Inspiration from Artists Week 48. Kit Williams and William Morris.

(This had dropped out of sight already.)

KIT WILLIAMS - ENGLISH - Born 1946 As a youngster Kit Williams had no particular interest in Art.  He was a practical lad who liked to find out how things worked, he was interested in carpentry, machinery and electronics.  He joined the Royal Navy as a junior seaman, it was here that he dicovered that he liked painting.  In his own words...'I became a painter because I was a painter.'  The naval life was not for Kit, when his off-watch messmates were playing cards, he'd secret himself away in some cubby-hole to paint.  After a few years he bought himself out of the Royal Navy and began to paint in earnest.  He largely taught himself art, getting nothing much from art schools, his artistic influences were BLAKE, TURNER, SAMUEL PALMER and STANLEY SPENCER.  His big break came when he entered a painting for the John Moores Exhibition in Liverpool.  He didn't win, but his work was one of eighty paintings to be hung in the exhibition (from 800 entries).  The Moores family actually bought his painting before the exhibition opened.  This caught the attention of the Portal Gallery, an up-market gallery in London specialising in 'idiosyncratic art', their clientel were the rich and famous.  At the Portal Kit's work sold well, and his artist career was up and away. After his second exhibition at the Portal, Kit was approached by a publisher of children's books.  At first he had no interest.  It would mean painting the same characters over and over again...this didn't appeal to him.  Then he had an idea.  A book full of paintings each of which contained clues to a buried treasure.  The treasure was real and waiting to be discovered.  It's burial was witnessed by Bamber Gascoinge, a well known TV personality.   Below is a pic of Kit with the treasure.  In the photo it looks silver, but it actually 18ct gold.  Kit made it himself. The book...MASQUARADE...was an instant success worldwide.  Kit found himself immersed in a media frenzy which he didn't like at all, he needed peace and quiet to paint, but he gave it his best.  The treasure was found...it was sold to an unknown buyer...and it vanished. Kit lives in a delightful rural cottage in Gloucestershire with his wife Eleyne, she is also an artist who now makes jewelery.  Kit is very full-on in his art, making everything himself.  Wooden panels are covered in linen and oil gesso.  He makes his own frames, often oddly shaped and usually decorated with his marquetry.  He makes costumes, sets and props for his models, many of whom are friends.  His painting style, with 'Dutch oils', is meticulous and traditional.  He paints in great detail first with opaque oils, then does the same thing again with transparent oils, the result is very luminous work.  The work itself is narrative often with a touch of myth and fantasy.  He still sells work at the Portal Gallery, but has built up a great following of admirers keen to buy his work.  He and his wife have what amount to 'open house' days at the home, it's by invitation only.  He has no time for the Art Establishment or critics, nor they for him.  He doesn't fit into their world of the so-called avante guard, where a banana gaffer-taped to a canvass is considered 'art.' The first two paintings are examples of his early work.  Musca Domestica and Advancing Ripe Harvest.... The next two are pages from the book MASQUARADE published in 1979.  There are clues on each page to the whereabouts of the treasure... Next 'In the garden'... The next painting revolves...the Orrery... Now follows a charming small painting meant to sit on a desk, the painting of a girl of a swing...swings... The next...Hunter's Moon...shows Kit's liking to extend the painting from the frame.  He's made pieces of the bow to line up with that in the painting. There's also a very good 'trompe l'oeil' effect with the girl's foot. My understanding is that the next was a commission, it was made with marquetry doors that could be closed, if desired, when they had guests for dinner. Below..Salome..a playful image...it's owners say their guests often only see the head on the plate, not noticing he body under the table... Below...SOMNIA  MARIS...another commission.  Kit had made a lobster claw to extend over the frame. So...Kit Williams...certainly his own man in the art world.  Indiosyncratic, slightly eccentric maybe, but one of my favorite artists.  On these forum pages we of read the words 'I admire this artists skills, but wouldn't have it on my walls.'  Well...I'd LOVE to have his work on my walls, if I could be so lucky. I hope this is of interest.  If it does strike a chord there's a very good BBC documentary about Kit on utube...the link is below...it my opinion one of the better art docs.  The Man behind Masquerade... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qt5OEmDnH5c&ab_channel=KaspiusLeVrai Next..torchlight tango...

These are wonderful Lew ,somewhere in my head I was aware of some of his work.  I think the story of the buried treasure  I have memories of.   His art hero's give a clue to the way he paints.   The detail is out of this world.  I quite see why they appeal to you. Thank you.  So happy he dislikes the Art Establishment.

Don't know what happened there folks...the very last pic isn't in the order that I intended.  No matter, my clumsiness I guess.

Yes Sylvia I agree on your point about the Art Establishment.  He doesn't fit in with all that malarky, he's too good for it.

Wow, so different and wonderful! I was aware of the book but not otherwise of his work. I love the use of different shaped frames. I always have a thing in my head about why we paint to fit a regular shaped canvas/frame etc.. We looked at another artist who made his own odd shaped frames a while ago. You’ll know who I mean but I can’t remember his name. I love the Torchlight Tango, so clever! Will look at the video later.

Yes Tessa, the other artist using odd frames was Peter Green.  The video is well worth a look.  In it, you see him working on the painting you liked (Torchlight Tango).  It shows him photographing the models etc.

Thanks Lew. We’ve looked at so many wonderful artists in the last year it’s a job to remember all!

A couple more pics... 'No ball'... 'Women fly when men aren't looking'....

Really informative intro. Lewis.  Hadn’t seen his work before, but love it.  Reminds me a little (especially the first pic. below) of the work of Andrea Kowch which we looked at earlier.  Interesting that he maintains complete control of the pictures from beginning to end, physically making everything from the dresses the models wear to creating the sets and props.  Really like his marquetry frames and the way some elements of the picture sit outside them.  The Parliament of Birds Blackbird’s Song