Kenneth MARTIN
1905–1984, England

Kenneth Martin

1905 Born in Sheffield
1927-29 Studied at Sheffield School of Art
1923-29 Worked in Sheffield as a designer
1929-32 Studied at the Royal College of Art, London
1930 Married Mary Balmford
1946-67 Visiting teacher at Goldsmiths’ College of Art, London
1948-49 First Abstract Paintings
1951 First Kinetic Constructions
1965 Gold Medal, President of the Italian Council of Ministers, on the occasion of the International Congress of Artists and Critics at Verucchio
1969 First Chance and Order works
Death of Mary Martin
1971 Awarded OBE
1976 Honorary Doctorate, Royal College of Art
Midsummer Prize, City of London
1984 Died in London

One-Man Exhibitions

1954 Heffer Gallery, Cambridge (with Mary Martin)
1960 Institute of Contemporary Art, London (with Mary Martin)
1962 Lords Gallery, London
1967 Axiom Gallery, London
1970-71 Arts Council of Great Britain touring exhibition (with Mary Martin)
1970 Waddington Galleries Ltd., London
1974 Waddington Galleries Ltd., London
Galerie Swart, Amsterdam
1975 Tate Gallery Retrospective, London
Galerie m, Bochum
1976 Galerie m, Den Haag and Düsseldorf
Scottish National Gallery of Modern Art, Edinburgh (with Henry Moore)
1977 Arts Council of Great Britain touring exhibition
Museum of Modern Art, Oxford
1978 Waddington and Tooth Galleries, London
Galerie Lydia Megert, Bern
1979 Galerie Swart, Amsterdam
Yale Center for British Art, New Haven, Connecticut
1980 Galerie Gilles Gheerbrant, Montreal
Galerie m, Bochum
Sperone Westwater Fischer, New York
1981 Waddington Galleries Ltd., London
Galerie Lydia Megert, Bern
1983 Leicester Polytechnic
Galerie Artek, Helsinki and tour to Galerie Blanche, Stockholm and Galerie Nordenhake, Malmö
1984 Waddington Galleries Ltd., London
1985 Serpentine Gallery, London
1987 Annely Juda Fine Art, London (with Mary Martin)
1989 Galerie Lydia Megert, Bern
Quadrat Bottrop
Joseph Albers Museum (with Mary Martin)
1990 Galerie Renée Ziegler, Zurich (with Mary Martin)
1997 Sherman Galleries, Sydney
1999 Annely Juda Fine Art, London
Kettle’s Yard, Cambridge

Selected Group Exhibitions

1951 British Abstract Art, AIA Gallery, London
1954 Artist v. Machine, Building Centre, London
1956 This is Tomorrow, Whitechapel Gallery, London
Contemporary Sculpture, Hanover Gallery, London
1957 Statements - A Review of British Abstract Art in 1956, Institute of Contemporary Art, London
1958 British Painting 1950-57, Arts Council of Great Britain, London
Dimensions - British Abstract Art 1948-57, O’Hana Gallery, London
1960 Konkrete Kunst, Helmhaus, Zurich
1961 British Constructivist Art, American Federation of Art, touring USA (organised by the Institute of Contemporary Art, London)
Bewogen Beweging, Stedelijk Museum, Amsterdam
Rorelse i Konsten, Moderna Museet, Stockholm
Construction: England 1950-61, Drian Galleries, London
1962 Constructivisme, Galerie Dautzenberg, Paris
1963 Construction England, Arts Council of Great Britain, London and tour
Drawings of Two Generations, Grabowski Gallery, London
4th San Marino Biennale
1964 Painting and Sculpture of a Decade, Tate Gallery, London
Structures Vivantes, Redfern Gallery, London
1965 8th Tokyo Biennale
British Sculpture in the Sixties, Tate Gallery, London
Art et Mouvement, Museum of Tel Aviv
Nova Tendencija 3, Zagreb
Art and Movement, Arts Council of Great Britain, Edinburgh and Glasgow
1966 Soundings 3, Signals Gallery, London
1967 Recent British Painting, Tate Gallery, London
Unit Series Progression, Arts Council of Great Britain touring exhibition
1968 Cinetisme, Spectacle, Environnement, Maison de la Culture, Grenoble
Documenta IV, Kassel
From Constructivism to Kinetic Art, London Arts, Detroit
Art and the Machine, University of East Anglia, Norwich
1969 Konstruktive Kunst: Elemente und Prinzipien, Nuremberg Biennale
Unlimited, Robert Fraser Gallery, London
Intervention dans la rue, Centre Nationale d’Art Contemporain, Paris
John Moores Liverpool Exhibition, Walker Art Gallery
1970 Kinetics, Hayward Gallery, London
Multiple by Unlimited, Arnolfini Gallery, Bristol
1972 The Non-Objective World 1939-55, Annely Juda Fine Art, London, also Basle and Milan
1973 Henry Moore to Gilbert and George, Europalia, Brussels
1974 Recent British Painting, Rothmans Foundation, tour of France
Basically White, Institute of Contemporary Art, London
Critics Choice 1974, Arthur Tooth & Sons Ltd., London
British Painting 1974, Hayward Gallery, London
British Sculptors - Attitudes to Drawing, Sunderland Arts Centre
Aspects of Abstract Painting in Britain, Edinburgh Festival and Brussels
1974-75 Art as Thought Process, Arts Council of Great Britain tour and Serpentine Gallery, London

