Stephen Farthing
Encyclopedia
Stephen Farthing RA is a prominent English painter.
, London in 1976. In the final year of his master’s program, Farthing won a scholarship to study at the British School in Rome for one year.
in London. He also won prizes in the John Moores Liverpool Exhibition on eight separate occasions between 1976 and 1999.
Farthing was elected as a member of the Royal Academy
of the Arts in 1998. Farthing’s work is in the National Portrait Gallery (London) and he also showed at the Tate Britain
in 2006 as part of a project called “Drawing from Turner,” that he designed and curated. Farthing also painted large murals for the Cleveland Browns
Football Club in Cleveland, Ohio (2004) and Aston Villa Football Club in Birmingham, UK (2008).
Stephen Farthing's teaching career began at Canterbury College of Art (1977–1979) where he was a lecturer of painting. He went on to teach at the Royal College of Art
(1980–1985) before becoming the Head of Painting and later the Head of Fine Art at West Surrey College of Art and Design (1985–1989). Farthing spent the next ten years at Oxford University serving as the Ruskin Master at the Ruskin School of Drawing and Fine Art. He was also made a Professorial Fellow of Oxford’s St Edmund Hall (1990–2000). Upon leaving the university in 2000, Farthing was made a professor emeritus of St Edmund Hall.
Farthing moved to New York in 2000 to become the Executive Director of the New York Academy of Art
and led the Academy until he became the Rootstein Hopkins Research Chair of Drawing at the University of the Arts London
in 2004, a position he continues to hold today.
Farthing has published extensively. Most known for his authorship of 1001 Paintings You Must See Before You Die and 501 Great Artists. He also authored the Intelligent Person’s Guide to Modern Art, published in 2000 in addition to numerous academic essays and journal articles.
Stephen Farthing continues to live and work in both the United Kingdom and the United States.
Farthing has one daughter, Constance, and is the younger brother of Michael Farthing
(doctor and Vice Chancellor of the University of Sussex).
Farthing’s work very much reflects his education, personal experience and perspective on historical events that have captured his imagination. After spending a period of study at the Cité Internationale des Arts in Paris while a student at the Royal College of Art
, Stephen Farthing inadvertently fell upon what one could later describe as a postmodernist relationship with history. In Paris, he painted an interpretation of Hyacinthe Rigaud
’s portrait of Louis XV that as a student won him a prize at the John Moores Exhibition in Liverpool, today this painting stands as a very early example of British postmodernist painting.
In the late 1980s and early 1990s whilst showing with Edward Totah in London, Farthing showed works that positioned Latin American vernacular culture within a modernist idiom and classicism within the vernacular.
During the 1990s, he reinvented history painting as a viable contemporary narrative taking on subject matters as diverse as the Battle of Trafalgar
, swagger portraiture, and the topographical mapping of cities. His most recent work makes explicit a theme that has consistently sat between Farthing and his audience, the “narrative” and “text”.
Farthing commented that his work is, “not this thing about ‘Oh, let’s let the audience make up their mind what it is’…” but about “degrading it on purpose so it becomes not more ambiguous, but less what it was in the first place.”
Toward the end of 2009, Farthing had his first one person show at the Purdy Hicks Gallery in London where, for the first time, he showed the “back-story” paintings. The “back-story” paintings are a series of images painted with a text in reverse sitting on the picture plane between the audience and the image. The text tells us what is going on not in the picture but behind it, so compromising and at the same time informing the image with text. His technically very skilled paintings all seem to be grounded on one guiding principle - that what we see will always be always conditioned by what we know.
In November 2010, Farthing became the second living Royal Academician to be featured in the "laboratory" series of one man shows at the Royal Academy of Arts London. "The Back Story," featured an epic 30 foot painting of the Atlantic ocean.
Farthing's work as a painter sits midway between the conservative and the cutting edge between a classical and radical painting.
