Gladwell & Patterson | Kenneth Webb 2017 by Gladwell & Patterson

Photography by Matt Austin

Kenneth Webb at 90 From prehistoric cave paintings, all the way through to post modern and contemporary art, we have been driven to share our own personal reaction to our beautiful natural world with others. A reaction born from the combination of our feelings, our senses, and our experiences, and to capture in writing or in pictures what we inside are witnessing. Kenneth has spent his life creating spectacular paintings so that we might share his own individual reaction and impression to the natural world around us. An interaction created from a multitude of lifetime experiences, from which two stand out as consistent motivations. Most deeply rooted and embedded are those which stem from his experiences during the Second World War, where the poppy became such a symbol of hope and remembrance to all who had any experience of such a dark time. Serving in the Fleet Air Arm, tragic events at home and being witness to such loss of life, profoundly affected him. Vowing to make the most of his fortuitous survival, he has taken the opportunity to provide so much joy to others through his paintings. Kenneth’s vibrant, symbolic and statuesque depictions and explorations of the poppy in his art helps to remind us all of the goodness and strength that can be found in the human character. They stand as beacons of hope and joy. Beautiful, unspoilt, historic Connemara – God’s own country has provided Kenneth’s second major inspiration. Moving to Connemara in 1972 and setting up his studio there, shaped and transformed Kenneth’s vision of our natural world. Anyone who has spent time in the West Coast of Ireland cannot fail to be affected by the breathtaking natural beauty. Set amongst this spectacular landscape are two significant sites where modern communication and flight took major steps forward. It seems fitting that two things that we take for granted in the modern world today, both found their course affected by this most unique of landscapes. The first transatlantic flight ended here and Marconi built their first radio station here establishing fast contact with the New World. Kenneth’s mystical and majestic bogland landscapes beautifully capture all that is romantic, beautiful and enthralling about this most special of places. At 90 years old, to still be at the very top of your game and to be continually striving to improve and succeeding, illustrates the drive Kenneth has to make the most of this special life we are given and to make a difference to those around him. Here at Gladwell & Patterson, we are privileged to be chosen to provide the platform to showcase this very special collection of paintings. May we further take this opportunity to wish Kenneth every success for this, his very special 90th year. With fond wishes, All the team at Gladwell & Patterson.

Would our dear readers kindly please note that all the historic paintings and drawings illustrated on the history pages within this catalogue have generously been reproduced courtesy of the private collections which house them. These paintings and drawings are not for sale. All of the other paintings in this catalogue are for sale and should you wish to talk further concerning any of these, or to request a price list, then please feel free to contact the gallery on 0207 584 5512 or by email at glenn@gladwellpatterson.com.

Marconi Bog, Blue and Red Oil on Canvas • 20” x 60” • 51 x 152 cms

Kenneth Webb at 90

Poppies and Foxgloves

Poppies and Daisies

June Meadow

Oil on Panel • 7” x 5” • 18 x 13 cms

Oil on Canvas • 14” x 10” • 35.5 x 25.5 cms

Symphony in Pink and Red Oil on Canvas • 28” x 21” • 71 x 53.5 cms

Kenneth Webb at 90

Eternity Oil on Canvas • 24” x 36” • 61 x 91 cms 10

Shards of Heaven Oil on Canvas • 36” x 48” • 91 x 122 cms Kenneth Webb at 90

Dragon Beach Oil on Canvas • 24” x 36” • 61 x 91 cms 12

Ancient Rocks Oil on Canvas • 18½” x 38½” • 47 x 98 cms Kenneth Webb at 90

The Early Years “My father is a most unusual man. A self made man. He was profoundly affected growing up through the Second World War seeing all those young lives lost. He decided that his, which was spared, should “count”. Count it has. I have no doubt that he will be counted as one of this century’s great painters.” - Susan Webb Kenneth Webb was born on the 21st January 1927 at The Royal London Hospital. His parents, William and Mabel Webb, moved to Bristol in 1930 after William had secured a job as a designer of leather goods at Savoury’s. By the outbreak of the war, William Webb had started his own small factory. The direction of Kenneth’s childhood was shaped by the traumatic events of the Bristol Blitz, during which both his father’s factory and the family home were destroyed by Luftwaffe bombing in 1941. By chance and perhaps sheer luck, the parachute mine that sheared their house in two spared the lives of Kenneth, his younger brother Keith and their parents, who were sheltered in the cupboard under the stairs, the only part of the house left standing. Kenneth has recalled, “I can still see the large bow window of the living room lying cleanly across a flower bed, not a pane of glass broken, while all around walls crumbled and sighed, quietly sending up unexpected little clouds of dust.” After this traumatic experience, Kenneth’s mother was deeply affected, and the Webb family moved to the beautiful Gloucestershire countryside, to Warren Farm, a derelict sixteenthcentury fortified farm house, near Lydney on the Welsh border, close to the Forest of Dean. Vacated for the previous few decades, only a single room was suitable for habitation whilst the family rebuilt the rest of the house. Memories of this period of his life are sparse, yet Kenneth has reflected that an awareness of unidentifiable forces or energies of Warren Farm, referred to locally as ‘the haunted house’, were translated in his later work of paintings of fierce thorn trees and Sighle-na-gig imagery.

