Kenneth Webb 2020: Resilience through colour:

Resilience through Colour Kenneth Webb

Price Codes A: < £2,000 B: £2,000 – £5,000 C: £5,000 - £10,000 D: £10,000 - £20,000 E: £20,000 - £40,000 F: > £40,000

Resilience through Colour

“Kenneth Webb’s work is a homage to the secret life of colour. Though his paintings are intense icons, you never have the feeling that form or content are forced or contrived. He has managed to penetrate to some deeper level from which the painting is able to assert the dream of its own shaping. He says paintings have always come to him. His work does have that tone of lyrical necessity: they had to come. In our post-modern era, where so much of life is reduced and commercialized through visual and aggressive image, it is healing for the eye and refreshing for the heart to encounter these paintings. If beauty is in the eye of the beholder, then Kenneth Webb is a graced and gracious beholder. Long may paintings continue to visit his imagination and bless our darkness.”

– John O’Donaghue

Our beautiful, fragile world May we wish you all a very warm welcome to our new Kenneth Webb exhibition “Resilience through Colour”. We trust that wherever you may be browsing through these beautiful and inspirational paintings - be it online, from your favourite hibernation spot on the sofa with a cup of tea in hand, or at your computer in your makeshift home office, we hope that they provide you with an uplifting tonic.

Throughout Kenneth’s career, he has always been fascinated with colour, and here this exploration continues. Concerned with the changes he sees in the unique ecosystem that is the landscape of Connemara on the West Coast of Ireland, Kenneth has been called to present the landscape’s voice and tell its story through his paintings.

Connemara is a place that has enthralled and captivated Kenneth for his entire life. A life spent exploring this primal, unforgiving and raw landscape has allowed him to understand many of its nuances. He feels at one with the invisible spirit of the place and can feel its emotion. You see nature at its barest and most exposed here, and an acute observer of the world such as Kenneth is drawn to distinctly and individually depict these inescapable changes. The apocalyptic undertones in some of the works should provide a stark warning to us all. Our actions are changing the planet and pushing it to its limits, and it is fighting back.

The resultant works are relevant, powerful and engaging paintings which are so prescient to the current state of the world. Kenneth is called to tell the Earth’s story. His paintings illustrate that there is beauty, so much beauty out there, and we are lucky to live in this incredible place. Yet it is so very fragile. The delicate balance and harmony that exists in nature and allows the soul to breathe easily is being upset.

These unique works are educational and significant, perceptive and discerning, intense and yet soft, but most of all they still manage to be medicinal and therapeutic at a time when we need it most. They provide such an abundance of colour and it is up to us to open our eyes and let the colour and vital message shine through.

We are most grateful to Jenny Davies, Kenneth and Joan’s daughter, whose eloquent and powerful text for this catalogue has enabled us all to understand Kenneth’s passion and talent so much more deeply. Hours spent with her father in conversation about what drives him and the inspiration for his paintings, have been translated into beautiful and elegant prose that you will read throughout this catalogue.

Whilst we may have closed our gallery doors for the time being, we are very much open both by appointment and online. Please feel free to give us a call or send us an email. We would love to hear from you all.

All the team at G & P

Blackthorn with Moon is a theme Webb has taken on several times through his long career, notably in the late 60s/early 70s. The spectral image, the bare skeletal structure highlighted by the brightness of the moon, appeals equally to Webb’s spiritual and graphic sensibilities. For an artist who is possibly best known for his colour use, this theme may seem at first to be an unlikely choice, but Webb sees intensity even in the darkness of the night.

In the very early 60s, Kenneth Webb created the now iconic mural in Bangor Abbey that stands around 25ft high behind the altar, in place of the more traditional extravagant stained glass window. The mural depicts Christ rising, a blackthorn crown on his head, and the three saints most associated with Bangor Abbey kneeling below amidst blackthorn motifs. This magnificent work, beloved and mesmerising in equal measure, is proof that the connection between the blackthorn and spiritual devotion has gestated within Webb’s soul for decades.

Most recently, in ‘Cathedral’, this idea has crystallised into a powerful evocation of the Blackthorn as spiritual emblem, long associated with omens: death, the coming of winter, and also with protection, shedding of the old and readying for rebirth. This most recent and magnificent blackthorn, silhouetted against the full midwinter moon, demonstrates the very best of the theme, creating a stained glass window effect, such as Nature might forge in her own cathedral. Webb has set the black tree against a graphic all-season landscape, like the leading between panes of coloured glass, and accented the piercing branches not only with white snow, but also with red. When asked about this decision, he replied simply, “It has to be red.”