1975 Internationale Kleinformat-Ausstellung, Galerie Lydia Megert, Bern
1976 Arte Inglese Oggi, Milan
Rational Concepts - English Drawings, Gorinchem and touring Holland
System + Program, Warsaw
1977 Recent British Art, British Council Athens and touring Europe and the
Middle East
ROSC, Dublin
Documenta VI, Kassel
Hayward Annual, London
British Painting, Royal Academy, London
British Sculpture, Battersea Park, London
1978 Numerals 1924-1977, Leo Castelli Gallery, New York; Yale University Art Gallery; Dartmouth Museum and touring USA
Constructive Context, Warehouse Gallery, London, and tour of Britain, an exhibition selected from the Arts Council of Great Britain Collection
1979 European Drawings, Sydney Biennale
1980 Art of the Seventies, Venice Biennale
Pier and Ocean, Hayward Gallery, London and Rijksmuseum Kröller-Müller, Otterlo
Recent Acquisitions, Museum of Modern Art, New York
1981 Art into the 80s, Peter Moores Liverpool
Project 6, Walker Art Gallery, Liverpool
Construction in Process in the Art of the 70s, Lodz, Poland
British Sculpture in the 20th Century, Whitechapel Gallery, London
1982 Aspects of British Art Today, Metropolitan Museum of Art, Tokyo and tour of Japan
1983 Nature-Structure-Construction Arbeitskreis in Lapland, Kemi Taidemuseum, Finland
1983-84 Drawing in Air: An Exhibition of Sculptor’s Drawings, Sunderland Arts Centre and tour
1984 La Peinture des Martins, Kunsthalle Bern
Die Sprache der Geometrie, Kunstmuseum Bern
Gallery Ornis, The Hague with Norman Dilworth and Peter Lowe
1984-85 The British Art Show, Arts Council of Great Britain touring exhibition
1986 40 Years of Modern Art 1945-85, Tate Gallery, London
From Figuration to Abstraction, Annely Juda Fine Art, London
Arte e Scienza-Sezione II Colore, 42nd International Art Exhibition, Venice Biennale
British Prints, The Post-War Years 1945-60, Redfern Gallery, London
1988 The Non-Objective World Revisited, Annely Juda Fine Art, London
‘Exhibition Road’, Painters at the Royal College of Art, RCA Gulbenkian Hall
1988-89 ‘The Presence of Painting’. South Bank Centre Tour: Sheffield, Newcastle and Birmingham
1988-89 Modern British Sculpture from the Collection, Tate Gallery, Liverpool
1989 Painting the Visible World, Austin Desmond Fine Art, London
‘The Experience of Painting’, South Bank Centre and Laing Art Gallery Tour to Newcastle, Sheffield and Stoke
From Picasso to Abstraction, Annely Juda Fine Art, London
‘Das Quadratische Feur’, Kunsthalle, Darmstadt