Kenneth Webb, 1952

The proximity of Warren Farm to the Forest of Dean was an unending source of delight to Kenneth who began to paint and sketch spontaneously and freely in the early 1940s. Kenneth was an observant young man, and the changing seasons of the Gloucestershire countryside, the beauty of trees and landscape, and the atmosphere of the woodland environment that Kenneth would walk through every day on his way to school deeply impacted his imagination and creativity. Kenneth attended the local Lydney Grammar School where he excelled in sports and athletics, particularly rugby and boxing. Academic studies did not interest him greatly, but Kenneth’s early interest in art led him to attend classes at the local School of Art in Lydney and he received a scholarship to the Slade School of Fine Art in 1945.

Kenneth Webb at 90

Portrait of Mr. Bridell

Mother Darning Socks

Watercolour Executed circa 1950 8½” x 5½”, 21 x 14 cms Courtesy of the Webb Family Private Collection

Ink Drawing Executed circa 1949-50 6½” x 6”, 17 x 15 cms Courtesy of the Webb Family Private Collection

Brother Keith plucking a Chicken, Warren Farm Ink Drawing Executed circa 1949 7” x 5½”, 18 x 14 cms Courtesy of the Webb Family Private Collection

The Rowboat

Study for a Geranium in a Cottage Garden

Watercolour • Executed circa 1949 6” x 9” • 15 x 23 cms Courtesy of the Webb Family Private Collection

Ink Drawing • Executed circa 1950-51 13½” x 8½” • 34 x 21.5 cms Courtesy of the Webb Family Private Collection

The Art College Years As was commonplace in the era, and before Kenneth went on to pursue his passion for Art, he was called up for National Service in 1945 and contributed valiantly in the Fleet Air Arm of the Royal Navy until 1948. After his demobilisation from the Fleet Air Arm, Kenneth was able to pursue his artistic passions. Kenneth’s attachment to the Forest of Dean, “the forest which had given me some of my happiest hours,” and the struggle of the post-war years at Warren Farm facilitated his decision not to take up his scholarship to the Slade in London, and instead, he enrolled at the College of Art in Gloucester. There, Kenneth studied painting, pottery and graphics for his National Diploma of Design. His deep interest in history, particularly in the history of English landscape painting, led him to research and write his thesis on ‘Constable and his School,’ a subject that has interested Kenneth for many years subsequently and has been the subject of many lectures that Kenneth gave at the Tate Gallery and the V&A for the bi-century of Constable’s birth in the 1970s. The few watercolour and oil sketches of Kenneth’s Art College years that survive, illustrate the young artist’s discernible talent in draughtsmanship and in the handling of colour. His first painting accepted by the Royal Academy in 1949 was The Family around the Aladdin Lamp at Warren Farm, a charming oil painting of the Webb family that depicts Mabel Webb sewing and William Webb reading the paper surrounded by other members of the Webb family. This impressionistic academic study, influenced by the work of Walter Sickert, depicts the close family life that Kenneth grew up with. Family has always been hugely important to Kenneth’s personal and professional development and his children and grandchildren are a testament to this. 16

Kenneth Webb at 90

The Family around the Aladdin Lamp at Warren Farm Oil on Board • Painted in 1949 • 14” x 18” • 35 x 46 cms • Courtesy of the Webb Family Private Collection

Winter Bogland, Roundstone Oil on Canvas • 30” x 48” • 76 x 122 cms

Kenneth Webb at 90

Field of Poppies Oil on Canvas • 20” x 30” • 51 x 79 cms

Encounter

Swathes of Colour

Oil on Canvas • 14” x 10” • 35.5 x 25.5 cms

Kenneth Webb at 90

Windblown Sunflowers Oil on Canvas • 48” x 36” • 122 x 92 cms

Suzy’s Sunflowers Oil on Canvas • 30” x 48” • 76 x 122 cms

Kenneth Webb at 90

Poppies in a Cornfield Oil on Canvas • 20” x 24” • 51 x 61 cms 24

Summer Poppies Oil on Canvas • 24” x 20” • 61 x 51 cms

Kenneth Webb at 90

Early Career

The Dark Wood Watercolour • Executed in 1950s • 15” x 22” • 38 x 56 cms Courtesy of the Webb Family Private Collection

From Kenneth’s Art College years to the present day, his love and appreciation of nature has formed the nucleus for his creativity. In 1951, while he was still a student at Gloucester, Kenneth had his first London exhibition at the Wardour Gallery in Soho. The exhibition consisted entirely of watercolours of the River Severn and the Forest of Dean, the landscape that Kenneth had grown so attached to in his school and early college years at Warren Farm. Oil paints were costly and as Kenneth had only a small grant of £168 per year for his service in the war, watercolours were his chosen medium. These early watercolours, in particular The Dark Wood, show a subtle influence of Paul Nash’s depictions of trees in the Oxfordshire countryside where Nash lived. Kenneth rapidly developed his own unique and gestural style which received much praise from critics. Max McCabe in the Sunday Independent wrote; “Few artists capture the shimmer of leaves or the glint of water so effectively as [Kenneth] does. Fewer still use watercolours with such an elastic smoothness... The interplay of light and shadows in his woodland scenes is altogether delightful, his gradations of colour are subtle and effective, his balance and tone satisfying.” After graduating from the College of Art in Gloucester, Kenneth completed his Teaching Diploma at the University of Wales in 1953. That same year he was appointed as the Head of Painting in Ulster College of Art in Ireland, where he remained until 1960. The move to Ireland was instrumental in forming Kenneth’s artistic identity. In the early years at Ulster, Kenneth and his wife Joan, who is a keen watercolourist, spent much time travelling around the Irish countryside. Both of Kenneth’s parents had ancestral ties to Ireland; his father in Wexford in the south east, his mother in Cork, whilst other ancestors came from County Sligo in the north west. Kenneth’s connection with Ireland was heightened by his delight in the wild, rugged countryside that offered him endless inspiration. Kenneth noted, “we found among those many inlets and mountains the variety of light, shape and texture that are the breath of life to the landscape painter.” Whilst teaching at Ulster, Kenneth continued to exhibit in London as well as in Ireland with numerous societies and galleries including the Royal Society of British Artists, the Royal Institute of Oil Painters, the Royal Hibernian Academy and the Arts Council in Belfast and in 1957 Kenneth set up the now prestigious Irish School of Landscape Painting. Kenneth embraced more experimental techniques, many of which he taught at the college; encouraging his students to paint and draw in nature to widen their approach and not just remain fixated in the curriculum of realist paintings.

Into the Dark, Forest of Dean Watercolour • Executed in 1950s • 10½” x 14½” • 27 x 37 cms Courtesy of the Webb Family Private Collection

Kenneth Webb at 90

Forest of Dean, Cannop Ponds, Winter Sun

Lobster Pots

Watercolour and Gouache Painted circa 1960 15½” x 11½”, 39 x 29 cms Courtesy of the Webb Family Private Collection

Watercolour and Ink Painted circa 1960 14½” x 9”, 37 x 23 cms Courtesy of the Webb Family Private Collection

Kenneth Webb at his easel in the 1950s

Blackthorn Towards of the end of the 1950s Kenneth became fixated with the motif of blackthorn trees and created a series of paintings based on his drawings and sketches from a trip to County Donegal in 1958. These paintings depict the stark branches of the blackthorn tree silhouetted against a moonlit sky and take homage in Irish folklore. In Irish folklore the blackthorn, also known as fairythorn, is guarded by unfriendly spirits who leave the bushes unguarded at the full moon. Kenneth had great success with these paintings during his first exhibition in the USA at Veerhoof Galleries in Washington. The Washington Post wrote a glowing critique; “In such work as… studies of thorn hedges, he is at his very best. His tree forms are striking linear patterns and his rich colours contrast with a dazzling palette knife technique. He uses an unusual combination of heavy impasto with thin overglazes in rich colour to give depth and resonance to his tones.” Only one of these paintings remain in the Webb Family Private Collection, The Rising of the Moon, Wexford, in which Kenneth combined the blackthorn motif with a well-known Irish folk song that tells the story of the Irish Rebellion of 1798, in which it is written “pikes must be together at the rising of the moon”. The outbreak of the uprising against British rule in Ireland began in County Wexford, where his father’s ancestors were from. His ancestral ties to this part of Ireland resonated with Kenneth and inspired this striking painting in which the blackthorn motif silhouetted against the moonlit sky took on a secondary interpretation of the pikes meeting in the moonlight centuries earlier. The bright blue paint of the sky is applied using a palette knife and the broad gestural strokes of black for the silhouetted blackthorn create an effect reminiscent of stained glass windows. Kenneth further developed this technique in his prestigious commission for a mural of Christ at Bangor Abbey in north east Ireland. Kenneth layered multiple glazes of translucent paint, interspersed with opaque texture in contrasting colours to build up the surface and create the character of a stained glass window on panel. At the re-dedication of the Abbey, the Bishop of Down and Dromore, the Right Reverend Dr. F. J. Mitchell, said that he was almost hypnotized by his first sight of the mural. He alluded to an experience similar to that of this first visit to the imposing Gothic Chartres Cathedral in northern France.

The Rising of the Moon, Wexford Oil on Canvas • Painted circa 1960 • 40” x 30” • 102 x 76 cms Courtesy of the Webb Family Private Collection

Kenneth Webb at 90

Tidewrack Following the Bangor Abbey commission, Kenneth undertook a considerable amount of what he refers to as ‘commercial’ work for organisations including British Steel, Shell, The Post Office in Northern Ireland, and worked with John Piper, John Betjeman and John Houston. Kenneth travelled extensively during this period and had hugely successful exhibitions in Ireland, the UK and America. Kenneth continued to experiment with texture, using treated sand and texture forms to add depth to his landscapes. He was influenced by a film about the French cubist Georges Braque and began to evoke the texture of the landscape through the use of the palette knife and thicker, broad brushstrokes resulting in Kenneth’s abstracted descriptions of the rugged Irish landscape. In 1962 Kenneth and Joan moved to Ballywalter, on the Ards Peninsular in north east Ireland. Their small bungalow had spectacular views of the sea from almost every window and provided Kenneth ample opportunity for inspiration. The Irish Sea on the east coast of Ireland is particularly stormy and in those early years at Ballywalter Kenneth became fascinated in the tide wrack that came ashore. Seaweed and marine vegetation twisted together in great clumps that Kenneth recalls being “as thick as a man’s body”. The entwined mass of texture and colours of red, orange, purple and green provided the perfect inspiration for a new series of paintings.