Perhaps this harkens to the mythical association of blackthorn with defensive wounds or Christ’s blood, wearing the blackthorn crown at his crucifixion.

As with many of Webb’s masterpieces, the impact from Cathedral grows with each viewing; this painting has evoked possibly more shifts in emotion from its viewers than any other in this exhibition.

Cathedral Oil on Canvas • 36” x 24” • 91 x 61 cms • Price Code F

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This magnificent blackthorn, silhouetted against the full midwinter moon, creates a stained glass window effect, such as Nature might forge in her own cathedral.

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Moon over Thorns Oil on Canvas • 40” x 30” • 102 x 76 cms • Price Code F

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September Moon Oil on Canvas • 20” x 60” • 51 x 152 cms • Price Code F

Kenneth Webb

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Evermore Oil on Canvas • 30” x 60” • 76 x 152 cms • Price Code F 8

Kenneth Webb

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In the Steps of Alcock & Brown Oil on Canvas • 24” x 36” • 61 x 91 cms • Price Code E 10

Webb returns again and again to this area of Connemara, Derrygimla Lake, where the stillness of evening may sometimes cause the deep waters to reflect colours in the air and sky that even the eye can not directly behold.

Still Evening Oil on Canvas • 21” x 48” • 53 x 122 cms • Price Code E Kenneth Webb

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Elemental Oil on Canvas • 36” x 24” • 91 x 61 cms • Price Code E

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Jigsaw Bog Oil on Canvas • 20” x 40” • 51 x 102 cms • Price Code E

Kenneth Webb

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Derrygimla Waltz Oil on Canvas • 16” x 20” • 41 x 51 cms • Price Code C

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Nature’s Treasure

Waterlily Pool

Oil on Canvas 14” x 18” • 36 x 46 cms Price Code C

Oil on Canvas 24” x 16” • 61 x 41 cms Price Code D

Kenneth Webb

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The reflective silvering of aged lilypads in the deceptive depths of Connemara’s pools remind one of ancient treasures, such as the silver Roman siliqua coins.

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Silver Lily Pads

Siliquae of the Lake

Oil on Canvas 12” x 10” • 31 x 25 cms Price Code B

Oil on Canvas 10” x 14” • 25 x 36 cms Price Code B

Reflection of Blue Oil on Canvas • 30” x 60” • 76 x 152 cms • Price Code F

Kenneth Webb

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Blue Remembered Hills Oil on Canvas • 30” x 60” • 76 x 152 cms • Price Code F

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Intimidating by day, as evening falls and the humans depart, this ancient world returns to the domain of the fay and the supernatural.

Faerie Realm Oil on Canvas • 20” x 40” • 51 x 102 cms • Price Code E

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ShangriLa is the fictional land of ideals: beautiful, ageless, perfection.

First proposed in James Hilton’s novel ‘Lost Horizon’, in this expressionist work Webb’s horizon is the literal and figurative accent of the duality between reality and ideal. The shining brightness and sharply carved ideal is presented in simple terms. The reality is entirely different, built in layers of patterns, thoughts and ideas, some visible immediately, others glimpsed only after consideration. Webb seeks to suggest unseen depths, richer, more complex and far more interesting than a fictional ‘ideal’ - but darker, without doubt, and full of unknowns.

ShangriLa Oil on Canvas • 40” x 18” • 102 x 46 cms • Price Code E

Kenneth Webb

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Awakening Oil on Canvas • 30” x 60” • 76 x 152 cms • Price Code F

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Kenneth Webb

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Poppies have been a recurrent theme of Kenneth’s oeuvre since the 1960s. He is constantly drawn back to the enduring challenge of capturing their simplicity of form in his bold, textured brushstrokes. The tint and colour of the poppy varies so greatly, with season and light and movement.

Sometimes the light shines entirely through the petal as though transparent, at other times the colour is opaque, creating what Kenneth describes as ‘an exhilarating impact’.

Whilst an individual poppy may enchant, when grouped in a great display, the impact can be tremendous.

