Details

Name

William Kennedy

Brief Biography

1859 - 1918, Scottish

Occupation

Artist

Description

William Kennedy studied at Paisley School of Art in 1875 and during this period 1880-5 in Paris under Bouguereau, Fleury, and one of the heroes of the Glasgow Boys, Bastien-Lepage. Bastien-Lepage, Corot, Millet and artists of The Hague School influenced his early style of rustic realism. He later adopted a more measured approach to composition with flatter areas of colour and occasionally a hint of Japanese influence in the surface pattern, all of which stem from the example of the other hero of the boys, Whistler. Kennedy painted regularly with Guthrie, Walton, Henry and Crawhall in his studio at Cambuskenneth from 1885. When the Glasgow Boys attempted briefly to form themselves into a constituted group in 1887, they elected him as their president. He maintained a studio in Glasgow up until 1912, although he spent much of his time in Stirling and, from 1900, in Berkshire. In 1912, for health reasons, he moved to Tangier, encouraged no doubt by his friends Lavery and Crawhall who had opened his eyes to the exotic possibilities of North Africa.