Thomas Benjamin Kennington
{{short description|English painter}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=March 2019}}
{{Infobox person
| name = Thomas Kennington
| image = Thomas Benjamin Kennington - Orphans.jpg
| caption = Orphans (1885)
| birth_name = Thomas Benjamin Kennington
| birth_date = {{birth date|df=y|1856|04|07}}
| birth_place = Grimsby, Lincolnshire, England
| death_date = {{Death date and age|df=y|1916|12|10|1856|04|07}}
| death_place = London, England
| occupation = Painter
| spouse =
| children = Eric Kennington
}}
Thomas Benjamin Kennington (7 April 1856 – 10 December 1916) was a British genre, social realist and portrait painter. He was a founder member of the New English Art Club (NEAC) and the Imperial Arts League.
Life and works
Kennington was born in Grimsby in Lincolnshire and trained in art at the Liverpool School of Art (winning a gold medal), the Royal College of Art (RCA) in London, and the Académie Julian in Paris, where he studied under Bougereau and Robert-Fleury.Edward Tyas Cook. A Popular Handbook to the Tate Gallery etc (Reprint, Elibron Classics, 2006) p. 181. He later moved to Chelsea in London.[http://www.drawpaintsculpt.com/artist-biographies/thomas-benjamin-kennington/ Biography Thomas B. Kennington] (LARA – London atelier of representational aret)
He exhibited at the Royal Academy, London from 1880 to 1916, and also regularly showed his work at the Royal Society of British Artists (RBA) in Suffolk Street and the Grosvenor gallery.[http://www.tate.org.uk/servlet/ArtistWorks?cgroupid=999999961&artistid=306&page=1&sole=y&collab=y&attr=y&sort=default&tabview=bio Thomas B. Kennington] (Tate online). 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...".[http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/a2a/records.aspx?cat=074-lma4054&cid=0#0 The Artists' League of Great Britain (formerly the Imperial Arts League] (National Archives). 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, 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 and watercolour.
Kennington died in London on 10 December 1916. His son Eric Kennington (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
{{reflist}}
External links
{{commons category|Thomas Kennington}}
- {{Art UK bio}}
- [http://www.artcyclopedia.com/artists/kennington_thomas_benjamin.html Thomas Benjamin Kennington Works Online ] (ArtCyclopedia)
- [http://www.artnet.com/artists/thomas%20benjamin-kennington/ Thomas Benjamin Kennington on Artnet]
- [http://www.bridgemanart.com/search/artist/Kennington-Thomas-Benjamin-1856-1916/fdfe91bee9604cbdbaf734e07b7c85bc T B Kennington prints] (Bridgeman Art Library)
- [http://iamachild.wordpress.com/2009/05/09/thomas-benjamin-kennington-1856-1916-english/ Works by Kennington] (Children in art history)
- [http://www.studio-international.co.uk/studio-images/exiles/ex1318b.asp Homeless] (Oil on cavas, 1890 – Studio International art magazine))
- [http://www.christies.com/LotFinder/lot_details.aspx?intObjectID=1820750 Maternal advice] (Oil on canvas Christie's)
- [https://christchurchartgallery.org.nz/collection/69-377 Relaxation] (Oil on canvas – Christchurch Art Gallery)
- [http://ehive.com/account/3330/object/1696/The_Mother The mother] (1895 – Aigantighe Art Gallery)
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Category:19th-century English painters
Category:English male painters
Category:20th-century English painters
Category:Alumni of Liverpool John Moores University
Category:Alumni of the Royal College of Art
Category:Académie Julian alumni
Category:Artists from Grimsby, Lincolnshire
Category:English genre painters
Category:Social realist artists
Category:English portrait painters