Bio
Kenneth Jack AM MBE RWS (Australian 1924 – 2006) Bio
Kenneth Jack AM MBE RWS (5 October 1924 – 10 June 2006) was born in the suburbs of Melbourne on October 5 1924 The son of a commercial artist, Kenneth was something of a child prodigy, and he was 13 when he won his first art prize at the Melbourne Royal Show, In his final year at Melbourne High School he gained the highest marks for drawing in the state of Victoria Kenneth was an artist who specialised in painting the images of an almost forgotten outback life, old mine workings, abandoned ghost towns, decaying farm buildings with a masterly approach to technique across many mediums and a career spanning six decades.
In 1950 he obtained his final teacher’s diploma with a thesis “On the Drawing of Architecture” That same year he went on to hold his first one-man exhibition at the Bookshelf Library at Hobart Still only 26, he was already well-known in Melbourne, having won several prizes and been published in the Australian National Journal.
Kenneth became a professional painter at the age of 39 after giving up his job as senior instructor at the Caulfield Institute of Technology Kenneth’s artistic influences came from such artists as Russell Drysdale, Rupert Bunny, William Dobell, Douglas Dundas, Noel Counihan, Donald Friend and Arthur Streeton Overseas influences included Rembrandt and Turner (both favourites) John Piper, Graham Sutherland, John Cotman and Cezanne.
In 1977 he was elected to The Royal Watercolour Society and in 1982 was awarded the MBE and the Order of Australia (AM) followed in 1987 Kenneth continued as a prolific painter right up to his passing in June 2006.
Kenneth Jack’s works can be found in these collections
- Royal Collection at Windsor
- Victoria and Albert museum
- National Gallery of Australia
- The Australian War Memorial
- The capital city collections of every Australian state
- Osaka’s Otemon University
