Michael Kidner RA (English, 1917-2009)

Biography

Michael Kidner was a pioneer of Op Art and abstraction in Britain. In 1946, he enrolled in a course in Art and Design at Goldsmiths University but left after only three months. Kidner instead taught at a prep school in Perthshire and painted as a hobby. While on a painting holiday in France, Kidner met André Lhote, who encouraged him to move to Paris to pursue painting and introduced him to Cubism. Kidner spent two years in Paris, attending Lhote's atelier. After returning to England, Kidner moved to North Devon and then to St. Ives, where he got to know Trevor Bell, Roger Hilton, Terry Frost, Patrick Heron, Peter Lanyon, and other artists in the group.

In 1957, Kidner moved back to London. His interest in mathematics, colour theory, and optics, along with the popularity of Constructivism in the late 1950s, converged in Kidner's systematic and rational approach to painting. His personal style was shaped by his encounters with American Abstract Expressionism at the Tate Gallery; specifically, Mark Rothko's colour field paintings had a big impact. Another important experience for Kidner was his introduction to Bauhaus ideas, which he encountered in a course led by Harry Thubron and Victor Passmore in 1959. His fascination with science, mathematics, and theories of chaos developed into a unique visual language that was both logical and playful.

Kidner was recognised as a pioneer of Op Art following the 1965 exhibition, "The Responsive Eye," at the Museum of Modern Art in New York. A retrospective at the Serpentine in 1984 introduced his work to a new generation of British artists. In 2004, Kidner was elected a Royal Academician.

Kidner's work is held in many private and public collections, including the Tate, Royal Academy, Sainsbury Centre for Visual Art, Arts Council Collection, Manchester Art Gallery, and the Government Art Collection. 

Related artists

Terry Frost / Adrian Heath / Ben Nicholson / Alexander MacKenzie / Tom Cross / Trevor Bell / George Dannatt / John Hoyland / Sandra Blow / Richard Smith / Andrej Belocvetov

Available works

Please see below the selection of available original artworks by Michael Kidner.