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Michael Kidner

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Michael Kidner

Colour Column (no.4) 1972

Michael Kidner

View Works

(1917 - 2009) Born in Northamptonshire, Michael Kidner studied History at Cambridge University. A pioneer of Optical Art, Kidner devoted much of his career to developing work of a constructive nature. His interest in mathematics, science and the theories of chaos have informed an art that is at once rational and playful. Kidner's translation of the dialogue between order and indeterminacy into a visual language has meant that his work - though founded in a rigorous intellectual approach to colour and form - also resonates emotionally: 'Unless you read a painting as a feeling,' he has said, 'then you don't get anything at all'. 

His distinguished career has included many honors, influential teaching posts, international group shows and solo exhibitions in Britain, Eastern Europe, Brazil, Austria and Scandinavia. His work was first displayed in New York in 1965, in The Responsive Eye at the Museum of Modern Art, a group exhibition which subsequently toured the United States; and in a solo show two years later at Betty Parsons Gallery, New York in 1967. A retrospective at the Serpentine Gallery, London in 1984 introduced a new generation of British artists to his work, and he was elected as a Royal Academician in 2004. His work has recently been acquired by the British Academy, UK, and the Museum of Contemporary Art, Buenos Aires, Argentina; and is represented in the public collections of Arts Council England, British Council, Government Art Collection, and Tate, UK; Museum of Modern Art, New York; Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation, Lisbon; and Muzeum Sztuki, Lódz, Poland.

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Selected Work

  • Paintings
  • Works on Paper
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  • Prints
Grey Column

Michael Kidner

Grey Column, 1989

Oil on canvas

Canterbury

Michael Kidner

Canterbury, 1976

Acrylic on canvas

Colour Column (no.4)

Michael Kidner

Colour Column (no.4), 1972

Oil on canvas

Butterfly Wings

Michael Kidner

Butterfly Wings, 1966

Oil on canvas

Blue, Green, Violet and Brown Relief

Michael Kidner

Blue, Green, Violet and Brown Relief, 1966

Acrylic on canvas on board

Blue, Green, Pink (Times Magazine) No.2

Michael Kidner

Blue, Green, Pink (Times Magazine) No.2, 1964

Oil on linen

Blue, Green and Grey

Michael Kidner

Blue, Green and Grey, 1963

Oil on canvas

Stripes Study for Bill

Michael Kidner

Stripes Study for Bill, 1962

Oil on canvas

Untitled

Michael Kidner

Untitled, 1960

Oil on canvas

Untitled

Michael Kidner

Untitled, 1960

Oil on linen

Moving Green

Michael Kidner

Moving Green, 1959

Oil on canvas

Violet Black White and Yellow

Michael Kidner

Violet Black White and Yellow, 1959

Oil on linen

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Exhibitions

Michael Kidner: Zwischen Schwarz und Weiß - Between Black and White

Michael Kidner: Zwischen Schwarz und Weiß

Between Black and White

Museum Pfalzgalerie Kaiserslautern

20 February – 31 March 2019
Flowers Contemporary III

Flowers Contemporary III

NEW YORK Chelsea

19 January – 23 March 2019
Criminal Ornamentation: Yinka Shonibare MBE curates the Arts Council Collection - Featuring Michael Kidner and David Hepher