Fiesta Oil on Canvas • 48” x 36” • 122 x 91 cms • Price Code F

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Memories Oil on Canvas • 15” x 36” • 38 x 92 cms • Price Code E

Kenneth Webb

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Midsummer Spree Oil on Canvas • 20” x 30” • 51 x 76 cms • Price Code E 26

Beyond the grand spectacle of this meadow filled with scarlet poppies, the line of shrubs and trees watch quietly, part-silhouetted by the lough beyond.

Parade Oil on Canvas • 20” x 30” • 51 x 76 cms • Price Code E Kenneth Webb

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Tapestry Oil on Canvas • 20” x 40” • 51 x 102 cms • Price Code E 28

Summer Poppies Oil on Canvas • 20” x 24” • 51 x 61 cms • Price Code E Kenneth Webb

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Kenneth Webb Timeline

The Family around the Aladdin Lamp at Warren Farm, Oil on Board, Painted in 1949.

1941 The Bristol Blitz destroyed both his fatherâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s factory and the family home, the Webb family then moved to the Gloucestershire countryside, to Warren Farm, a derelict fifteenth-century fortified farm house, close to the Forest of Dean.

1927

1944 Kenneth was called up for National Service into the Fleet Air Arm of the Royal Navy, where he served until 1948.

1949 His first painting accepted by the Royal Academy was The Family around the Aladdin Lamp at Warren Farm.

Born on the 21st January 1927 in London.

1951 1930 Moved with his parents, William and Mabel Webb, to Bristol when William secured a job as a design manager of leather goods at Savouryâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s.

Kenneth had his first London exhibition at the Wardour Gallery in Soho.

1948 Kenneth enrolled at the College of Art in Gloucester.

Ink Drawing of Brother Keith Plucking a Chicken, Warren Farm. Executed circa 1949.

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Kenneth Webb, 1952

Kenneth Webb

1950s Kenneth continued to exhibit in London as well as in Ireland with numerous societies and galleries, including the Royal Society of British Artists, the Royal West of England Academy, the Royal Institute of Oil Painters, the Royal Hibernian Academy, the Society of Marine Artists, the Arts Council in Belfast and the Paris Salon.

1952 Kenneth married Joan Burch.

1952-1953

1960s Kenneth undertook prestigious commissions for organisations including British Steel, Shell, The Post Office, Trust House Hotels and the Grand Metropolitan Hotel Group. Most significant was perhaps the 25x15 foot mural for Bangor Abbey, Co. Down.

Kenneth Webb at his easel in the 1950s

Kenneth completed his PostGraduate Teaching Diploma at the University of Wales.

1957

1962

Kenneth set up the now prestigious Irish School of Landscape Painting.

Kenneth and Joan moved to Ballywalter, on the Co. Down coast.

1953-1960 Kenneth was appointed as Head of Fine Art in Ulster College of Art in Belfast.

Kenneth Webb

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Kenneth Webb with Traveller, 2014

1960s / 1970s Kenneth travelled extensively during this period, to Kenya, Uganda and Tanzania, Morocco, Gibraltar, Spain, France, the Channel Islands and the Canary Islands. These travels had a significant impact on his style and colour palette, initiating his signature theme of poppies. He had hugely successful exhibitions in Ireland, the UK and United States of America.

1970s / 1980s Exhibited regularly in one-man shows with the Kenny Gallery, Galway and the James Gallery, Dublin in Ireland. Also exhibited in solo shows in Suffolk, Bristol, London, Cork and Geneva.

Ballinaboy Studio increasingly became Kenneth’s main painting base, where most of his major paintings and themes – bog landscapes, rocks and mountains, waterlilies – took shape.

1990

1973

Biography of Kenneth Webb, ‘Webb – a Profile’ by Thomas Kenny, published in conjunction with the first major retrospective of his work, 1950-90, with The Kenny Gallery in Galway.

First collection of Webb’s paintings, ‘Kenneth Webb’, published in book form by Shenval Press.

1975 Kenneth, Joan and their four children returned to Gloucestershire, to Bownham Grange, a large sixteenth century manor, where Kenneth’s recently widowed mother joined the household. Retaining a studio in Ireland, they purchased a small cottage in Ballinaboy, Connemara and began extensive renovation.

1987 Kenneth and Joan moved to Portland House in Chagford on Dartmoor, Devon.

Kenneth Painting in the Bog, 2003 32

Kenneth Webb with Ivon Hitchens and Molly Hitchens in Hitchens’ studio, Petworth, Sussex, 1981

2015

Kenneth Webb

Kenneth and Susan Webb Exhibition at Gladwell & Patterson, Beauchamp Place.

