Kenneth Martin 1905-1984

Abstract artist in painting and constructions. Born in Sheffield. Began working as a designer and studied part-time at the Sheffield School of Art 1927-9; then, on a Royal Exhibition, at the R.C.A. 1929-32. Taught at the St John's Wood School of Art. Exhibited with the A.I.A. from 1934 and with the London Group from 1936; member 1949. First one-man exhibition at the Leicester Galleries 1943; contributed to the This is Tomorrow exhibition at the Whitechapel Art Gallery with John Weeks and his wife Mary Martin and exhibited at the I.C.A. with his wife 1960; retrospective exhibition at the Lords Gallery 1962. Worked direct from nature until 1948; first abstract paintings 1948-9 and constructions 1951. Has helped to organize several exhibitions of Abstract and Constructivist art since the 1939-45 war. Commissions include a stainless steel fountain for Brixton Day College 1961.

Mary Chamot, Dennis Farr and Martin Butlin, The Modern British Paintings, Drawings and Sculpture, London 1964, II