1990 British - Systematism, Stiftung fuer Konstructive und Konkrete Kunst, Zurich
Masterpieces from the Arts Council Collection, organised by South Bank Centre for Ueno Royal Museum, Tokyo
Konkret Zehn, Kunsthalle & Kunsthaus, Nuremberg
Avant-Garde British Printmaking 1914-60, British Museum, London
Camberwell Painters, Austin/Desmond Fine Art, Sunninghill
1992 Zufall aus Prinzip, Wilhelm-Hack-Museum, Ludwigshafen
1993 Partners, Annely Juda Fine Art, London
New Beginnings, Postwar British Art from the collection of Ken Powell, Scottish National Gallery of Modern Art, Edinburgh, Sheffield and London
1994 Line + Movement, Annely Juda Fine Art, London
Art Unlimited, Multiples of the 60s and 90s, South Bank Centre National Touring Exhibition
1st International Print Triennale, Krakow, Katowice and Torun, Poland
1995 Drawing the Line, South Bank Centre National Touring Exhibition
Portfolio 55 Protagonistov Konstruirare Umetuosti, Ljubijana
1995-96 Drawing on Chance: Selections from the Collection, Museum of Modern Art New York
1996 Out of Order, Independent Art Space, London and John Hansard Gallery, Southampton
1999 a line in painting, Gallery Fine, London
2001 Definitions of Chance: Kenneth Martin / François Morellet / Sonja Rijnhout / Zdenek Sykora, Art Affairs, Amsterdam

Commissions

1961 ‘Twin Screws’ for the International Union of Architects Congress Headquarters Building, London
Fountain in Stainless Steel, Brixton College of Further Education, London
1967 Construction for the Nuffield Institute of Comparative Medicine at the London Zoo, Gulbenkian Foundation Commission
Construction in Aluminium, Engineering Laboratory, Cambridge
1972 Peter Stuyvesant City Sculpture Project for Sheffield, England
1974 Fountain in Stainless Steel in Gorinchem, Holland, made during the International Symposium
1977 Kinetic Monument, Swansea, Wales
1982 Screw Mobile, New Queensgate Centre, Peterborough
1984 Screw Mobile, Victoria Plaza, London

Public Collections

Arts Council of Great Britain
British Council
British Museum, London
Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation, Lisbon
City Art Gallery, Bristol
City Art Gallery, Salford, Manchester
Contemporary Art Society, London
Delgado Museum, New Orleans
Didsbury College of Education, Manchester
Ferens Art Gallery, Kingston upon Hull
Fogg Art Museum, Harvard University, Cambridge, USA
Folkwang Museum, Essen
Gala Cosmetic Group
Glyn Vivian Art Gallery and Museum, Swansea
Government Art Collection, London
Granada Television Limited, Manchester
Graves Art Gallery, Sheffield
Kettle’s Yard, University of Cambridge
Leeds Education Authority
McCrory Corporation, New York
Musée des Beaux Arts de Grenoble
Museum of Modern Art, New York
National Museum of Wales, Cardiff
National Portrait Gallery, London
Peter Stuyvesant Foundation, London
Rijksmuseum Kröller-Müller, Otterlo
Royal Albert Memorial Museum, Exeter
Scottish National Gallery of Modern Art, Edinburgh
Southampton Art Gallery
Swindon Permanent Art Collection
Stadtisches Museum, Monchengladbach
Tate Gallery, London
Tehran Musuem of Contemporary Art, Tehran
Tokyo Metropolitan Art Museum
Ulster Museum, Belfast
University of East Anglia, Norwich
University of Newcastle upon Tyne
Victoria and Albert Museum, London
Wilhelm-Hack-Museum, Ludwigshafen
Wilhelm Lehmbruck Museum, Duisburg