2018

Kenneth Webb in the Ballinaboy Studio Garden, 2001

2003

Kenneth Webb and the Tec-Tank Exhibition in Dublin - A fusion of art and technology celebrating Kenneth Webb’s painting journey from 1955 to the present.

Biography of Kenneth Webb, ‘A Life in Colour’ by Josephine Walpole, published by the Antique Collectors’ Club Ltd.

2012 Kenneth Webb Exhibition at W.H. Patterson.

2020 Kenneth Webb 2020

2010 Kenneth and Susan Webb Exhibition at W.H. Patterson, Albemarle street.

Kenneth Webb in his studio, photograph by Matt Austin, 2017

2017 Kenneth Webb at 90 Exhibition at Gladwell & Patterson.

Kenneth Webb

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Summer’s Pride

Pink and Blue

Oil on Canvas 10” x 12” • 25 x 31 cms Price Code B

Oil on Canvas 12” x 16” • 31 x 41 cms Price Code C

Pure Posy Oil on Canvas 14” x 10” • 36 x 25 cms Price Code B

Kenneth Webb

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Sweet Peas Oil on Canvas 14” x 10” • 36 x 25 cms Price Code B

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Festive Fayre

The Terracotta Pot

Oil on Canvas 12” x 10” • 31 x 25.5 cms Price Code B

Oil on Canvas 12” x 14” • 31 x 36 cms Price Code B

Kenneth Webb

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In his eternal endeavour to reveal a landscape’s spirit, Webb is drawn again and again to the peat bogs of Connemara, in the far west of Ireland. In few other places is that spirit so strongly felt, where the direct touch of man is light and the vista is (almost) entirely earth and sky and water. Where nature’s base elements are so raw and pure, so distinctly alive, it is easy to hear the landscape’s voice and feel its emotion. No wonder that some of Webb’s students, treated to a rare fine day in a little-known isolated spot in that vast wilderness, huddle together for comfort. Exposure to the primitive can be intimidating, even frightening, and stories of horror and the supernatural abound in such places. But Webb thrives in this land, more alive by far when ankle-deep in peat and heathers and windswept by the saltladen Atlantic gales, than in manmade civilisation.

The peat bog landscapes in this exhibition are proof of Webb’s success in unveiling that spirit, at least in part. He is convinced there remains more, much more, he has yet to be entrusted with. The distant mountains, presiding over the flat bogs and reflective pools, are kings of this land, but even they cannot rule the darkest depths of the pools.

The play of reflective light across the still surface of those pools reveals, then obscures, and reveals again the rich life below. The beautiful colours of the lilypads and flowers that float above, studding the dark like jewelled offerings, are matched in the depths by trailing, swirling lily stems, and glowing algae and unidentified organisms in blues and greens and pinks.

Raising your head from the fascinating theatre in the pools, there stretches ahead of you a geometry of angular lakes and raised rectangles of land between, contrasting against the sweeps and curves and peaks of the ancient untouched mountains in the near distance.

Again, this dissimilitude draws Webb’s attention, but it is only when Nature reclaims her own that he is inspired to paint.

The pools are caused by a long history of successive cuts of peat from the land, manmade quarries and hollows that slowly but surely are filled with water seeping in from below, and caught from above, and turned near-black with minerals. These human-cut scars soften and colour as Nature heals the land and touches it with beauty once more.

Bogland near Roundstone Oil on Canvas • 15” x 30” • 38 x 76 cms • Price Code E

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Kenneth Webb

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Winter rarely takes true hold of the West of Ireland, but here the land is blanketed in freezing snow. As if in response, the sea and sky glow with warmth.

Winter’s Awakening Oil on Canvas • 20” x 40” • 51 x 102 cms • Price Code E

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The Long Road Home Oil on Canvas • 20” x 50” • 51 x 127 cms • Price Code F

Kenneth Webb

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Connemara wears her muted, hazy colours of the peat bogs like a cloak, a patchwork of textures and hues.

Summer Haze Oil on Canvas • 16” x 40” • 41 x 102 cms • Price Code E

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Kenneth Webb

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Photography by Matt Austin

Webb always, always starts his landscapes in the field, never from photographs in the studio. Photographs are invaluable for reference and detail later on, but the most essential element of his work, the ‘feeling’ and atmosphere, can only, he believes, be captured live. He has battled fierce winds to keep hold of his canvases in the Connemara peat bogs. He has trudged miles and miles, struggling with easel and paints under one arm and canvas under the other, to achieve exactly the right viewpoint for the emotion he wants. Toughest of all, perhaps, is his patience in capturing the lyrical dances of the flowers, which refuse to stay still for him to paint!

