Gordon King, Fond Memories, Original Watercolour, 20th Century

Gordon King.
English ( b.1939 ).
Fond Memories.
Watercolour.
Signed Lower Right.
Image size 13.6 inches x 21 inches ( 34.5cm x 53.5cm ).
Frame size 22.4 inches x 29.9 inches ( 57cm x 76cm ).

This original painting is by Gordon King.
The watercolour is presented and supplied in its’ original frame (which is shown in these photographs) and is mounted behind glass.
This vintage painting is in very good condition, commensurate with its age. It wants for nothing and is supplied ready to hang and display.
The watercolour is signed lower right.

Widely regarded as one of the leading contemporary figurative watercolour artists in the UK, Gordon King is particularly known for his delicate and sensual paintings of beautiful girls.

Gordon King was born in London in 1939, but spent most of his childhood on the Fife coast in Scotland. He then moved to Reading in Berkshire and has spent the last few decades in Buckinghamshire.

He loved to draw as a child and won major competitions from the age of seven onwards. After leaving school he trained at the Carlton Studios in London whilst also studying life drawing and painting at Reading University. He did his National Service with the Royal Signals as a draughtsman, although spent much of his spare time painting as well. In his early 20s he became a freelance artist and produced illustrations for major magazines and advertising agencies. He gradually built up the commission side of his work by painting portraits and started to exhibit his work. By the mid 1970s he was able to give up his illustrating work to concentrate on painting full time. Initially he painted mainly in oils, but later used most mediums including pastel and is now best known for his watercolour works.

Gordon King became popular quickly - his first one-man show was in 1971 and opened by the late Sid James- and he soon showed work at the Royal Academy Summer Exhibitions in London and later at the Royal Institute of Painters in Watercolours. He painted mostly figurative subjects, and his trademark became young women in pleasant natural surroundings. He found considerable success in the early 1980s, with plentiful sales of limited edition prints of his paintings and silkscreen works. His paintings frequently featured his daughter and friends as the models, and his studio in Buckinghamshire or the south coast often provided the backdrop. His work has now been in print for over forty years.

Gordon King has published two books; the first was A Romance with Art, with a forward written by HRH The Princess Royal, and the second Drawn to Life featured paintings from his exhibition at the Halcyon Gallery in Birmingham.

In 1999 the Fine Art Guild voted him Published Artist of the Year. He has undertaken many private commissions and has painted several celebrities, including Tim Henman, Ann Widdecombe, Tony Jacklin and Katherine Jenkins.

The works of Gordon King have been exhibited worldwide and are held in many private collections. He has been featured in a number of television programmes including the BBC2 art series Close Up and Channel 5’s Open House and Sky Sports at the PGA short course championships. He has been actively involved with charitable work, and has supported Save the Children with HRH The Princess Royal, and Children in Need, painting in front of a live audience. He sold three limited editions of his portrait of Darcy Bussell for the Alzheimer’s Society.

Gordon King’s talent undoubtedly lies in his unique ability to capture the likeness of people and the atmosphere of their surroundings. He describes his inspiration; “The sheer wonder of creating life in paint, achieving a likeness of someone in a portrait but putting something of me in as well, or the thought that if I flicked my fingers the painting could come to life”.

Many people own a print of Gordon King’s work; this is an opportunity to own an original of this popular and talented British artist.