Ken Law

Purchased a Ken Law picture last week. The auction had it described thus:
"Ken Law - Bern, Switzerland, etched gesso,
signed lower left, 61 x 73 cm £100.00 - £200.00"

I see that the family website shows their collection contains a 'Berne' painting. Mine is very similar but has more trees (I think they are trees, must be trees). I love what Ken has done, 'Winter Sun' is a great work of art IMO.

It amazes me that Ken's work isn't appreciated more. I suppose the art world see him as an amateur...but what an amateur....more than gifted I reckon.

I suppose that's the secret of art collecting. Buy what you like and you cannot go wrong. This is my first purchase and I'm so pleased.

I will attempt to take some photographs, so that people can compare to the 'Berne' in the law collection.

I suppose Ken either went to Bern(e) a lot with the LSO or he might have done a series of paintings (quickly or over several years).

I also like Ken's 'strong' signature. He makes it part of the work, rather than an after thought. Clever.

can't wait to see it

Thought I would show the back. Well engineered. I don't know if Ken did that. It all seems very well thought out.

I bought this as an early birthday present to myself... I'm a huge fan of Ken Law and have a few of his prints. This painting is entitled "Oldham Landscape" a town not far from here.

Nice, is that oil on board?

Very nice :)

Love 'Oldham Landscape'.....influenced by Lowry perhaps?

people say his main influence was Paul Klee but I see a lot of Lowry in his work.....Ken was far better though imo

I can see Klee now that you mention it!

Looks like the website still has only 7 paintings on there ,that's a shame as we would all like to see more
Doesn't look like the website as been updated for a while

We had a real flurry of info for a while then it all seems to have died off. Like you say the website looks to be dormant with little updating.
I am always somewhat cautious requesting info on anyone new /not well known, on one hand it gathers lots of info and brings pieces to the market but it also has the counter affect of pushing prices up.
Over the years I have done it with a couple obscure artists and its raised their profile, pushed prices up and ultimately shot myself in the foot.

I agree about upping the profile of Ken Law making it more difficult to obtain his art. It amazes me how difficult it is to find his pictures and prints,but I guess when you do it makes you appreciate,them even more.

I’ve read the threads on this forum with great interest.
I have 5 original Ken Law paintings. My first, and firm favourite was acquired mid 90’s from a seller/dealer of mid 20th century art & home furnishings down at Camden Stables market, they having purchased it at auction previously, I think Phillips...it depicts St Pauls Cathedral and the high rises of Barbican with a couple of local churches in the foreground.....
The other four, I came across on an online auction in 2017, being sold by a pawnbrokers in Florida of all places...Prague, Manhatten, and two unidentified scenes.
Our 1st came without the hardboard outer border, but still retaining the thin wooden frame abutting the gesso edge of the painting. The four from Florida still have their hardboard outer frames with remnants of hessian wallpaper trim. I do prefer the neater, crisper appearance without this outer framing. I will probably carefully remove, but retain these safely, as are original to the paintings, with some info on the reverse sides. They all could do with a little conservation as are dusty and have very small areas of paint loss where it has flaked away.
I conserve and restore antiquities for a living so am in a good position to care for them.
I will take photos and post on here as soon as I get the chance.

Welcome to the forum Darren,
It's great that the paintings were collected by someone who has the skills to preserve them so thy can be enjoyed by future generations.
We all look forward to seeing the photos

St. Paul’s Cathedral....

Unidentified..... would be great to discover where it is of...the inscription on the back is so very faint.

Manhatten....

Venice...
...again inscription almost totally faded...

Prague...

A stunning collection, are they all hung in one room?

2nd from the end with tall red tower on the left and water along the bottom is St Marks Square Venice

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Piazza_San_Marco

https://www.worldfortravel.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/01/San-Marco.jpg

I like the crude frames, much better that mass prodded stuff