Education
Stephen Farthing grew up in London and after resisting the temptation to join the Royal Navy, earned a bachelor’s degree from the St. Martin’s School of Art in 1973 and a Masters degree in painting from the Royal College of ArtRoyal College of Art
The Royal College of Art is an art school located in London, United Kingdom. It is the world’s only wholly postgraduate university of art and design, offering the degrees of Master of Arts , Master of Philosophy and Doctor of Philosophy...
, London in 1976. In the final year of his master’s program, Farthing won a scholarship to study at the British School in Rome for one year.
Life & Career
Upon his return from Italy, Farthing began his prolific career. Since as early as 1977, Farthing’s work has been featured in a number of one-man shows throughout the UK, Brazil, Uruguay, Mexico, Australia, Japan, and the United States. Farthing’s work featured in the 1989 Sao Paulo Biennale and that same year he served as the Artist in Residence at the Hayward GalleryHayward Gallery
The Hayward Gallery is an art gallery within the Southbank Centre, part of an area of major arts venues on the South Bank of the River Thames, in central London, England. It is sited adjacent to the other Southbank Centre buildings and also the Royal National Theatre and British Film Institute...
in London. He also won prizes in the John Moores Liverpool Exhibition on eight separate occasions between 1976 and 1999.
Farthing was elected as a member of the Royal Academy
Royal Academy
The Royal Academy of Arts is an art institution based in Burlington House on Piccadilly, London. The Royal Academy of Arts has a unique position in being an independent, privately funded institution led by eminent artists and architects whose purpose is to promote the creation, enjoyment and...
of the Arts in 1998. Farthing’s work is in the National Portrait Gallery (London) and he also showed at the Tate Britain
Tate Britain
Tate Britain is an art gallery situated on Millbank in London, and part of the Tate gallery network in Britain, with Tate Modern, Tate Liverpool and Tate St Ives. It is the oldest gallery in the network, opening in 1897. It houses a substantial collection of the works of J. M. W. Turner.-History:It...
in 2006 as part of a project called “Drawing from Turner,” that he designed and curated. Farthing also painted large murals for the Cleveland Browns
Cleveland Browns
The Cleveland Browns are a professional football team based in Cleveland, Ohio. They are currently members of the North Division of the American Football Conference in the National Football League...
Football Club in Cleveland, Ohio (2004) and Aston Villa Football Club in Birmingham, UK (2008).
Stephen Farthing's teaching career began at Canterbury College of Art (1977–1979) where he was a lecturer of painting. He went on to teach at the Royal College of Art
Royal College of Art
The Royal College of Art is an art school located in London, United Kingdom. It is the world’s only wholly postgraduate university of art and design, offering the degrees of Master of Arts , Master of Philosophy and Doctor of Philosophy...
(1980–1985) before becoming the Head of Painting and later the Head of Fine Art at West Surrey College of Art and Design (1985–1989). Farthing spent the next ten years at Oxford University serving as the Ruskin Master at the Ruskin School of Drawing and Fine Art. He was also made a Professorial Fellow of Oxford’s St Edmund Hall (1990–2000). Upon leaving the university in 2000, Farthing was made a professor emeritus of St Edmund Hall.
Farthing moved to New York in 2000 to become the Executive Director of the New York Academy of Art
New York Academy of Art
The New York Academy of Art or the Graduate School of Figurative Art is an American private, not-for-profit art university, located at 111 Franklin Street in the Manhattan borough of New York City.-Foundation:...
and led the Academy until he became the Rootstein Hopkins Research Chair of Drawing at the University of the Arts London
University of the Arts London
The University of the Arts London, formerly known as the London Institute, is a collegiate university comprising six internationally recognised art, design, fashion and media colleges in London, England...
in 2004, a position he continues to hold today.
Farthing has published extensively. Most known for his authorship of 1001 Paintings You Must See Before You Die and 501 Great Artists. He also authored the Intelligent Person’s Guide to Modern Art, published in 2000 in addition to numerous academic essays and journal articles.
Stephen Farthing continues to live and work in both the United Kingdom and the United States.
Farthing has one daughter, Constance, and is the younger brother of Michael Farthing
Michael Farthing
Professor Michael Farthing is a British academic administrator, physician and medical researcher. He is the Vice Chancellor of the University of Sussex, having succeeded Professor Alasdair Smith in September 2007. Prior to his appointment as Vice Chancellor at Sussex, his academic career was in...
