Kit Barker
Encyclopedia
Kit Barker was a British
painter.
He was the younger brother of the poet George Barker
. Self taught, he was influenced by the Surrealists in the nineteen thirties and exhibited some surrealist paintings. He served in the British Army from 1942 to 1945. Barker lived in Cornwall from 1947 to 1948. His wife, Ilse Gross, whom he married in 1948, was a writer who used the pen name
"Katherine Talbot". In 1949 they travelled to the US where Kit lectured at Skidmore College
in New York. Kit later taught with Hassell Smith, Elmer Bishofff and David Park
at the California School of Fine Arts in San Francisco from 1951 to 1952. Barker lived in West Sussex from 1953 and travelled extensively in Europe and the US.
His work is found in private collections in Australia, Brazil, Canada, Ireland, the United Kingdom, Mexico, Italy, South Africa, Sweden, the United States and Germany.
Works purchased by: Olsen Foundation, US; Contemporary Art Society, London; Magdalen, Nuffield, New and Pembroke Colleges, Oxford; Memorial Art Gallery Rochester; US Towner Art Gallery, Eastbourne; Bradford City Art Gallery; West Riding of Yorks Education Committee; Nottingham Training College; Aberdeen Art Gallery
; Nuffield Foundation Pictures For Hospitals Fund; Isle of Wight Health Authority Pictures for Hospitals; and the Arts Council of Great Britain
.
Barker had regular one man exhibitions throughout the 1960s and 1970s at: The David Paul Gallery, Chichester, Sussex; Reid Gallery, Guildford, Surrey and Century Galleries, Henley on Thames.
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
painter.
He was the younger brother of the poet George Barker
George Barker (poet)
George Granville Barker was an English poet and author.-Life and work:Barker was born in Loughton, near Epping Forest in Essex, England, elder brother of Kit Barker [painter] George Barker was raised by his Irish mother and English father in Battersea, London. He was educated at an L.C.C. school...
. Self taught, he was influenced by the Surrealists in the nineteen thirties and exhibited some surrealist paintings. He served in the British Army from 1942 to 1945. Barker lived in Cornwall from 1947 to 1948. His wife, Ilse Gross, whom he married in 1948, was a writer who used the pen name
Pen name
A pen name, nom de plume, or literary double, is a pseudonym adopted by an author. A pen name may be used to make the author's name more distinctive, to disguise his or her gender, to distance an author from some or all of his or her works, to protect the author from retribution for his or her...
"Katherine Talbot". In 1949 they travelled to the US where Kit lectured at Skidmore College
Skidmore College
Skidmore College is a private, independent, liberal arts college with an enrollment of approximately 2,500 students. The college is located in the town of Saratoga Springs, New York State....
in New York. Kit later taught with Hassell Smith, Elmer Bishofff and David Park
David Park
David Park was a painter and a pioneer of the Bay Area Figurative School of painting during the 1950s.-Biography:...
at the California School of Fine Arts in San Francisco from 1951 to 1952. Barker lived in West Sussex from 1953 and travelled extensively in Europe and the US.
His work is found in private collections in Australia, Brazil, Canada, Ireland, the United Kingdom, Mexico, Italy, South Africa, Sweden, the United States and Germany.
Works purchased by: Olsen Foundation, US; Contemporary Art Society, London; Magdalen, Nuffield, New and Pembroke Colleges, Oxford; Memorial Art Gallery Rochester; US Towner Art Gallery, Eastbourne; Bradford City Art Gallery; West Riding of Yorks Education Committee; Nottingham Training College; Aberdeen Art Gallery
Aberdeen Art Gallery
Aberdeen Art Gallery is the main visual arts exhibition space in the city of Aberdeen in Scotland. It opened in 1885, in a building designed by Alexander Marshall Mackenzie....
; Nuffield Foundation Pictures For Hospitals Fund; Isle of Wight Health Authority Pictures for Hospitals; and the Arts Council of Great Britain
Arts Council of Great Britain
The Arts Council of Great Britain was a non-departmental public body dedicated to the promotion of the fine arts in Great Britain. The Arts Council of Great Britain was divided in 1994 to form the Arts Council of England , the Scottish Arts Council, and the Arts Council of Wales...
.
Major one-man exhibitions
- 1950 Weyhe Gallery, New York
- 1951 Palace of the Legion of Honor, San Francisco
- 1951 St. Louis Artists' Guild, St Louis
- 1957 Hanover Gallery, London
- 1959 Waddington Galleries, London
- 1960 Waddington Galleries, Montreal
- 1961 Waddington Galleries, London
- 1964 Waddington Galleries, London
- 1965 Waddington Galleries, Montreal
- 1966 Waddington Galleries, London
- 1967 Waddington Galleries, Montreal
- 1970 Arthur Tooth & Sons, London
- 1971 Villiers Art Gallery, Sydney, Aus
- 1972 Toorak Gallery, Melbourne, Aus
- 1972 Arthur Tooth & Sons, London
- 1978 Christ's Hospital Arts Centre, Horsham, Sussex
- 1981 The New Arts Centre, London
- 1988 Newburg Street Gallery, London
- 2001 University College Chichester, Otter Gallery, Sussex
- 2005 The Canon Gallery Petworth, Sussex
Barker had regular one man exhibitions throughout the 1960s and 1970s at: The David Paul Gallery, Chichester, Sussex; Reid Gallery, Guildford, Surrey and Century Galleries, Henley on Thames.
Major group exhibitions
- 1948 The Crypt Gallery St Ives, Cornwall
- 1948 Downings Bookshop, St Ives, Cornwall
- 1948 St George's Gallery, London
- 1949 Durlacher Gallery, New York, NY
- 1951 Whitney Museum of Art, New York, NY
- 1951 Philadelphia Art Alliance, PEN
- 1952 Art Institute of ChicagoArt Institute of ChicagoThe School of the Art Institute of Chicago is one of America's largest accredited independent schools of art and design, located in the Loop in Chicago, Illinois. It is associated with the museum of the same name, and "The Art Institute of Chicago" or "Chicago Art Institute" often refers to either...
, ILL [Drawings from 12 countries] - 1954 Institute of Contemporary Arts, London [Eight Painters]
- 1957 John MooresJohn MooresJohn Moores may refer to:*John Moores , former owner of the San Diego Padres*John Moores , British merchant*John H. Moores , American businessman and politician in the state of Oregon...
Exhibition, Liverpool - 1959 Contemporary Art Society, London [Recent Acquisitions]
- 1960 Irish Exhibition of Living Art
- 1960 Birmingham City Art Gallery [Contemporary British Painters]
- 1960 International Gallery, Chicago, ILL
- 1961 Memorial Art GalleryMemorial Art GalleryThe Memorial Art Gallery is the civic art museum of Rochester, New York. Founded in 1913, it is part of the University of Rochester and occupies the southern half of the University's former Prince Street campus...
, Rochester, NY, [Two Painters] - 1962 Festival of Arts, Battle, Sussex.
- 1967 Worthing Municipal Art Gallery, Sussex [Two Painters]
- 1969 Camden Arts CentreCamden Arts CentreCamden Arts Centre is a contemporary visual art gallery, dedicated to engaging living artists from across the world. Positioning the artist at the centre of the programme, Camden Arts Centre strives to involve the public in the ideas and work of today's artists.The exhibition and education...
, London, [English Traditional Landscape] - 1973 Paintings in Hospitals, London
- 1974 Festival of the City of London, London
- 1976 Madden Gallery, London
- 1981 New Arts Centre, London
- 1985 Parkin Gallery, London [Cornwall 1925 -1975]
- 1987 Questra Gallery, Kingston on Thames, SU
- 1990 Birch and Conran Gallery, London
Other reproduced works include
- Frost and Reed [Venture] prints, 'Marsh Brasses & Inner Harbour, Concarneau 1964.
- Winter At Gurnard's HeadGurnard's HeadGurnard's Head is a prominent headland on the north coast of the Penwith peninsula in Cornwall, England, United Kingdom. It is near the hamlet of Treen in the parish of Zennor....
, poem poster with David WrightDavid WrightDavid Wright may refer to:*David Wright , British artist and illustrator*David Wright , American Major League Baseball player*David Wright , composer and producer, co-founder of AD Music...
MidNAG 1979. - Curlew, poem poster with Leslie NorrisLeslie NorrisGeorge Leslie Norris FRSL , was a prize-winning Welsh poet and short story writer. Up to 1974 he earned his living as a college lecturer, teacher and headmaster...
Armstrong poem poster 1969. - North Haven, poem poster with Elizabeth BishopElizabeth BishopElizabeth Bishop was an American poet and short-story writer. She was the Poet Laureate of the United States from 1949 to 1950, a Pulitzer Prize winner in 1956 and a National Book Award Winner for Poetry in 1970. Elizabeth Bishop House is an artists' retreat in Great Village, Nova Scotia...
Lord John Press 1979.
Further reading
- 'Contemporary British Art', Herbert ReadHerbert ReadSir Herbert Edward Read, DSO, MC was an English anarchist, poet, and critic of literature and art. He was one of the earliest English writers to take notice of existentialism, and was strongly influenced by proto-existentialist thinker Max Stirner....
, Penguin Books, [illustrated work p42]. ISBN 9780140202502 - St Ives 1939-64 Twenty Five Years Of Painting, Sculpture And Pottery, Tate GalleryTate GalleryThe Tate is an institution that houses the United Kingdom's national collection of British Art, and International Modern and Contemporary Art...
Publications, 1985 ISBN 0946590206. - Kit Barker, Cornwall 1947-1948 Recollections Of Painters And Writers, Katherine Talbot, The Book Gallery, 1993 ISBN 1897986025