From Life | Portraits by Richard Kitson

Wentworth Woodhouse presents a selection of portraits by figurative painter, Richard Kitson. As an artist who primarily (but not exclusively) paints people, our Community Exhibition space in the Old Hall is an ideal setting to showcase Kitson’s observations of his sitters, who are most often people he knows well.

Born in Sheffield in 1981, Kitson grew up in Hoyland Common, just four miles from Wentworth Woodhouse, from the age of six and continues to live and work in Barnsley. This lends a geographical thread to Kitson’s portraits as they portray people who also live and work within, or close to, his own locality.

A key aspect of Kitson’s work is his preference of working from life rather than photographs. Working directly from his sitters enables Kitson to observe them more closely across a long period of portrait sittings that can go on for months, even years. Each week a sitter will visit Kitson in his studio to sit for a two-hour period during which they will catch up on the previous week. This informality may seem counter to the final image that Kitson creates, but the resulting painting is born out of many hours of routine and observation as Kitson slowly hones in on what he sees.

“Anyone who views my work will most likely not know the person in the painting but will find them relatable, as if seeing their portrait is like wandering into a space where that person just happens to be.”

Richard Kitson’s work has been featured in selected group exhibitions including the Herbert Smith Freehills Kramer Portrait Award at the Nation Portrait Gallery, the Royal Society of Portrait Painters, Ruth Borchard Self-Portrait Prize, Figurative Art Now, and the Cork Street Open. Kitson has exhibited in the UK and internationally, and was a participant in Sky Arts Portrait Artist of the Year in 2018. His work hangs in various public and private collections.