Remembering Ken Howard RA

Seventy Years of Painting Light
Oktober 5, 2022

Ken Howard RA was one of Britain’s most distinguished figurative and landscape painters, widely admired for his ability to capture the effects of light with remarkable immediacy and clarity. Although his work encompassed studio nudes, London street scenes and interiors, he became especially celebrated for his luminous views of Venice, where he spent long periods working directly from observation. Howard often described himself as “the last impressionist”, a description that reflected more than seventy years devoted to recording the shifting qualities of light and atmosphere in paint. 

James Kenneth Howard was born in Neasden, north-west London, in 1932. His artistic ability emerged at a very early age; he was drawing and painting fluently as a child, encouraged by his teachers at Kilburn Grammar School. In 1949 he won a place at Hornsey College of Art, where he studied until 1953 and began to develop the observational approach that would remain central to his work.

Following his national service, during which he painted portraits of officers’ wives, Howard enrolled at the Royal College of Art. At the time the prevailing artistic climate was dominated by abstract expressionism, yet Howard remained committed to painting directly from life. Influenced particularly by the landscapes of Jean-Baptiste-Camille Corot and the tradition of painting outdoors, he pursued a practice grounded in close observation of light and atmosphere. “For me, my main inspiration is light,” he later remarked, “and it is through light that I want to celebrate my world.”

  • In 1958 Howard was awarded a British Council scholarship to Florence, an experience that proved transformative. The light and architecture of Italy, and especially Venice, would exert a lasting influence over the remainder of his career. Returning repeatedly to the city, he painted canals, squares and façades directly on location, capturing the reflections and shifting tones that define Venice’s unique atmosphere.

    While some critics initially regarded Howard’s commitment to observational painting as unfashionable during the more experimental decades of the mid-twentieth century, his work resonated strongly with collectors and audiences. His paintings were exhibited frequently at the Royal Academy Summer Exhibition, where he achieved considerable success. Over time his reputation grew steadily, and his work came to be widely regarded as an important continuation of the tradition of figurative painting in Britain.

    Howard’s achievements were recognised through numerous honours and appointments. He was elected a Royal Academician in 1991 and later served as the Royal Academy’s Professor of Perspective from 2004 to 2010. His contribution to British art was further acknowledged when he was appointed an Officer of the Order of the British Empire. Alongside these distinctions he played a significant role in the artistic community, serving as President of the New English Art Club and as a patron of Turner’s House Trust.

    Across a career that spanned more than seven decades, Ken Howard remained steadfast in his belief that painting should respond directly to the visible world. Through his dedication to observation and his extraordinary sensitivity to light, he produced a body of work that has influenced generations of artists and continues to be admired for its clarity, atmosphere and enduring vitality.

    Ken Howard died in September 2022, leaving behind a legacy that firmly secures his place within the long tradition of British landscape and figurative painting.