Ken Knight Australian, b. 1956

Works
  • Ken Knight, 6th Feb 20 4:38pm Antarctica, 2020
    Ken Knight
    6th Feb 20 4:38pm Antarctica, 2020
    Oil on board
    25 x 50 cm
    Signed lower right
  • Ken Knight, 7th Feb 20, 8:34am Antarctica, 2020
    Ken Knight
    7th Feb 20, 8:34am Antarctica, 2020
    Oil on board
    33 x 35 cm
    Signed lower right
  • Ken Knight, 7th Feb 20, Dawn - Antarctica, 2020
    Ken Knight
    7th Feb 20, Dawn - Antarctica, 2020
    Oil on board
    33 x 35 cm
  • Ken Knight, 8:30 6th Feb 20 Antarctica, 2020
    Ken Knight
    8:30 6th Feb 20 Antarctica, 2020
    Oil on board
    25 x 50 cm
    Signed lower left
  • Ken Knight, 8th Feb 20 Antarctica, 2020
    Ken Knight
    8th Feb 20 Antarctica, 2020
    Oil on board
    25 x 50 cm
    Signed lower left
  • Ken Knight, 9th Feb 20, 3:17pm Antarctica, 2020
    Ken Knight
    9th Feb 20, 3:17pm Antarctica, 2020
    Oil on board
    33 x 35 cm
    Signed lower left
  • Ken Knight, Across the Harbour to Devonport
    Ken Knight
    Across the Harbour to Devonport
    Oil on board
    12 x 29.5 cm
    Signed
  • Ken Knight, Afternoon Shadows, Queenstown
    Ken Knight
    Afternoon Shadows, Queenstown
    Oil on board
    18 x 57 cm
    Signed
  • Ken Knight, Antarctica I
    Ken Knight
    Antarctica I
    Oil on board
    8.5 x 7 cm
    Signed
  • Ken Knight, Autumn in Queenstown
    Ken Knight
    Autumn in Queenstown
    Oil on board
    16 x 37 cm
    Signed
  • Ken Knight, Canal View
    Ken Knight
    Canal View
    Oil on board
    42 x 37 cm
    Signed
  • Ken Knight, Foreshores of Lake Okareka
    Ken Knight
    Foreshores of Lake Okareka
    Oil on board
    31 x 68 cm
    Signed
  • Ken Knight, Four Seasons in One Day
    Ken Knight
    Four Seasons in One Day
    Oil on board
    38 x 50 cm
    Signed lower right, signed & titled verso
  • Ken Knight, Glacial River - Mount Cook National Park
    Ken Knight
    Glacial River - Mount Cook National Park
    Oil on board
    101 x 122 cm
    Signed lower left
  • Ken Knight, Glacial Valley and Mount Cook
    Ken Knight
    Glacial Valley and Mount Cook
    Oil on board
    76 x 50 cm
    Signed lower right
  • Ken Knight, Glenorchy Landscape
    Ken Knight
    Glenorchy Landscape
    Oil on board
    63 x 80 cm
    Signed lower left, signed & dated verso
  • Ken Knight, Glimpse of the Marina Lake Wanaka
    Ken Knight
    Glimpse of the Marina Lake Wanaka
    Oil on board
    50 x 21 cm
    Signed
  • Ken Knight, Ice Flow Antarctica, 2020
    Ken Knight
    Ice Flow Antarctica, 2020
    Signed lower right
    119 x 112 cm
    Signed lower right
  • Ken Knight, Ice Flow Antarctica II, 2020
    Ken Knight
    Ice Flow Antarctica II, 2020
    Oil on board
    33 x 35 cm
    Signed lower left
  • Ken Knight, Lion Rock and Piha
    Ken Knight
    Lion Rock and Piha
    Oil on board
    85 x 100 cm
    Signed
  • Ken Knight, Low Tide at Takapuna Beach
    Ken Knight
    Low Tide at Takapuna Beach
    Oil on board
    27 x 46 cm
    Signed
  • Ken Knight, Misty Showers on the Tongariro
    Ken Knight
    Misty Showers on the Tongariro
    Oil on board
    35.5 x 23 cm
    Signed lower right, signed & titled verso
  • Ken Knight, Morning Light - Milford Sound
    Ken Knight
    Morning Light - Milford Sound
    Oil on board
    37 x 84 cm
    Signed lower left
  • Ken Knight, Mount Cook
    Ken Knight
    Mount Cook
    Oil on board
    101 x 118 cm
    Signed lower left, signed & titled verso
  • Ken Knight, Mountain Stream near Glentanner
    Ken Knight
    Mountain Stream near Glentanner
    Oil on board
    100 x 85 cm
    Signed lower right, signed & titled verso
  • Ken Knight, On the Beach, Piha
    Ken Knight
    On the Beach, Piha
    Oil on board
    90 x 120 cm
    Signed
  • Ken Knight, The Windswept Beach, Piha
    Ken Knight
    The Windswept Beach, Piha
    Oil on board
    70 x 120 cm
    Signed
  • Ken Knight, Working on the Wharf Near Devonport
    Ken Knight
    Working on the Wharf Near Devonport
    Oil on board
    21.5 x 61.5 cm
    Signed lower left
Biography

Ken Knight was born in Sydney in 1956. He is one of Australia’s leading plein-air painters and as such he follows a rich lineage of Australia’s famous impressionists including Arthur Streeton and Tom Roberts. His iconic landscapes are inspired by the azure blue of Sydney harbour, the sweeping drama of the Kakadu, the frosty grandeur of the Snowy Mountains and the vast open stretches of land and sea that surround him.

 

My paintings are all about simplifying the landscape,” he says. “I don’t like to tell the whole story, otherwise it loses its mystery. By reducing the landscape and abstracting elements from it, I enable the viewers to make an interpretation of the image for themselves.

 

Knight concedes his work is in the style of the Heidelberg School of which Streeton was a leading member. He spends approximately four months of the year travelling, sketching and painting as he goes. Several sketches are often made of a scene before the final work is executed; a process he says is essential in “freeing up” the work.

 

The controlled exaggeration of colour in the landscape is fundamentally important to his technique. Heavy impasto applied with a palette knife and energetic brushwork creates a painting that offers something a little different each time it is viewed.

 

After each expedition he takes the paintings back to his studio, where he evaluates and appraises them, often making subtle changes to improve the structure of the finished painting.

 

Over the years Knight has travelled and painted extensively around New Zealand. He is especially inspired by the West Coast of the North Island for its “primeval grandeur” and the majestic mountains in the South Island.

 

Knight has been awarded the Windsor and Newton Australian Art Award, 1994 and the Royal Arts Society Spring Exhibition, 1998, among many other awards. In February 2003 Ken’s first London exhibition was held at W H Patterson Gallery in Albermarle Street, Mayfair. His most recent London exhibition was at Tryon Gallery.

 

Knight’s work has been purchased for numerous private and public collections in Australia, England, Italy, America, Mexico, South Africa and Europe, including those of the Castlemaine Regional Art Gallery and Historical Museum, IBM, The Commonwealth Bank, Johnson & Johnson, Parliament House in Brisbane, The Royal Grocers Hall, London and the collection of The Archbishop of New York.

Exhibitions