The Bangor Abbey Mural Oil on Panel Painted in 1959-60 Bangor Abbey, Northern Ireland

Kenneth exhibited his Tidewrack series with the Veerhoof Galleries in Washington in the early 1960s, all of which sold. Tidewrack: Emerald and Gold is a vivid painting that perfectly encapsulates this experimental period in Kenneth Webb’s artistic development. The bold and jewel coloured oil paints were applied with both palette knife and brush and were built up over a period of many months to create the different layers of texture and depth, a technique Kenneth still uses today, over fifty years later. The yellow and red gestural strokes down the composition appear to have been squeezed directly from the tube, their appearance is as fresh today as it was when it was created.

Tidewrack: Emerald and Gold Oil on Canvas • Painted circa 1962 • 50” x 20” • 127 x 51 cms Courtesy of the Webb Family Private Collection

Rock Pool Oil on Canvas • 20” x 30” • 51 x 76 cms

Kenneth Webb at 90

Woodland Iris Oil on Canvas • 24” x 20” • 61 x 51 cms 32

Masquerade Oil on Canvas • 30” x 40” • 76 x 102 cms Kenneth Webb at 90

Waterlilies I

Waterlilies II

Oil on Canvas • 10” x 12” • 25.5 x 30 cms

Ballywalter Dreaming Oil on Canvas • 24” x 36” • 61 x 91 cms Kenneth Webb at 90

Winter’s Tale

Sunshine

Oil on Canvas • 14” x 10”, 35.5 x 25.5 cms

Oil on Canvas • 10” x 12”, 25.5 x 30 cms

Sweet Peas I

Summer’s Eve

Oil on Canvas • 12” x 16”, 30 x 40 cms

Oil on Canvas • 14” x 10”, 35.5 x 25.5 cms

Kenneth Webb at 90

Farm Buildings Reflected in a Pond Oil on Canvas

Painted in 1958

16” x 40”, 40 x 102 cms Courtesy of the Webb Family Private Collection

Evening Glow

Irish Landscapes Towards the end of the 1950s, Kenneth began to paint landscapes on the long narrow canvases that he has today become so identified with. These landscapes captured the beauty of the Irish countryside in colourful abstracted vistas. His earliest Irish landscapes were of farm buildings in County Down in which Kenneth explored the shapes and tones of buildings in varying degrees of abstraction, often focusing on blocks of colour in geometrical shapes. In February 1963 the Irish Independent wrote; “These low long landscapes in which a smoothly-painted sky of braided pigment, be the mood day or evening, calm or storm, is balanced and held in unity by the impact of impasto among buildings and fields in the narrow foreground.”

Oil on Canvas Painted circa 1970 16” x 40”, 40 x 102 cms Private Collection

Kenneth Webb at 90

Valentia, County Kerry Oil on Canvas Painted circa 1970 15” x 36”, 38 x 92 cms Courtesy of the Webb Family Private Collection

Slea Head, County Kerry Oil on Canvas Painted in 1968 15” x 36”, 38 x 92 cms Courtesy of the Webb Family Private Collection

One farm, in particular, inspired many of these landscapes. Ditty’s Farm was an eighteenth-century farm with outbuildings that faced the Strangford Lough. The fields stretched for some distance and Kenneth fondly remembers his time visiting the farm with his young children and painting the old barns under the sweeping skies of County Down. An influence of Vlamick and De Staël can be seen in Kenneth’s earlier landscapes, but the bold compositions and the application of paint with the palette knife offered an originality to the market and Kenneth’s Irish landscapes continue to delight and excite the viewer today.

Poppies by the Sea, Ballywalter Oil on Canvas

Painted in 1960s

15” x 36”, 38 x 92 cms Courtesy of the Webb Family Private Collection

Field of Poppies

Poppies Poppies have been a recurrent theme of Kenneth’s oeuvre since the 1960s and he habitually returns to the challenge of capturing their simplicity of form with his bold, textured brushstrokes. In the late 1960s Kenneth was offered the opportunity to go abroad with various organisations, including the African Group of Safari Hotels in Nairobi, which exposed him to a very different environment. However, it was Lanzarote that inspired the poppies, as he became interested in the evocative ‘riot’ of red colours he saw. The tumultuous ensemble of various hues of rich colour, whether red, orange or purple, became ingrained in Kenneth’s artistic psyche throughout the following two decades and resonates in his paintings today. His return home to Ballywalter coincided with a proliferation of poppies on the sweeping sand dunes, inspiring a whole series of work and experimentation that focused on the abundant blooms infused within the landscapes and seascapes of Ireland which came to be known as “Webbscapes”. By the 1970s the poppies that had so brightly furnished Ballywalter had become a natural aspect of Kenneth’s works. Gerald Goldberg, Governor of the National Gallery in Ireland, wrote in 1973; “Last year in America, I saw a study by Henri Matisse of poppies. I do not think Mr. Webb could have seen it. Yet, today I see the same treatment, the same use of texture, the proper use of colour in the wonderful, fascinating, living poppies from Mr. Webb’s brush. They are fresh and strong, overbearing in pride, upright with knowledge that they are among the rare, the rich and the beautiful, shimmering with light, an exciting never-to-be-forgotten experience.”

