Thomas Benjamin Kennington (7 April 1856 – 10 December 1916) was a British

genre Genre () is any style or form of communication in any mode (written, spoken, digital, artistic, etc.) with socially agreed-upon conventions developed over time. In popular usage, it normally describes a category of literature, music, or other fo ...

social realist Social realism is work produced by painters, printmakers, photographers, writers, filmmakers and some musicians that aims to draw attention to the real socio-political conditions of the working class as a means to critique the power structures ...

and

portrait A portrait is a painting, photograph, sculpture, or other artistic representation of a person, in which the face is always predominant. In arts, a portrait may be represented as half body and even full body. If the subject in full body better r ...

painter. He was a founder member of the

New English Art Club The New English Art Club (NEAC) is a society for contemporary artists that was founded in London, England, in 1886 as an alternative venue to the Royal Academy. The NEAC holds an annual exhibition of paintings and drawings at the Mall Galleries ...

(NEAC) and the

Imperial Arts League Imperial is that which relates to an empire, emperor/empress, or imperialism. Imperial or The Imperial may also refer to: Places United States * Imperial, California * Imperial, Missouri * Imperial, Nebraska * Imperial, Pennsylvania * Impe ...

Life and works

Kennington was born in

Grimsby Grimsby or Great Grimsby is a port town in Lincolnshire, England with a population of 86,138 (as of 2021). It is located near the mouth on the south bank of the Humber that flows to the North Sea. Grimsby adjoins the town of Cleethorpes dir ...

in Lincolnshire and trained in art at the

Liverpool School of Art The John Lennon Art and Design Building (formerly the Art and Design Academy) in Liverpool, England, houses Liverpool John Moores University Liverpool John Moores University (abbreviated LJMU) is a public university, public research univers ...

(winning a gold medal), the

Royal College of Art The Royal College of Art (RCA) is a public university, public research university in London, United Kingdom, with campuses in South Kensington, Battersea and White City, London, White City. It is the only entirely postgraduate art and design uni ...

(RCA) in London, and the

Académie Julian The () was a private art school for painting and sculpture founded in Paris, France, in 1867 by French painter and teacher Rodolphe Julian (1839–1907). The school was active from 1868 through 1968. It remained famous for the number and qual ...

in Paris, where he studied under Bougereau and Robert-Fleury. He later moved to Chelsea in London.Biography Thomas B. Kennington
(LARA – London atelier of representational aret) He exhibited at the

Royal Academy The Royal Academy of Arts (RA) is an art institution based in Burlington House in Piccadilly London, England. Founded in 1768, it has a unique position as an independent, privately funded institution led by eminent artists and architects. Its ...

, London from 1880 to 1916, and also regularly showed his work at the

Royal Society of British Artists The Royal Society of British Artists (RBA) is a British art body established in 1823 as the Society of British Artists, as an alternative to the Royal Academy. History The RBA commenced with twenty-seven members, and took until 1876 to reach fi ...

(RBA) in

Suffolk Street The Royal Society of British Artists (RBA) is a British art body established in 1823 as the Society of British Artists, as an alternative to the Royal Academy. History The RBA commenced with twenty-seven members, and took until 1876 to reach fi ...

and the Grosvenor gallery. He was a founder member and first secretary of the ''New English Art Club'' (from 1886), and also founded the ''Imperial Arts League'', whose stated purpose was to "protect and promote the interests of Artists and to inform, advise and assist...".The Artists' League of Great Britain (formerly the Imperial Arts League
(

National Archives National archives are the archives of a country. The concept evolved in various nations at the dawn of modernity based on the impact of nationalism upon bureaucratic processes of paperwork retention. Conceptual development From the Middle Ages i ...

). He won a bronze medal at the Exposition Universelle of 1889. Kennington became known not only for his idealised paintings of domestic and everyday-life scenes but also for his social realist works. Paintings such as ''Orphans'' (1885,

Tate Tate is an institution that houses, in a network of four art galleries, the United Kingdom's national collection of British art, and international modern and contemporary art. It is not a government institution, but its main sponsor is the UK ...

, London), ''Widowed and fatherless'' (1885), ''Homeless'' (1890), and ''The pinch of poverty'' (1891), depicted the harsh realities of life for the poor in Britain in a manner that played on the onlooker's emotions. It has been suggested that he may have been influenced by the Spanish painter Murillo (1618–1682), whose work also featured street children. He painted in both

oils An oil is any nonpolar chemical substance that is composed primarily of hydrocarbons and is hydrophobic (does not mix with water) and lipophilic (mixes with other oils). Oils are usually flammable and surface active. Most oils are unsaturat ...

and

watercolour Watercolor (American English) or watercolour ( Commonwealth English; see spelling differences), also ''aquarelle'' (; from Italian diminutive of Latin 'water'), is a painting method"Watercolor may be as old as art itself, going back to the ...

. Kennington died in London on 10 December 1916. His son

Eric Kennington Eric Henri Kennington (12 March 1888 – 13 April 1960) was an English sculptor, artist and illustrator, and an official British official war artists, war artist in both of the world wars. As a war artist, Kennington specialised in depictions ...

(1888–1960) was also an artist, illustrator and sculptor.

Gallery

File:Thomas Kennington - Homeless (1890).jpg, ''Homeless'' (1890) File:Thomas Kennington - Pandora, 1908.jpg, Pandora (1908) File:Thomas Kennington - Reading the Letter (1885).jpg, ''Reading the Letter'' (1885) File:Thomas Kennington - The Bathers.jpg, ''The Bathers'' (n.d.) File:Thomas Kennington-A Plume Of Smoke.jpg, ''A Plume of Smoke'' (n.d.)

References

Christie's Christie's is a British auction house founded in 1766 by James Christie (auctioneer), James Christie. Its main premises are on King Street, St James's in London, and it has additional salerooms in New York, Paris, Hong Kong, Milan, Geneva, Shan ...

)
Relaxation
(Oil on canvas –

Christchurch Art Gallery The Christchurch Art Gallery Te Puna o Waiwhetū, commonly known as the Christchurch Art Gallery, is the public art gallery of the city of Christchurch, New Zealand. It has its own substantial art collection and also presents a programme of New ...

)
The mother
(1895 – Aigantighe Art Gallery) {{DEFAULTSORT:Kennington, Thomas Benjamin 19th-century English painters English male painters 20th-century English painters Alumni of Liverpool John Moores University Alumni of the Royal College of Art Académie Julian alumni Artists from Grimsby, Lincolnshire English genre painters Social realist artists English portrait painters 1856 births 1916 deaths 20th-century English male artists 19th-century English male artists

Life and works

Gallery

References

External links