Portland Gallery, in St James’s.
“It will consist of classic London scenes,” he enthuses, “including Tower Bridge, Westminster Abbey, the National Gallery, Lower Regent Street and The Mall.”
So, London calls. But not before some final exhortations for our Glorious Richmond contenders.
“It’s a long road to success, but it’s worth it. Accept that your first exhibitions will be outside the capital. Then, once you have the experience of exhibiting, you can move to a London gallery. I was with the New Grafton in Barnes for many years, and then later with Richard Green in Mayfair. Now I’m with the Portland.”
It took Ken Howard 32 long years to achieve his ultimate aim of becoming a Royal Academician; three decades of submitting his best paintings to the Summer Exhibition, year after painstaking year. It is this kind of persistence, more than anything else, that he urges upon those who would follow in his illustrious footsteps.
“I’ve always told students that you can’t just pick up a brush when the inspiration takes hold; painting has to be practised every day.”
As the old adage insists, practice makes perfect. It would be hard to find a better example than Ken Howard, whose oeuvre illustrates precisely that.
Ken Howard’s London is at Portland Gallery, SW1A, from June 8 – July 6. Visit: portlandgallery.com
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