Oil on Canvas Painted circa 1980 36” x 48”, 91 x 122 cms Courtesy of the Webb Family Private Collection

Kenneth Webb at 90

Field Poppies Oil on Canvas

Painted circa 1970

15” x 30”, 38 x 76 cms Courtesy of the Webb Family Private Collection

Kenneth Webb with Ivon Hitchens and Molly Hitchens in Hitchens’ studio, Petworth, Sussex, 1981

Kenneth’s paintings of poppies enchant, and when he depicts them grouped in a great display, the impact can be tremendous. A Field of Poppies is a study for a much larger painting, entitled 1916, that is regarded as Kenneth’s most important Poppy painting. The painting is a mass of texture and a riot of colour. Each bloom is unique, painted in contrasting tones, and diverse shapes, representing the hundreds of young men who perished in the First World War and for whom the poppy is a poignant symbol. The poppy continues to delight Kenneth and is a recurrent theme in his recent paintings. Whether the poppies are in a wildflower meadow, nestled amongst rocks from Kenneth’s Ballinaboy Garden or silhouetted against a vivid Irish sky, he is constantly drawn to the enduring challenge of capturing their simplicity of form in his bold, textured brushstrokes. Kenneth had admired the work of Ivon Hitchens since the early years of his studies and his influence can be seen in his work in the mid 1970s, such as Field Poppies and in the later Myths and Legends series. The two first met at Hitchens’ 80th birthday party in 1973. A firm friendship was formed and both men would often meet and share their painting experiences, with Kenneth introducing Hitchens to the experimental aspects afforded by the use of acrylic paints. Hitchens and Kenneth shared areas of commonality within their artistic approaches; their paintings were neither entirely abstract nor completely figurative and the immediate landscape of their surroundings was integral to their creativity. Hitchens’ inspiration was firmly rooted in the quiet and gentle life style of Petworth in the Sussex countryside and, whilst Kenneth’s connection to the Forest of Dean was the impetus for many of his landscapes inspired by Hitchens, Kenneth’s connection to Ireland and his delight in the primitive landscape of rock and desolate bog of the West of Ireland would inspire the unique approach of Kenneth’s later years.

Blowing in the Wind Oil on Canvas • 20” x 30” • 51 x 76 cms

Kenneth Webb at 90

The Old Guard Oil on Canvas • 24” x 20” • 61 x 51 cms

Cascade of Poppies Oil on Canvas • 18” x 12” • 46 x 30 cms

Kenneth Webb at 90

Early Rising Oil on Canvas • Painted in 1959 • 23” x 30” • 60 x 91 cms

Magic of Moonlight Oil on Canvas • 12” x 16” • 30 x 40 cms

Kenneth Webb at 90

Ditty’s Farm, Newtownards, County Down Oil on Canvas • Painted in 1960s • 14” x 36” • 36 x 92 cms

The Farm by the Sea, Newtownards, County Down Oil on Canvas • Painted in 1961 • 14” x 36” • 36 x 92 cms

Kenneth Webb at 90

Cannop Ponds, Forest of Dean Oil on Canvas • Painted in 1980s 15” x 36” • 38 x 91 cms Courtesy of the Webb Family Private Collection

Apollo’s Tree Oil on Canvas • Painted in 1970s 16” x 40” • 40 x 102 cms Courtesy of the Webb Family Private Collection

Kenneth Webb at 90

Myths and Allegories In the 1970s Kenneth’s depictions of poppies began to take on new forms and meanings. These works have an ambiguous quality where the flower becomes a figure or part of a figure, sometimes sexual in their nature. The metamorphosis of natural forms gives these paintings a surreal element. Kenneth points to this phase of his career as brief yet pivotal, an experiment in allegory that opened a gateway to an awareness of physical presence in paintings that he had been hitherto unaware of. In his monograph of Kenneth Webb, Max Wykes-Joyce noted that “These latest aerial and surreal flower/landscapes are, evidently, Webb’s attempt to free himself from the tyranny of the subject matter, which besets all thoughtful landscapists at some state in their development. It may well be that like Nash and De Stael, Webb’s work will, for a time, appear to become even more remote from the subject which inspired it. But as the greatest of them all – Picasso – noticed: ‘There is no abstract art. You always start with reality and then remove all traces of it. Which by then is of no account, for reality will have left its indelible mark in your work. For that is what fired the artist’s imagination and played upon his emotions.’” These surreal landscapes culminated in Kenneth’s myths and legends paintings which were exhibited in the late 1980s and early 1990s. Kenneth had a keen interest in history was intrigued with the correlation and similarity between so many ancient Greek and Roman legends and Irish mythology. In these mythical paintings figures are interwoven within vivid landscapes, simultaneously appearing and disappearing from the undergrowth. In this allegorical phase Kenneth consciously interwove human forms into the painting with the intention of leaving a hidden meaning to be discovered. Only one of these paintings remains in the Webb Family Private Collection, Apollo’s Tree, a beautifully lyrical painting in which Daphne transitions from nymph to tree. Kenneth illustrates this metamorphosis through discrete lines which are barely noticeable with the forest. These landscapes show Hitchens’ influence in their lyrical and gestural brushstrokes that draw the eye across the painting.