Beginning his paintings on site demands a dynamic approach, so most of Webb’s paintings start with flourishes of paint directly onto the canvas. Whilst others might painstakingly map and measure, draw and correct, Webb’s vast experience helps him best capture the immediacy and emotion of the moment with brush and knife, rather than pencil and ruler.

Needing a rapid response, Webb starts many of his creations with acrylics. These are easily applied and dry quickly; painting in the chill and damp wilds, where at any moment he might have to scoop up his canvas and run for cover from a passing storm, renders impossible the use of wet oils from the outset. This has many benefits. Webb has discovered that building a painting up in layers of acrylics and oils creates a depth of intensity that one medium alone does not achieve. He yearns for vibrant colours, and constantly seeks new paints and techniques to get closer, ever closer, to the finish and tone he needs. A few of his paintings in this exhibition incorporate not only layers of paint but also precious metals - gold and silver leaf - which provide the counter to paint, reflection of light versus absorption of light. This he sees as the closest to capturing ‘the hunger of the depths’ of the peat pools he adores. This subject remains one of his favourites - or perhaps one of his ‘favourite frustrations’ - as he feels he has still only managed to paint the ‘visible’, but not yet the ‘invisible’, the spirit of the place.

Whilst there is no doubt that Webb’s methodology of layering paints, mixing media and taking pains to varnish precisely has many benefits, both in the immediate impact and also ensuring the permanency of that impact, there are drawbacks. Not least of which is time. Some of the paintings in this exhibition have taken literally years to perfect. This can be a serious frustration.

Just as inspiration might take hold, and Webb can visualise several steps ahead to achieve his intention, he is held back waiting weeks for the current paint layer to dry completely before applying the next. This process cannot be rushed, and Webb steadfastly refuses to do so, lest cracking or worse occur. He chases perfection, and if it must be a slow and ponderous chase, then he will exercise control.

“This enforced pace allows me plenty of time for reflection,” Webb acknowledges, “and as frustrating as it may be, the results are better for it. I am laying down layers of not only paint, but also of ideas and emotions, which would be impossible for me to do in a quick, superficial painting. I hope, and indeed have been told by past patrons, that my paintings might thus reveal more than one meaning to the viewer. In years to come, you might walk into the room and, perhaps from the subtlety of light, or your particular mood, suddenly you see the painting you’ve had for years in a new way. Something becomes apparent that had been hidden. Perhaps only then does the invisible spirit of the place reveal itself to you.”

Kenneth Webb

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Webb’s favourite places are all where the weather plays freely, unfettered by the resistance of humans, such as the West of Ireland and the open wilds of Dartmoor. There, wind and water shape the land, stripping away the cultivated and superficial and exposing bare rock. Indeed, only the strongest rocks survive the worst ravages of weather, predominantly granite and bluestone. Webb has always loved these rocks. In particular, he is fascinated by the monumental element of the stone against the other elements, and the textural contrast of their surfaces. Most of his rock studies - be they small outcrops or towering mountains - are therefore set against the delicate transparent texture but intense colour of wildflowers, or against the smooth, powerful movement of water as sea or lake. This balance of elements epitomises the harmony that exists in Nature without intervention, and which allows the soul to breathe easily.

Even where Webb undertakes human encroachment, such as a farm or harbour scene, he will surely accentuate pitted, lichen-spotted rocks as reminder of the more powerful forces that cannot - should not - be overlooked.

On the Wind Oil on Canvas • 12” x 18” • 31 x 46 cms • Price Code C

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Kenneth Webb

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The strength of these mountains appear subdued here in the quiet peace of evening, suggesting a delicacy, even a fragility, rarely revealed. The title Monarch might relate to the mirrored image of butterfly wings, but never forget the sovereign power of this land.

Monarch Oil on Canvas • 24” x 36” • 61 x 91 cms • Price Code E

Kenneth Webb

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Evening

Freehold

Oil on Canvas 12” x 18” • 31 x 46 cms Price Code C

Oil on Canvas 10” x 14” • 25 x 36 cms Price Code B

The Ancient Rocks of Roundstone Bay Oil on Canvas • 24” x 36” • 61 x 91 cms • Price Code E Kenneth Webb

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The Old Guard Oil on Canvas • 24” x 20” • 61 x 51 cms • Price Code D 52

The Irish west coast is an ancient land scarred from endless battering by wind and rain, but even here in the fleeting summer, the fragile brilliant bloom of poppies touches all with colour and warmth.