(doctor and Vice Chancellor of the University of Sussex).
Work
Farthing described his work in a 2005 interview, saying “I have dined with the devil in terms of becoming a modern artist. I have taken hold of history, tried to understand it—and then used and abused it.”Farthing’s work very much reflects his education, personal experience and perspective on historical events that have captured his imagination. After spending a period of study at the Cité Internationale des Arts in Paris while a student at the Royal College of Art
Royal College of Art
The Royal College of Art is an art school located in London, United Kingdom. It is the world’s only wholly postgraduate university of art and design, offering the degrees of Master of Arts , Master of Philosophy and Doctor of Philosophy...
, Stephen Farthing inadvertently fell upon what one could later describe as a postmodernist relationship with history. In Paris, he painted an interpretation of Hyacinthe Rigaud
Hyacinthe Rigaud
Hyacinthe Rigaud was a French baroque painter of Catalan origin whose career was based in Paris.He is renowned for his portrait paintings of Louis XIV, the royalty and nobility of Europe, and members of their courts and considered one of the most notable French portraitists of the classical period...
’s portrait of Louis XV that as a student won him a prize at the John Moores Exhibition in Liverpool, today this painting stands as a very early example of British postmodernist painting.
In the late 1980s and early 1990s whilst showing with Edward Totah in London, Farthing showed works that positioned Latin American vernacular culture within a modernist idiom and classicism within the vernacular.
During the 1990s, he reinvented history painting as a viable contemporary narrative taking on subject matters as diverse as the Battle of Trafalgar
Battle of Trafalgar
The Battle of Trafalgar was a sea battle fought between the British Royal Navy and the combined fleets of the French Navy and Spanish Navy, during the War of the Third Coalition of the Napoleonic Wars ....
, swagger portraiture, and the topographical mapping of cities. His most recent work makes explicit a theme that has consistently sat between Farthing and his audience, the “narrative” and “text”.
Farthing commented that his work is, “not this thing about ‘Oh, let’s let the audience make up their mind what it is’…” but about “degrading it on purpose so it becomes not more ambiguous, but less what it was in the first place.”
Toward the end of 2009, Farthing had his first one person show at the Purdy Hicks Gallery in London where, for the first time, he showed the “back-story” paintings. The “back-story” paintings are a series of images painted with a text in reverse sitting on the picture plane between the audience and the image. The text tells us what is going on not in the picture but behind it, so compromising and at the same time informing the image with text. His technically very skilled paintings all seem to be grounded on one guiding principle - that what we see will always be always conditioned by what we know.
In November 2010, Farthing became the second living Royal Academician to be featured in the "laboratory" series of one man shows at the Royal Academy of Arts London. "The Back Story," featured an epic 30 foot painting of the Atlantic ocean.
Farthing's work as a painter sits midway between the conservative and the cutting edge between a classical and radical painting.
Public Collections
- Arts Council of Great BritainArts Council of Great BritainThe Arts Council of Great Britain was a non-departmental public body dedicated to the promotion of the fine arts in Great Britain. The Arts Council of Great Britain was divided in 1994 to form the Arts Council of England , the Scottish Arts Council, and the Arts Council of Wales...
- Ashmolean Museum of Art and Archaeology, Oxford
- British CouncilBritish CouncilThe British Council is a United Kingdom-based organisation specialising in international educational and cultural opportunities. It is registered as a charity both in England and Wales, and in Scotland...
, London - British CouncilBritish CouncilThe British Council is a United Kingdom-based organisation specialising in international educational and cultural opportunities. It is registered as a charity both in England and Wales, and in Scotland...
, Kyoto - British CouncilBritish CouncilThe British Council is a United Kingdom-based organisation specialising in international educational and cultural opportunities. It is registered as a charity both in England and Wales, and in Scotland...
, Mexico City - Cleveland BrownsCleveland BrownsThe Cleveland Browns are a professional football team based in Cleveland, Ohio. They are currently members of the North Division of the American Football Conference in the National Football League...