Pan’s People Oil on Canvasboard • Painted in 1980s • 14” x 18” • 35 x 46 cms Courtesy of the Webb Family Private Collection

Bog Monsters, Connemara By the early 1970s the political tension in Northern Ireland had forced the Webb family to consider relocating from Ballywalter. The family moved back to Gloucestershire to Bownham Grange, a large house with much room for Kenneth and Joan’s four teenage children. At the same time, Kenneth also purchased a small cottage in Ballinboy in Connemara that was in need of renovation. The West Coast of Ireland had inspired Kenneth for many years and Kenneth describes a “magnetism” to this area of serene blanket bog full of magnificent colour and texture. The Connemara move presented Kenneth with a tremendous amount of inspiration. Kenneth’s newfound perspective saw him focus on the minutiae; small studies of flora, bog cuttings and most significantly waterlilies, bountifully prevalent in the area. Kenneth’s muse in the 1980s and 1990s came from the early days of life in Ballinaboy, where he would procure pieces of bog oak and consider them “natural sculpture”, to be placed in the garden and depicted in paintings as a subsidiary interest or as the main focus in his paintings of Bog Monsters. The bog oaks are pieces of wood that have been buried over time in the peat boglands, preserved from decay. They are pieces of history, which not only look beautiful, but feel beautiful with a depth of colour like the peat earth that was a home to it for so long. The bog oak take on a supernatural role in Kenneth’s paintings of Bog Monsters, recalling his earlier surrealist tendencies. The vivid colours and thick textural application of paint enliven the paintings of Bog Monsters and one can imagine these natural fossils coming to life.

Study for Dancers in the Bog Watercolour Executed circa 1980 21” x 32”, 53 x 81 cms Courtesy of the Webb Family Private Collection

Monsters from the Bog Oil on Canvas Painted circa 1980 36” x 48”, 91 x 122 cms Courtesy of the Webb Family Private Collection

Kenneth Webb at 90

Sighle-na-gigs As a young man, Kenneth spent much time walking in the Mendip Hills in the west of England searching for Roman ruins. This was where he first became interested in finding landscapes of a ‘sexual nature’ or those that contained allusions to sex. He was drawn to Sighle-na-gigs as they combine religion and sex and enabled Kenneth to explore an intrinsic part of Irish medieval history and symbolism. Kenneth’s unique interpretation of these medieval symbols placed the female body, partly hidden or disappearing outside the pictorial frame, within the landscape. In the 1990s the focus for the hidden forms shifted from poppies to ancient stones of the beaches of Cornwall and Roundstone in the West of Ireland which enabled Kenneth to embrace his growing concern with colour. Kenneth’s allegorical and surreal paintings culminated in his depictions of Sighle-na-gigs in which vivid blue female forms appear amongst bright red poppies in yellow cornfields. Sighle-na-gigs are medieval Architectural Grotesques of nude females exposing their genitalia that appear on the walls of castles, churches and monasteries as a symbol of protection and to warn off the evil eye and the devil. Particularly prevalent in Ireland, they have an enduring role in Celtic mythology which has always captured Kenneth’s imagination. Sighle-Na-Gig Oil on Canvas • Painted circa 2000 • 20” x 40” • 51 x 102 cms • Courtesy of the Webb Family Private Collection

Silver and Gold Marconi Bog Oil on Canvas • 20” x 50” • 51 x 127 cms

Kenneth Webb at 90

Last of the Season

Primavera

Oil on Canvas • 10” x 12” • 25.5 x 30 cms

Oil on Canvas • 10” x 14” • 25.5 x 35.5 cms

Waterlily

Who is the Fairest?

Oil on Canvas • 6” x 9” • 15 x 23 cms

Oil on Canvas • 12” x 16” • 30 x 40 cms

Kenneth Webb at 90

Waterlillies Oil on Canvas • 20” x 24” • 51 x 61 cms

Silver Fantasy Oil on Canvas • 24” x 16” • 61 x 40 cms

Kenneth Webb at 90

Sweet Peas (Orange and Red) Oil on Canvas • 24” x 20” • 61 x 51 cms

Sweet Fragrance

Valentine

Oil on Canvas • 10” x 12” • 25.5 x 30 cms

Kenneth Webb at 90

Fisherman Mending Nets on the Claddagh in Galway

Oughterard Show, County Galway

Oil on Canvas • Painted in 1964 • 30” x 40” • 76 x 102 cms Collection of the Bank of Ireland, Dublin

Oil on Canvas • Painted in 1985 • 30” x 40” • 76 x 102 cms Courtesy of the Webb Family Private Collection

Academic Paintings and Fair Days In the 1960s and 1970s, whilst his abstract and surreal work was proving popular, Kenneth simultaneously painted many academic paintings of historical views of Ireland and traditional Irish Fair Days. Following the cannon of history painting, Kenneth captured the life and characters of the Ireland that he cherished. He spent much time painting in Galway and the surrounding area, and Mending Nets on the Claddagh in Galway was one of the early commissions for a work of this type. Kenneth captures the daily bustle of this busy fishing village with lively characters, including a self portrait of himself as a fisherman. The 1980s saw the exhibition of a number of large Fair Days with the Kenny Gallery in Galway. The subject of these paintings was a point of fascination for Kenneth, who spent significant time at these fairs in the West of Ireland, where he recalls horses being paraded against the backdrop of mountains and rivers. Kenneth has said that the areas of Clifden,

