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Thomas Benjamin Kennington | Victorian painter

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Thomas Benjamin Kennington (1856-1916) was an English genre, social realist and portrait painter.
He was a founder member of the New English Art Club (NEAC) and the Imperial Arts League.


Life and works

Kennington was born in Grimsby in Lincolnshire and trained in art at the Liverpool School of Art (winning a gold medal), the Royal College of Art (RCA) in London, and the Académie Julian in Paris, where he studied under Bouguereau and Robert-Fleury.
He later moved to Chelsea in London.



He exhibited at the Royal Academy, London from 1880-1916, and also regularly showed his work at the Royal Society of British Artists (RBA) in Suffolk Street and the Grosvenor gallery.
He was a founder member and first secretary of the New English Art Club (from 1886), and also founded the Imperial Arts League, whose stated purpose was to "protect and promote the interests of Artists and to inform, advise and assist...."
He won a bronze medal at the Exposition Universelle of 1889.



Kennington became known not only for his idealised paintings of domestic and everyday-life scenes but also for his social realist works.

Paintings such as
depicted the harsh realities of life for the poor in Britain in a manner that played on the onlooker's emotions.




It has been suggested that he may have been influenced by the Spanish painter Murillo (1618-1682), whose work also featured street children. He painted in both oils and watercolour.

Kennington died in London on 10 December 1916. His son Eric Kennington (1888-1960) was also a notable artist, illustrator and sculptor. | © Wikipedia






























Thomas Benjamin Kennington (7 aprile 1856 - 10 dicembre 1916) è stato un pittore Britannico di genere e ritrattista. È stato socio fondatore del New English Art Club (NEAC) e della Imperial Arts League.
Kennington divenne noto non solo per i suoi dipinti idealizzati di scene domestiche e di vita quotidiana, ma anche per le sue opere di realismo sociale.

Tele come:
  • Orphans(1885, Tate, London),
  • Widowed and fatherless (1885),
  • Homeless (1890)
  • Un pizzico di povertà (1891), dipinsero la dura realtà della vita per i poveri in Gran Bretagna, raggiungendo lo scopo di coinvolgere emotivamente chi osserva il dipinto inducendolo a soffermare la propria memoria al dramma della povertà.
    • È stato suggerito che potrebbe essere stato influenzato dal pittore spagnolo Murillo (1618-1682), il cui lavoro comprendeva anche bambini di strada. Dipinse sia in oli che in acquerelli.