Bibliography
Selected Writings relating to the Artist

Lawrence Alloway. The Development of the Mobile. Art News, London, October 1953
Lawrence Alloway. Nine Abstract Artists. Tiranti, London, 1954
Lawrence Alloway. Non-Figurative Art in England, 1953
Arti Visive, Rome, January 1954
Andrew Forge. Notes on the Mobiles of Kenneth Martin, Quadrum 3, Brussels, 1957
Michel Seuphor. La Sculpture de ce Siecle. Editions de Griffon, Neuchâtel, 1959
Lawrence Alloway. Looking at the Martins. Architectural Design, London, June 1960
Eduard Trier. Figur und Raum. Verlag Gebr., Mann, Berlin, 1960
Michael Middleton. Dictionnaire de la Sculpture Moderne, Hazan, 1961
Alan Bowness. Introduction to Catalogue. Lords Gallery, 1962
David Thompson. Intellectuality of Kenneth Martin. The Times, 1 November 1962
J. P. Hodin. Une fontaine en acier inoxydable de Kenneth Martin. Quadrum 12,
Brussels, 1962
Harriet Janis and Rudi Blesh. Collage, Personalities, Concepts, Techniques. Chilton Company, Philadelphia/New York 1962
Robyn Denny. London Letter. Das Kunstwerk, January 1963
Denis Farr. British Sculpture since 1945. Tate Gallery 1965
Russell Snowdon Robertson. Private View. Nelson 1965
Anton Ehrenzweig. Kenneth Martin ed il Movemento. D’Ars 1-2, Milan, 1966
John Ernest. Construction and Content. Studio International, April 1966
Andrew Forge. Some Recent Works by Kenneth Martin. Studio International, London, December 1966
Andrew Orton. Varsity. 20 May 1967
Frank Popper. Movementivity. Art and Artists, London, June 1967
Guy Brett. A Painter’s consistent style, The Times, 9 June 1967
Norbert Lynton. Martin Exhibition. The Guardian, 12 June 1967
Paul Overy. The Listener. 15 June 1967
A. M. Hammacher. Modern English Sculpture. Thames & Hudson, 1967
George Rickey. Constructivism, Origins and Evolution, Studio Vista, London 1967
Frank Popper. Origins and Development of Kinetic Art. Studio Vista, London 1968
Alan Bowness. Recent British Painting. Peter Stuyvesant Foundation Collection, Lund Humphries, 1968
Alastair Grieve. Art and the Machine. University of East Anglia, 1968
Edward Lucie-Smith. Movements in Art since 1945. Thames & Hudson, London 1969
Paul Overy. Introduction to Catalogue. Arts Council touring exhibition 1970-71
Conway Lloyd Morgan. Interview. The Martins/Museum of Modern Art. Isis, Oxford,
25 May 1970
Paul Overy. Visions, projects and proposals. The Financial Times, 24 July 1970
Guy Brett. Two who rose to the occasion. The Times, 20 August 1970
Paul Overy, Judd-Martin. The Financial Times, 27 October 1970
James Burr. The New Vocabulary of Space, Movement and Light. Apollo, Vol. XCII, October 1970, p. 306
Alastair Grieve. Magical Beauty of the Martins. Eastern Daily Press, 19 January 1971
Guy Brett. More than the monument in the piazza. The Times, 12 September 1972
Andrew Forge and Hilary Lane. Chance and Order. Drawings by Kenneth Martin. Waddington Galleries, London 1973