Kenneth Webb at 90

Ballconneely Pony Fair Oil on Canvas • Painted circa 1980 • 18” x 50” • 46 x 127 cms Courtesy of the Webb Family Private Collection

Ballyconneely, Claddaghduff, Oughterard and Ballinasloe had a local, otherworldly feel to them and an ad hoc quality which he responded to in these lively paintings. Having owned horses himself, Kenneth loved the atmosphere of the Irish Fair Days and has reflected that it was natural for him and his daughters to paint as well as enjoy the company of the animals. Kenneth was inspired by the early work of Sir Alfred Munnings and his depictions of horse sales in particular, where horses, riders and spectators are shown in a lively and chaotic scene. The rural element depicted by Munnings in the late nineteenth century was still apparent in the 1960s in the West of Ireland and Kenneth was very much drawn to it. These paintings serve as a homage to this part of Irish culture.

Kenneth Webb with Traveller, 2014

Devon and Cornwall In 1987 Kenneth and Joan moved from Bownham Grange to the small village of Chagford in Dartmoor, a wild and remote part of Devon. Over many years, Kenneth has been drawn to the wilds of Cornwall, west of his home on Dartmoor. The ruggedness of the Atlantic coasts is echoed in both Connemara and Cornwall. Cornish sites, such as Gunwalloe Cove and along the Lizard Peninsula, have provided Kenneth with a wide variety of subjects, particularly in spring which is his favourite time of year in this area. It is during this time that the quality of light here, with the sea acting as a giant mirror, reflecting and refracting the millions of little prisms suspended in the moist sea air, intensifies the colours that Kenneth enjoys exploring and referencing in his paintings. The wilderness of Dartmoor and the rugged coastline of Cornwall have provided Kenneth with a wealth of stimuli. The exciting textures of ancient weathered, lichen-covered rock forms with the delicate tracery of wild flowers have inspired many of his works. Wildflower meadows, both as settings and developed as focused subjects in themselves, have been a significant and long-running theme for Kenneth. The climate of Devon and Cornwall – mild winters and warm, damp springs – provides an ideal environment for these wildflower meadows. Small fields divided by stone walls, often on steep and less-accessible slopes, has discouraged the more aggressive farming techniques and widespread use of pesticides that have destroyed these wildflower fields elsewhere in the country. These wonderful meadows have clung to survival in the South West – an oasis of delicate life which inspires Kenneth’s heart.

Kenneth Webb in his studio, photograph by Matt Austin, 2017

Kenneth Webb at 90

A Muster of Poppies

The studio at Portland House, Devon

Oil on Canvas • 10” x 14” • 25.5 x 35.5 cms

Fair Day, Cashel, Connemara Oil on Canvas • Painted in 2000 • 24” x 36” • 61 x 91 cms

Kenneth Webb at 90

Misty Morning

Sunlight and Shadow

Bluebells in May

Oil on Panel • 7” x 5” • 18 x 13 cms

Salmon Leap, Autumn Oil on Canvas • 30” x 40” • 76 x 102 cms Kenneth Webb at 90

Summer’s Gold, Ballinaboy Oil on Canvas • 20” x 50” • 51 x 127 cms

Awakening Oil on Canvas • 30” x 60” • 76 x 152 cms

Kenneth Webb at 90

Stone Maidens Oil on Canvas • 20” x 30” • 51 x 76 cms

Maiden Beach Oil on Canvas • 20” x 30” • 51 x 76 cms

Kenneth Webb at 90

The Boglands of Connemara Kenneth and Joan purchased their cottage in Connemara in 1972 and this wonderful place, now known as the Ballinaboy Studio, has offered a multitude of inspiration to Kenneth for over forty years. When he moved to Ballinaboy, Kenneth delighted in the fourteen miles of blanket bog on his doorstep which stretched all the way to the small harbour of Roundstone. Steeped in history, the Derrygimla Bog provides an ethereal setting to Kenneth’s unique landscapes. A prehistoric trackway, exposed when peat was cut from the bog in the past, marks the earliest in a long line of important historic sites belonging to this otherworldly landscape. The famous Marconi Station once occupied this site where the first regular transatlantic transmission took place in 1907. Vast quantities of peat were dug from the bog to fuel the generators of the Marconi Station, leaving a permanent mark in the form of the magnificent lough where the wild waterlilies now grow in abundance, providing enduring inspiration for Kenneth.

The Ancient Trackway Oil on Canvas • 30” x 48” • 76 x 122 cms Private Collection

Kenneth Painting in the Bog, 2003

One of the Marconi Stations radio operators on the Titanic had lived in the cottage at Ballinaboy before setting sail in 1912, sadly never to return. This was also the site of Alcock and Brown’s landing following the famed first transatlantic flight in 1919. The pilots had used the towers of the Marconi Station and the cottage as markers. Upon finally reaching land, they spotted a broad expanse of green which they assumed would be perfect for landing, unfortunately it was the Derrygimla Bog and having landed safely, the wheels began to sink and the plane nosedived into the wet peat. Kenneth has noted that it is perhaps the historical reverberations which remain in the bog that inspire his emotional response, resulting in the multitude of unique interpretations of this landscape.