Criminal Ornamentation: Yinka Shonibare MBE curates the Arts Council Collection

Featuring Michael Kidner and David Hepher

Attenborough Arts Centre

21 September – 28 November 2018
Michael Kidner - In Black and White

Michael Kidner

In Black and White

LONDON Cork Street

5 September – 13 October 2018
London in the 60s - Bernard Cohen, Michael Kidner, and Richard Smith

London in the 60s

Bernard Cohen, Michael Kidner, and Richard Smith

Louis Stern Fine Arts, Los Angeles

21 July – 8 September 2018
yes no maybe - Michael Kidner, Beryl Korot, Manfred Mohr, Jack Smith and Judith Stenneken

yes no maybe

Michael Kidner, Beryl Korot, Manfred Mohr, Jack Smith and Judith Stenneken

NEW YORK Chelsea

17 July – 24 August 2018
Kaleidoscope - Featuring Bernard Cohen, Michael Kidner & Richard Smith

Kaleidoscope

Featuring Bernard Cohen, Michael Kidner & Richard Smith

Walker Art Gallery

24 February – 3 June 2018
Seurat to Riley: The Art of Perception - Featuring Michael Kidner

Seurat to Riley: The Art of Perception

Featuring Michael Kidner

The Holborne Museum

20 October 2017 – 21 January 2018
Seurat to Riley: The Art of Perception - Featuring Michael Kidner

Seurat to Riley: The Art of Perception

Featuring Michael Kidner

8 July – 1 October 2017
BP Walk through British Art - Systems - Featuring Michael Kidner

BP Walk through British Art - Systems

Featuring Michael Kidner

Tate Britain

18 July 2016 – 2 April 2017
Imperfect Reverse - Featuring Colin Cina, Michael Kidner, Carol Robertson and Trevor Sutton

Imperfect Reverse

Featuring Colin Cina, Michael Kidner, Carol Robertson and Trevor Sutton

Ruskin Gallery

24 November 2016 – 21 January 2017
Winter Group Show 2017

Winter Group Show 2017

NEW YORK Chelsea

15 December 2016 – 14 January 2017
Michael Kidner - Works on Paper

Michael Kidner

Works on Paper

NEW YORK Chelsea

21 July – 27 August 2016
Flowers Gallery Summer Prints Exhibition

Flowers Gallery Summer Prints Exhibition

The Lloyds Club London

12 June – 24 September 2015
Seven from the Seventies

Seven from the Seventies

LONDON Kingsland Road

16 January – 21 February 2015
Square to Circle & Back

Square to Circle & Back

LONDON Kingsland Road

12 January – 9 February 2013
Small Is Beautiful - XXX

Small Is Beautiful

XXX

LONDON Cork Street

7 December 2012 – 5 January 2013
Michael Kidner - Dreams of the World Order: Early Paintings

Michael Kidner

Dreams of the World Order: Early Paintings

LONDON Kingsland Road

12 September – 20 October 2012
100 Prints

100 Prints

LONDON Kingsland Road

20 April – 19 May 2012

News and Events

yes no maybe | Opening Reception & Panel Discussion

yes no maybe | Opening Reception & Panel Discussion

New York

17 July, 6:00 – 8:00pm

Michael Kidner Centenary

Michael Kidner Centenary

11 September 2017

Michael Kidner featured in Arte Fuse

Michael Kidner featured in Arte Fuse

3 August 2016

Michael Kidner featured in The Paris Review

Michael Kidner featured in The Paris Review

3 August 2016

Michael Kidner featured in AnOther

Michael Kidner featured in AnOther

26 July 2016

Michael Kidner - Works on Paper Opening Reception

Michael Kidner - Works on Paper Opening Reception

New York

21 July, 6:00 – 8:00pm

Michael Kidner - Painting into Textile

Michael Kidner - Painting into Textile

London

5 July, 10:00am – 5:00pm

Michael Kidner Obituary in The Telegraph

Michael Kidner Obituary in The Telegraph

29 December 2009

Michael Kidner Obituary in The Independent

Michael Kidner Obituary in The Independent

16 December 2009

Michael Kidner Obituary in The Guardian

Michael Kidner Obituary in The Guardian

13 December 2009

Michael Kidner Obituary in The Times

Michael Kidner Obituary in The Times

12 December 2009

Shop

Michael Kidner by Irving Sandler

Michael Kidner

Michael Kidner by Irving Sandler

£20
Love is a Virus from Outer Space

Michael Kidner

Love is a Virus from Outer Space

£10
Dreams of the World Order 1960s

Michael Kidner

Dreams of the World Order 1960s

£8
Dreams of the World Order: Early Paintings

Michael Kidner

Dreams of the World Order: Early Paintings

£15
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