Marina Vaizey, Kenneth Martin. The Financial Times, 25 February 1974
Paul Overy. Dance amidst Paint. The Times, 26 February 1974
Jennifer Oille. Kenneth Martin. Studio International, London, June 1974
Gorcumse Courant van Donderdag. Licht hier erg mooi. Symposion-deelnemer Verkende Gorcum, 9 May 1974
James Burr. All done by Numbers. Apollo, May 1975
David Thompson. Art. Harpers and Queen, May 1975
Caroline Tisdale. The Turn of the Screw. The Guardian, 14 May 1975
Nigel Gosling. Order and Chance. The Observer, 18 May 1975
Paul Overy. Kenneth Martin after the forgotten years. The Times, 20 May 1975
Richard Cork. Hanging by a Thread. Evening Standard, 22 May 1975
William Packer. Kenneth Martin. Tate Gallery. The Financial Times, 29 May 1975
Georgina Oliver. Sculpture: Kenneth Martin. Arts Review, 30 May 1975
Paul Overy. The Work of Kenneth Martin. Studio International, May/June 1975
Michael Compton. Broadsheet for Kenneth Martin. Tate Gallery, 14 May - 29 June 1975
Andrew Forge and Joost Baljeu, Anthony Hill, William Tucker, François Morellet,
Gerhard von Graevenitz , Michael Morris, David Bohm, Michael Compton. Kenneth Martin. Tate Gallery, 1975
Wilhelm Viola. Kenneth Martin. Der Bund, Berne, 24 June 1975
Keith Roberts. London: Current exhibitions. Burlington Magazine, Vol. CXVII, July 1975, p. 496
Arthur L. Loeb. Book Review of Chance and Order: Drawings by Kenneth Martin. Waddington Galleries, London 1973, Leonardo, Summer 1975
Stephen Bann. Kenneth Martin. Retrospective at the Tate Gallery. Studio International, July/August 1975
Antje von Graevenitz. Grossbritannien. Tate Gallery, Ausstellung Kenneth Martin. Pantheon, Autumn 1975
Jonathan Benthall. London, Coloquio artes, October 1975, Foundation Calouste Gulbenkian, Lisbon
Paul Overy. Showing the flag to the Italians. The Times, 2 March 1976. Arte Inglese Oggi Exhibition 1960-76 at the Palazzo Reale, Milan
Richard Cork. The Charmed Circle . . . or the West End Connection at the Hayward, Evening Standard, 26 May 1977
Paul Overy. Precious little space to spare. The Times, 7 June 1977
Andrew Brighton and Lynda Morris. Towards Another Picture. Midland Group, Nottingham, 1977
Malcom Quantrill. London Letter. Art International, Vol. 21-4, July/August 1977, p. 70
John McEwen, Sequences. The Spectator, 10 June 1978
Andrew Mackenzie. Abstracts from a ‘tough town’. Sheffield Morning Telegraph, 19 June 1978
Anthony Hill. Kenneth Martin. Art Monthly, July-August 1978
Paul Groot. Kenneth Martin: dynamisch Lijnenspel. NRC Handelsblad, 12 January 1979
Vivien Raynor. A New Modernism: the Past is also Present. New York Times, 6 May 1979
Hilton Kramer. Art: Kenneth Martin Opens Yale Center. New York Times, 11 May 1979
Andrew Forge. Kenneth Martin, Yale Center for British Art, New Haven 1979
Dore Ashton. Kenneth Martin in the realm of art. Arts Magazine, June 1979
Tiffany Bell. Kenneth Martin. Arts Magazine, May 1980
Richard Whelan. Here’s a bit of tin, Kenneth. Why don’t you make a mobile? Art News, September 1980