Alcock and Brown landing, 1919

Kenneth Webb at 90

John O’Donoghue, the late poet and philosopher, wrote: “His eye is thoroughly schooled in the deft rhythms and hues of West of Ireland light. With contemplative attention, he has taken time to attend to the sophistication and subtlety of the Connemara colour-world. This landscape amply rewards the passionate eye; the deeper you gaze, the more colours that will rise to meet you. This place is never without colour. Even in Winter, one is always surprised. Shoals of colour that had come ashore in the Autumn and drifted into some remote corner of bog lie in wait for the occasional glimpse if sun or eye.” Kenneth has been drawn to the nuances of colour and the variety of flora in the bog since he first set eyes upon it. Inspired by the bog cuts, the reflection of constantly changing skies in pools of murky water and plants at the water’s edge, Kenneth’s “Bogscapes” combine these into unique visions of the Connemara landscape. Kenneth has described how this environment has a remarkable effect on him and causes him to simplify form and to create patterns of texture with colour. He studies the bog in all seasons and reflects the changing atmosphere in the colours and textures of his depictions; during the winter, the grass in the bog turns violet, purple and reddy-orange. The green of the summer months disappears completely and the colours become striking browns, reds and oranges, applied to the canvas in thick swathes of paint.

The Marconi Lough

Derrygimla Bog

Sunflower Studies

Ballinaboy Studio Garden

Ink and Watercolour • 30” x 21½” • 76 x 55 cms

Ballinaboy Studio Garden The stimulus that Kenneth has received from the Derrygimla Bog was paralleled by an interest in the wild garden of the Ballinaboy Studio. Originally the garden was an area of natural bogland with beautiful outcroppings of granite with marbled veins running through them and a multitude of local flora native to Connemara. Over the past 40 years Kenneth and Joan have nurtured the garden into an oasis of colour and texture; a microcosm of different experiences to paint. Kenneth has always been inspired by ancient stones and they have appeared in his landscapes since the 1960s. Stone plays an important role in the Ballinaboy Garden; vast amounts of stone has been added for the boundry walls and to add shelter to the plants in the garden amongst the natural granite rocks that have stood in the garden for thousands of years. Kenneth depicts these ancient stones in his most vivid and textured paintings of the Ballinaboy Garden. Surrounded by native red poppies, wildflowers and occasionally the vivid blue Himalayan poppies that Joan and Kenneth have added over time, they recall the hidden blue forms of the ancient Sighle-na-gigs, in their use of primary colours.

Kenneth Webb at 90

The Ballinaboy Garden is an explosion of colour and texture that incorporates both wild incursions and intricately thoughtout plans. Combined with the native flowers are Kenneth’s impressive bog sculptures, bog oak “monsters” that he recovered from the bog, which loom out of deep vegetation. The result is an entirely organic landscape that fuses native and planted flora in equal measure. Heathers, red campion, ragged robin, ‘moon daisies’, teasels and orchids nestle comfortably together to form a stunning garden of delights. The conglomerate effect of natural forms that have been allowed to develop without interference is imbedded in Kenneth’s work and in the natural but vivid impressions of the garden upon his canvases.

Daisies in the Ballinboy Studio Garden

Poppies in the Ballinboy Studio Garden

Kenneth’s favourite place in the garden is a stone seat overlooking his own waterlily lake. After an outbreak of invasive local rushes, cropped up from a damp spot in the garden, Kenneth removed them and dug to the base rock where a trickle of a spring was uncovered, filling the resulting hole and in time spawning lilies in a similar fashion to the gaping opening left by the peat cuttings in the Derrygimla Bog. This fortunate accident led to a migration of fauna; water voles, caddis flies, dragonflies, damsel flies and an abundance of frog species. This paradise undeniably left an indelible impression on Kenneth’s work. Kenneth has always found an amusing contrast when he considers the dissimilarity between his ‘wild’ garden backdrop, that has been guided more than tamed, and that of Monet’s famous garden at Giverny, with its multitude of gardeners and beautifully organised areas of waterlilies and avenues of plants. His Irish equivalent is so very different and wholly unique, just like the artworks that are inspired by it. Kenneth Webb in the Ballinaboy Studio Garden, 2001

Summer’s End Oil on Canvas • 24” x 36” • 61 x 91 cms

Kenneth Webb at 90

Somewhere Beyond Eden Rock Oil on Canvas • 24” x 36” • 61 x 91 cms

Summer Mosaic, Ballinaboy Oil on Canvas • 18” x 24” • 46 x 61 cms

Kenneth Webb at 90

Dreamtime Oil on Canvas • 26” x 60” • 66 x 152 cms

Kenneth Webb at 90

Connemara Landscape near Roundstone Oil on Canvas • Painted in 1964 • 40” x 60” • 102 x 152 cms 84

Geometric Bog Oil on Canvas • 30” x 40” • 76 x 102 cms Kenneth Webb at 90

Kenneth with his family by the pond, Ballinaboy Studio Garden

Photography by Matt Austin

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