, Cleveland Ohio - Government Art Collection Fund
- Museo Carrillo Gil, Mexico City
- National Museum of Modern Art, Kyoto
- National Museum of Wales, Cardiff
- National Portrait Gallery, London
- Royal College of ArtRoyal College of ArtThe Royal College of Art is an art school located in London, United Kingdom. It is the world’s only wholly postgraduate university of art and design, offering the degrees of Master of Arts , Master of Philosophy and Doctor of Philosophy...
, London - Sheffield Galleries and Museums TrustSheffield Galleries and Museums TrustMuseums Sheffield is the new name for Sheffield Galleries and Museums Trust. It is a charity that runs council owned art galleries and museums in Sheffield, England. One of the trustees is His Grace the Duke of Devonshire. They run the following galleries and museums:* Bishops' House* Graves Art...
- TownerTowner-People:* Daniel B. Towner , American hymn composer* Edgar Thomas Towner , Australian recipient of the Victoria Cross* Horace Mann Towner , American politician and governor of Puerto Rico...
, Eastbourne - Walker Art GalleryWalker Art GalleryThe Walker Art Gallery is an art gallery in Liverpool, which houses one of the largest art collections in England, outside of London. It is part of the National Museums Liverpool group, and is promoted as "the National Gallery of the North" because it is not a local or regional gallery but is part...
, Liverpool
Awards
- 1976: John Moores Exhibition Prize Winner
- 1976: Abbey Major Scholar, British School at RomeBritish School at RomeThe British School at Rome was established in 1901 and granted a Royal Charter in 1912 as an educational institute in the fields of archaeology, literature, music, and history of Rome and Italy of every period, and for the study of the fine arts and architecture...
- 1980: John Moores Exhibition Prize Winner
- 1982: John Moores Exhibition Prize Winner
- 1987: John Moores Exhibition Prize Winner
- 1998:Hayward GalleryHayward GalleryThe Hayward Gallery is an art gallery within the Southbank Centre, part of an area of major arts venues on the South Bank of the River Thames, in central London, England. It is sited adjacent to the other Southbank Centre buildings and also the Royal National Theatre and British Film Institute...
, London-Artist in Residence - 1991: John Moores Exhibition Prize Winner
- 1993: John Moores Exhibition Prize Winner
- 1997: Wellcome TrustWellcome TrustThe Wellcome Trust was established in 1936 as an independent charity funding research to improve human and animal health. With an endowment of around £13.9 billion, it is the United Kingdom's largest non-governmental source of funds for biomedical research...
Sci-Art Award with Mr. A. Rowsell, Guy's Hospital (For research into facial appearance) - 1997: John Moores Exhibition Prize Winner
- 1998: Elected to Royal AcademyRoyal AcademyThe Royal Academy of Arts is an art institution based in Burlington House on Piccadilly, London. The Royal Academy of Arts has a unique position in being an independent, privately funded institution led by eminent artists and architects whose purpose is to promote the creation, enjoyment and...
of Arts - 2000: Elected Emeritus Fellow, St Edmund Hall, Oxford University
- 2000: Elected Honorary Keeper of the Royal Academy Collections, London
- 2007: Visiting Hood Fellow: Institute of Creative Arts & industries, University of AucklandUniversity of AucklandThe University of Auckland is a university located in Auckland, New Zealand. It is the largest university in the country and the highest ranked in the 2011 QS World University Rankings, having been ranked worldwide...
, New Zealand - 2007: Visiting Artist: Monash UniversityMonash UniversityMonash University is a public university based in Melbourne, Victoria. It was founded in 1958 and is the second oldest university in the state. Monash is a member of Australia's Group of Eight and the ASAIHL....
, Melbourne Australia
External links
- http://www.stephenfarthing.com/index.htm
- http://www.purdyhicks.com/
- http://www.royalacademy.org.uk/academicians/painters/stephen-farthing-ra,175,AR.html
- http://www.chelsea.arts.ac.uk/35402.htm