Ray Atkins
Paintings by one of the major artists of his generation
OBS Gallery, Tonbridge School
6 September – 19 October 2025
Ray Atkins (b.1937) is - puzzlingly – one of the least well-known figurative painters of his generation. A contemporary of Auerbach and others in The London Group during the 1960s, Atkins went on to teach at Reading University and then Falmouth College of Art. Living in the French Pyrenees since 2008, he is still painting and works on huge scale canvases/boards ‘en plein air’ in all weathers!
Visitors to this exhibition can experience a sizeable selection of paintings from his ‘large and interesting oeuvre’, including his most recent and unseen works. The natural light, dappled from the cathedral-like leaded windows, and vastness of Old Big School Gallery provides plenty space for a fabulous opportunity to showcase Atkin’s immense and impressive art. Atkins has Kent connections, being educated at Sevenoaks School and Bromley College of Art, before studying at The Slade.
Atkin’s paintings are the subject of a recent book – A Painter’s Odyssey by Peter Davies, which spotlights an artist ‘whose intense commitment, especially to specific places, is informed by a desire to celebrate the uncelebrated – be that china clay pits, scrapyards, or a shopping centre under construction… embracing huge, exuberant plein-air scenes, as well as intimate portraits.’
“Formal grandeur is rare in art. It has nothing to do with size or vehemence. The slightest Rembrandt drawing has an underlying grandeur; Gwen John has it, and so has – I think – Ray Atkin’s work… He has been an adventurous and immensely persistent painter… it is high time for a book about his work”
Frank Auerbach, October 2023.
To arrange a school/group visit email: claire.hartwhite@tonbridge-school.org
The artworks are for sale.
For further information on the artist and for all artwork purchasing queries please contact: NigelPress@crockhampark.com
Also see: RayAtkinsArt.com
Full catalogue of UK archive – publuu.com/flip-book/26172/102472
rayatkinsart.com
Book Art Talk here:
