Ken Kiff (1935-2001)
| 1935 | Born Dagenham |
| 1955–60 | National Diploma in Design, Hornsey School of Art |
| 1960–61 | Teacher Training, Hornsey School of Art |
| 1964-80s | Teacher, Chelsea School of Art |
| 1979-90s | Teacher, Royal College of Art |
| 1981 | Attends the Artists’ Camp at Kasauli, India |
| 1991 | Elected Royal Academician |
| 1991–93 | Associate Artist, The National Gallery, London |
| 2001 | Died London |
Solo Exhibitions
| 2024 | Ken Kiff: A Step and a Boat Among Changing Forms, Royal Academy of Arts, London Ken Kiff: A Hundred Suns, Three Highgate, London |
| 2022 | Ken Kiff: Man, Bird and Tree, Carl Freedman Gallery, Margate |
| 2019 | Ken Kiff: Man Painting, Turps Gallery and ASC Gallery, London Ken Kiff: The Sequence, Sainsbury Centre for Visual Arts, Norwich |
| 2018 | Ken Kiff (1935-2001) Paintings, Prints, Drawings, Young Gallery, Salisbury |
| 2017 | Ken Kiff - Unfolding, Deutsche Bank Display, Frieze Masters, London |
| 2015 | The Hill of Dreams, Marlborough Fine Art, London |
| 2008 | Ken Kiff: Paintings and Works on Paper, Marlborough Fine Art, London |
| 2004 | Ken Kiff: Encaustic Paintings 1996-1999, Marlborough Fine Art, London |
| 2001 | Ken Kiff Retrospective of Paintings, Works on Paper and Prints,
Marlborough Fine Art & Graphics, London Ken Kiff: Print Retrospective, White Gallery, Brighton |
| 1999 | Ken Kiff - Prints, Graphic Studio Gallery, Dublin Ken Kiff, City Museum and Art Gallery, Bristol World Artists at the Millennium, Elizabeth Foundation for the Arts, New York Ken Kiff: Recent Works, Marlborough Fine Art & Graphics, London |
| 1997 | Ken Kiff: Recent Work, Mead Gallery, Warwickshire touring to New Ashgate Gallery, & Harris Museum and Art Gallery, Preston |
| 1996 | Ken Kiff, Marlborough Fine Art & Graphics, London Ken Kiff, Beatrice Royal Contemporary Art & Craft, Eastleigh, Hampshire |
| 1994 | Ken Kiff Prints and Drawings, Ruskin Gallery, Sheffield |
| 1993-94 | Ken Kiff at the National Gallery, National Gallery, London |
| 1993 | Ken Kiff – Prints and Monotypes, The University Gallery, University of Northumbria, Newcastle Kiff - Prints and Monotypes, Woodlands Gallery, Blackheath, London |
| 1992 | Ken Kiff, London Print Workshop |
| 1991 | Ken Kiff: Recent Work, Marlborough Fine Art, London Prints by Ken Kiff, Marlborough Graphics Ltd, London; Museum of Modern Art, Oxford; Glasgow Print Studio |
| 1990 | Ken Kiff: Monotypes, Pamela Auchincloss Gallery, New York |
| 1988 | Ken Kiff, Fischer Fine Art, London |
| 1986 | Ken Kiff: Paintings 1965-85, Serpentine Gallery, London touring to Ferens Art Gallery, Hull; Arnolfi Gallery, Bristol Ken Kiff, Edward Thorp Gallery, New York |
| 1985 | Ken Kiff, Nicola Jacobs Gallery, London |
| 1983 | Ken Kiff, Nicola Jacobs Gallery, London |
| 1982 | Ken Kiff, Edward Thorp Gallery, New York |
| 1981 | Ken Kiff, Talbot Rice Art Centre, Edinburgh touring to MacRoberts Art Centre, Stirling;
Dundee Museum and Art Gallery, Dundee Ken Kiff, Edward Thorp Gallery, New York |
| 1980 | Ken Kiff, Nicola Jacobs Gallery, London |
| 1979 | Ken Kiff, Gardner Centre Gallery, University of Sussex, Brighton |
| 1975 | Ken Kiff, Serpentine Gallery, London |
Selected Group Exibitions
| 2024 | Drawing the Unspeakable, curated by David and Liza Dimbleby, Towner, Eastbourne Blue: the pursuit of the heavenly colour, Purdy Hicks, London |
| 2023 | People of the Otherworld: Ken Kiff in Dialogue, curated by Kathy Battista, Albertz Benda, New York The Moth and the Thunderclap, curated by Simon Grant, Modern Art, London |
| 2021 | Fully Awake, Holden Gallery, Manchester School of Art |
| 2020 | Me Myself and I, Collyer Bristow Gallery, London Chroma, Marlborough Graphics, London |
| 2018 | Lovers and Other Spectres, The Kingsgate Workshops, London Year 1, Frestonian Gallery, London Marlborough Fine Art, Frieze Masters, London Studio Prints - A Survey, Marlborough Graphics, London |
| 2017 | Orpheus Ascending, Eagle Gallery/EMH Arts, London Towards Night, Towner Arts Gallery, Eastbourne The Luminous Language, Frestonian Gallery, London |
| 2015 | A Summer Show, Marlborough Fine Art, London |
| 2010 | At the Edge: British Art 1950 to 2000, Aberystwyth Arts Centre |
| 2006 | Summer Exhibition, Marlborough Fine Art, London |
| 2002 | London International Small Print Biennale, Morley Gallery, London |
| 2001 |
Tell Me a Picture, curated by Quentin Blake, National Gallery, London Ken Kiff and Celia Paul, Charleston Gallery, Sussex Great Impressions: Contemporary and Modern Master Prints, Royal Museum and Art Gallery, Canterbury London School Prints, Eigse Carlow Arts Festival, Ireland Tribute to Ken Kiff, Royal Academy Summer Exhibition, London |
2000 |
Harlech Printmaking Open, Theatr Ardudwy, Harlech, Wales |
| 1999 | World Artists at the Millennium: The International Year of Older Persons, The Elizabeth Foundation for the Arts, New York |
| 1998 | Ballinglen - Seven Artists’ Residencies, The Economist Plaza, London |
| 1997 | British Figurative Art, Part One: Painting - The Human Figure, Flowers East, London A Century of European Prints, Marlborough Graphics, London Landscape and Recollection: The Ballinglen Experience, The Royal Hibernian Academy, Dublin |
| 1996 | Two Seconds Nine Months, Manhattan Loft Corporation, Bankside Lofts, London Down to Earth, 4 Art Galeria, Barcelona, Spain; Lamont Gallery, London |
| 1995-96 | John Moores Exhibition 19, Walker Art Gallery, Liverpool |
| 1995 | Art in Worship, Worcester Cathedral An American Passion - the Susan Kasen Summer and Robert D. Summer Collection, Royal College of Art, London |
| 1994 | Accrochage, Marlborough Fine Art, London Here and Now, Serpentine Gallery, London Pastels Today, Mall Galleries, London Paper under Pressure, Ackland Museum, Chapel Hill, North Carolina |
| 1993 | Sammlung Sandven - Zur Kunst der zweiten Hälfte des 20. Jahrhunderts, Liechtensteinische Staatliche Kunstsammlung, Vaduz |
| 1992 | Three Generations Pasmore, Kiff, Briggs, Vera Grodzinski Gallery, London |
| 1991 | Art in Worship, Tewkesbury Abbey and Worcester Cathedral, Worcester |
| 1990 | Glasgow’s Great British Art Exhibition, McLellan Galleries, Glasgow Nine Contemporary Paints: A Personal Choice, selected by Andrew Lambirth, City of Bristol Museum and Art Gallery Biting Back: Images of Symbolic Animals by Ken Kiff and Alexis Hunter, Manchester City Art Galleries |
| 1989-96 | Artists’ Choice, British Council, (48 prints (various artists)); Brazil (1989); Ecuador (1990); Columbia (1990); Central Bank Gallery, St Michael, Barbados (1992); Barbados Museum And Historical Society, St Michael, Barbados (1992); National Gallery Of Jamaica, Kingston, Jamaica (1993); British Council Office - Zagreb, Croatia (1996); Galerija Likovbih Umjetnosti, Osijek, Croatia (1996); National Gallery, Tirana, Albania (1996) |
| 1989 | The Tree of Life, South Bank Centre Travelling Exhibition,
Cornerhouse Gallery, Manchester The Cutting Edge, Manchester City Art Galleries The School of London: Works on Paper, Odette Gilbert Gallery, London Eros in AlbionL Six English Painters, selected by Keith Patrick, Casa di Masaccio, San Giovanni Valdarno, Arezzo Picturing People: British Figurative Art Since 1945, British Council Travelling Exhibition, National Art Gallery; Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia; Hong Kong Museum of Art; National Gallery of Zimbabwe, Harare |
| 1988 | Narrative Painting, Castlefield Gallery, Manchester Personal Choice by Jeffrey Camp, Nigel Greenwood Gallery, London The New British Painting, touring exhibition: Contemporary Arts Center, Cincinnati; travelled to Chicago Cultural Center, Chicago; Haggerty Museum, Marquette University, Milwaukee; South Eastern Center for Contemporary Art, Winston-Salem; Grand Rapids Art Museum, Michigan |
| 1987 | Current Affairs: British Paintings and Sculpture in the 1980s, Museum of Modern
Art, Oxford, and British Council tour to the Mücsarnok, Budapest;
Národni Galerie, Prague; The Zacheta, Warsaw The Self-Portrait, Artsite Gallery, Bath |
| 1985 | Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart - Neue Bilder, Thaddaeus Ropac Gallery, Salzburg Group Exhibition, Betsy Rosenfeld Gallery, Chicago Human Interest, The Cornerhouse Gallery, Manchester Tva Engelska Målare, Galleri Rotor, Götesborgs Universitet, Sweden (with Simon Willis) Nocturnal Images, Paine Art Center and Arboretum, Wisconsin |
| 1984 | A Private View, Ecole Régionale des Trois Arts, Nantes The British Art Show, Ikon Gallery and City Gallery Museum, Birmingham; Royal Scottish Academy, Edinburgh; Mappin Art Gallery, Sheffield; Southampton Art Gallery Tenth Anniversary Exhibition: Content - A Contemporary Focus 1974-1984, Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C. The Proper Study: Contemporary Figurative Art from Britain, Lalit Kala Academy, New Delhi Metaphor and/or Symbol, The National Museum of Modern Art, Tokyo British Art, Art Gallery of Western Australia, Perth; Royal Exhibition Hall, Melbourne; Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney; Queensland Art Gallery; National Art Gallery, Wellington Poetry and the Visual Arts, University of Virginia, Charlottesville In their Circumstances, Usher Gallery, Lincoln, curated by Timothy Hyman |
| 1983 | Alive to it All, Serpentine Gallery, London; Rochdale Art Gallery; Ferens Art Gallery, Hull Marseilles Art Present, Musée Cantini, Marseilles The Painterly Figure, Parrish Art Museum, Southampton, New York Eros-Mythos-Ironie, Trigon INternational Biennale, Neue Galerie am Landesmuseum, Joanneum, Graz New Art, Tate Gallery, London |
| 1982 | Thirteen British Artists, with Howard Hodgkin, Frank Auerbach, David Wiseman,
Leon Kossoff, John Walker. Neue Galerie - Sammlung Ludwig, Aachen; Kunstverein
Mannheim; Kunstverein Braunschweig Issues: New Allegory 1, curated by Elisabeth Sussman, Institute of Contemporary Art, Boston; New York 4th Biennale of Sydney, Sydney John Moores Liverpool Exhibition 13, Walker Art Gallery, Liverpool London Group, Camden Arts Centre |
| 1981 | New Works on Paper I, curated by John Elderfield, Museum of Modern Art,
New York (touring USA) The Subjective Eye, selected by Moira Kelly and Edward Lucie-Smith, Midland Group Gallery, Nottingham 13 British Artists: An Exhibition on Painting, Neue Galerie - Sammlung Ludwig, Aachen; Kunstverein Mannheim; Kunstverein Braunschweig; Bündner Kunstverein, Switzerland Group Exhibition, Edward Thorp Gallery, New York |
| 1980 | Works on Paper, Nicola Jacobs Gallery, London John Moores Liverpool Exhibition 12, Walker Art Gallery, Liverpool |
| 1979 | Narrative Painting, selected by Timothy Hyman, Arnolfini, Bristol The First Exhibition, Nicola Jacobs Gallery, London |
| 1975-76 | Body and Soul, Walker Art Gallery, Liverpool |
| 1975 | Painters of Reality, Mystery and Illusion, Rochdale Art Gallery |
| 1974 | John Moores Liverpool Exhibition 9, Walker Art Gallery, Liverpool British Watercolours, Rochdale Art Gallery |
| 1973 | Magic and Strong Medicine, selected by Norbert Lynton, Walker Art Gallery, Liverpool Contemporary British Art, Rochdale Art Gallery |
| 1970 | Critic’s Choice, selected by Norbert Lynton, Arthur Tooth and Sons, London |
PUBLIC COLLECTIONS
Arts Council England
Arts Council Collection
The Ballinglen Arts Foundation Permanent Collection, Ballycastle
Birmingham Museums
The British Council
The British Museum
The Cleveland Museum of Art
The Foundation for Essex Arts: BAT Collection
Götesborgs Konstmuseum, Gothenburg
Harris Museum, Art Gallery & Library, Preston
The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York
Milwaukee Art Museum
The Museum of Modern Art, New York
Royal Academy of Arts
Rugby Art Gallery and Museum
Tate
Towner Eastbourne
Whitworth Art Gallery, Manchester
Museum Würth, Künzeslau