Kenneth Martin (1905-1984)

Professions: Painter; Sculptor; Lithographer

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  KENNETH MARTIN 1905-1984

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  - Kenneth Martin , 1905-1984 Chance & Order 16 (black) 1973 oil on canvas

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  f - KENNETH MARTIN 1905-1984

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  f - KENNETH MARTIN 1905-1984

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Kenneth Martin Biography

(b Sheffield, 13 April 1905; d London, 18 Nov 1984). He studied at the Sheffield School of Art (1921–3, 1927–9) and the Royal College of Art, London (1929–32). His early work was figurative, but he came to regard his emergence as an artist as dating from a series of carefully designed, abstract paintings of 1948–9, such as Composition (1949; London, Tate). He was later unwilling to show any of the earlier work, even in a retrospective context. His principal achievement, however, was in the field of constructions. From 1951 to 1967 he dedicated himself to renewing the tradition that had begun with the mobiles of Aleksandr Rodchenko and Alexander Calder. His own constructions, sometimes static and sometimes relying on natural or mechanical movement, were more exact and methodical than these earlier examples. Most often they made use of prefabricated metal components, arranged in spiralling structures, for example Screw Mobile (1956; Lisbon, Fund. Gulbenkian). The rigour and regularity of the construction was, however, offset by the unpredictable effects of light and ambiance. Many of these works were on a miniature scale, but during this period Martin also completed a number of successful public commissions, such as the Fountain in Stainless Steel (1961) for Brixton College of Further Education and the Construction in Aluminium (1967) for the Engineering Laboratory, Cambridge.

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