This is a self-portrait oil on canvas painting by 80 year old English artist and painter, Ken Howard.  Kenneth (Ken) Howard was born in London, on December 26, 1932.  He paints in a “traditional” manner, based on strong observations and a high degree of draftsmanship combined with tonal precision. His work is represented in public collections including the National Army Museum, Guildhall Art Gallery, Ulster Museum and the Imperial War Museum. Of his art, he has said:

“I was brought up in London surrounded by railway yards and factories. This has very much influenced the use of horizontal and vertical structures and lines in my work. I am not a landscape painter, but rather a vertical horizontal and linear painter, which is why I have a passion for the lines that occur within my studios, and include them in my paintings.”

A potted history of Howard’s career is summarized below:

• Studied at the Hornsey College of Art (1949–53)
• Spent his National Service in the Royal Marines (1953–55)
• Further studies at the Royal College of Art (1955–58)
• Won a British Council Scholarship to Florence (1958)
• Official War Artist to Northern Ireland and during this same time worked in various locations, including Hong Kong, Cyprus and Canada with the British Army from (1973-1978)
• John Moores Exhibition prize, Liverpool (1978)
• John Laing Prize competition (1979)
• 1st Prize Hunting Group Award (1982)
• Elected as an Associate of the Royal Academy (1983)
• Critics Prize, Sparkasse Karlsruhe (1985)
  
• NEAC Centenary Award (1986)
• Elected as a Royal Academician (1991)
• First Prize, Lord Mayor’s Art Award (1996)
• President of the New English Art Club (1998-2003).
• Appointed Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) in the 2010 Birthday Honours.

It does not matter how hard you want to be able to get to a Howard…. It is how hard you want to travel to find a genuine Howard… That is “how hard” it gets!

i.e. It is not how far Ken Howard can be?… It is more like how much forward Ken Howard can be- which Ken be Howard.

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