Ben Brotherton graduated from Canterbury with a 1st class BA in Fine Arts in 2002 and an MA in painting in 2004. After 3 years as artist in residence at The King's School, Canterbury, Ben moved to the Occitanie Region in south-west France in 2008.
Having initially established a reputation for his atmospheric en plein air landscapes of the French countryside, Ben has since turned his attention to life studies and more recently still-life paintings. These bold colourist studies painted from life are a natural progression in style. Working directly from his subject, he distils space and light into layers of colour, tone, pattern and texture.
Inspired by Cezanne, Chardin, Corot, Matisse and Bomberg, Ben's paintings are about the painted surface, space and light. In his warm, richly evocative palette, there is a depth and presence to the work. With layer on layer of colour, tone and texture, his beautifully structured paintings radiate with tranquility and calm.
Ben explains 'Painting from nature may be my attempt to understand the world; it allows me the opportunity to engage with its constituents. From the infinite chaos of experience a painting might be distilled.'
Ben Brotherton has shown regularly in solo and group exhibitions with GrandyArt since 2006. He has also exhibited in London with The Royal Society of Oil Painters and Royal Society of British Artists and was the Winsor & Newton young finalist in 2005. In France Ben exhibits with L'Oeil du Prince in Biarritz and has shown in various salons across south-west France. He was awarded 1st prize for painting at Life Drawing Montmatre in 2017, Artempo, Cugnaux in 2015 and Brouillarta, Biarritz in 2013.