Where the Wind Blows Oil on Canvas • 20” x 24” • 51 x 61 cms • Price Code E Kenneth Webb

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1916 Oil on Canvas • 36” x 48” • 92 x 122 cms • Price Code F 54

Poppy Cascade Oil on Canvas • 50” x 20” • 127 x 51 cms • Price Code F 55

Yellow irises grow prolifically in the wild, so vast blocks of sunshine seem to glow over the dark peat bog. For an artist obsessed with colour, they are irresistible. Not only in gold, but shades of purple or the stunning tiger iris, all drip with fragile intensity. As with poppies, Webb admires the iris equally for its individual detail and dynamic form as for the dramatic impression en masse.

A large head of colour on a slender stalk, the iris moves in exaggerated dance with the wind.

Composed almost entirely of elaborate curves, their movements are at once unpredictable and yet, in multitudes, they achieve a harmony that suggests a complex choreography.

Moreover, unlike so many of the wildflowers, the irises are clothed in dramatic costumes, so they are the dancing divas of the wildflower world.

Belying their apparent fragility, the iris has the strength and resistance to defy the saltridden Atlantic gales, bringing light and colour into the darkness. Webb has encouraged their growth in his own west of Ireland garden, in great variety, and many of his individual studies are taken from these.

Unlike the spontaneous and immediate generation of most of Webb’s landscapes, his flower studies commence in more academic fashion. These are usually preceded with detailed and accurate drawings, a range of pencil or charcoal studies made directly in the field, before working the right balance of flowers to achieve the ’ensemble’ of colour and form, sometimes silhouetted for emphasis.

Dark Enchantment Oil on Canvas • 20” x 30” • 51 x 76 cms • Price Code E

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Kenneth Webb

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Tango in Blue Oil on Canvas 20” x 16” • 51 x 41 cms Price Code C

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Tango in Pink Oil on Canvas 20” x 16” • 51 x 41 cms Price Code C

Kenneth Webb

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The soft quality of diffuse light in Connemara and the dominance of water both below in the sea and the bog, and suspended in the air - makes this a world where light diffracts and splinters in all directions. A land of rainbows and shards of colour where reason dictates none should be. For an artist like Kenneth Webb, who sees saturated colour where only the tiniest hint exists for others, it is an irresistible enticement.

In this trio of paintings, Webb has allowed full range to the spectrum of colours he sees, where countless water droplets refract in myriad forms.

The primordial landscape reveals its spiritual identity as it was in millennia past, before humans shaped the world, before sentient life, when the land breathed freely. The divine touch brings serenity, a soulful peace to many, but Webb seeks to suggest a latent force in this landscape, a sense of impending assertion: when will the spirit of this place rise to reclaim its rightful realm?

Genesis Oil on Canvas • 36” x 48” • 92 x 122 cms • Price Code F

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Kenneth Webb

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Covenant Oil on Canvas • 36” x 48” • 92 x 122 cms • Price Code F 62

Revelation Oil on Canvas • 36” x 48” • 92 x 122 cms • Price Code F Kenneth Webb

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Shades of Evening Oil on Canvas • 20” x 50” • 51 x 127cms • Price Code F

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Serenity Oil on Canvas • 20” x 60” • 51 x 152 cms • Price Code F

Kenneth Webb

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End of the Day Oil on Canvas • 30” x 60” • 76 x 152 cms • Price Code F 66

The primordial landscape of the West of Ireland, dominated by vast peat bogs between bare mountains and cragged coast, intimidates many. Webb loves this rawness and it saturates his painting. Even where humans dare to control and carve into the land, cutting away the peat resources, the land fights back. In this painting, old peat cuts have become recently flooded with rising water, and Webb has captured the apocalyptic undertones of the bog reclaiming its territory.

The Flood Oil on Canvas • 30” x 40” • 76 x 102 cms • Price Code F Kenneth Webb

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Kenneth Webb in the Ballinaboy Studio Garden, 2001

5 Beauchamp Place, London SW3 1NG • +44 (0)20 7584 5512 • glenn@gladwellpatterson.com • gladwellpatterson.com