John Russell Taylor. Kenneth Martin. Art into the 80s. Peter Moore’s Liverpool Project 6, Walker Art Gallery, Liverpool 1981
Harold Osborne. The Oxford Companion to 20th Century Art, Oxford University Press, 1981
Adrian Lewis. British Avant-Garde Painting 1945-1956 Parts I-III. Artscribe, March, June and August 1982
Alastair Grieve. Time and Chance. Art Monthly, March 1983
K. G. Nilson. Kenneth Martin, Galerie Artek and Scandinavian Tour 1983
Alastair Grieve. Charles Biederman and the English Constructionists 2. Burlington Magazine, February 1984
Paul Hefting. Nature-Structure-Construction. Arbeitskreis in Lapland, Kunstannusosakeyhtiö Pohjoinen 1984
The Tate Gallery 1980-82. Illustrated catalogue of Acquisitions. Tate Gallery, London, 1984
Alastair Grieve. Kenneth Martin in conversation with Alastair Grieve. Art Monthly, March 1984. Reprinted in Arbeitskreis No. 13, August 1985
Andrew Dempsey. Kenneth Martin: 1905-1984 a personal note. Art Monthly, December/
January 1985/85
Hilary Lane. Broadsheet for Kenneth Martin, the Late Paintings, Serpentine Gallery, London 1985
Richard Cork. Linear Clusters. The Listener, 1985
Anthony Hill. Kenneth Martin. The Late Paintings. Artscribe, September/October 1985
Anthony Hill. Kenneth Martin. Art Monthly, September 1985
Michael Kidner. Kenneth Martin. Art Monthly, September 1985
Andrew Dempsey, Norman Dilworth, Paul Hefting, Antje von Graevenitz and Alastair Grieve. In Memoriam Kenneth Martin. Arbeitskreis No. 13, August 1985
Magdalena Dabrowski. Contrasts of Form. Geometric Abstract Art 1910-1980, Museum of Modern Art, New York 1985
Ans van Berkum and Tom Blekkenhorst. Science-Art, Fentener van Vlissingen Fund, Utrecht 1986
Bernard Cohen, Tim Johnson, Colin Jones, Peter Lowe, Jennifer Oille. Kenneth Martin A Tribute. Constructivist Forum 3, 1986
Lionel Esher. The plot to save the artists. Times Literary Supplement, 2 January 1987
E. A. Edmonds. Beyond Computable Numbers. Loughborough University of
Technology, 1987
Michael Kidner. Kenneth and Mary Martin. Art Monthly, October 1987
Alastair Grieve. Exhibition reviews, Kenneth and Mary Martin. Burlington Magazine, November 1987
Abstract Issue. Art News, Winter/Spring 1989, Newcastle
Anna Moszynska. Abstract Art, Thames & Hudson, London 1990
Alastair Grieve. Towards an art of environment: exhibitions and publications by a group of avant-garde abstract artists in London 1951-55. Burlington Magazine, November 1990
Dictionnaire de la peinture Anglaise et Americaine, Larousse, Paris 1991
Jeffrey Steel. Chance, Change, Choice and Order: A Structural Analysis of a work by Kenneth Martin, Leonardo Vol. 24 No. 4 1991
Stroud Cornock. The CNAA Collection. CNAA London 1992
Eugene Rosenberg. Architect’s Choice, Thames & Hudson, London 1992
Veronica Sekules. The University of East Anglia Collection, UEA Norwich 1994
Pier + Ocean. The Construction of an Exhibition. Herman Molendijk Stichtung, Amerfoort 1994
Alastair Grieve. ‘This is Tomorrow’ a remarkable exhibition born from contention. Burlington Magazine, April 1994
Sally Bonn. L’Art en Angleterre 1945-95. Nouvelles Editions Françaises, Paris 1996
Kenneth Martin Selected Bibliography continued

William Wright. Natural Drawings. The Drawings of Kenneth Martin, 1905-84. Sherman Galleries, Sydney, 17 September 1997
Margaret Garlake. New Art New World British Art in Postwar Society. Yale University Press, New Haven and London 1998
Andrew Mead. ‘Kenneth Martin: The Chance and Order Series, Screw Mobiles and Related Works 1953-1984’, Annely Juda Fine Art, architects journal, 4 February 1999
Margaret Garlake. ‘Kenneth Martin, Annely Juda Gallery’, Art Monthly, March 1999


Selected Writings by the Artist

Abstract Art, Broadsheet No. 1, Lund Humphries, London 1951
Architecture, Machine and Mobile. Arts and Architecture, London, February 1956
On Architecture and Mobile. Architectural Design, London, July 1956
Mobiles. Architectural Design, London, October 1958
Aim to take part in an expressive whole. Architectural Design, London, November 1961
Fountain in Stainless Steel by Kenneth Martin at Brixton Day College. Architectural Design, London, February 1962
Kinetics. View, London, Spring 1966
Kinetic as a Constructing Process. Studio International, London, February 1967
Movement and Expression. DATA, ed. by Anthony Hill, Faber & Faber, London 1968
Richard Paul-Lohse: An Appreciation. Studio International, London, February 1968
Construction and Change. Leonardo, Vol. 1, Oxford 1968
A Universal Kind of Art. Perception, Birmingham, March 1969
Scale and Change. Studio International, London, January 1970
City Sculpture Project. Studio International, London, Summer 1972
Chance and Order. One, London, October 1973
Construction from Within. The Tradition of Contructivism, ed. by Stephen Bann, The Viking Press, New York 1974
Naum Gabo. Art Monthly, November 1977
Chance and Order. The Sixth William Townsend Lecture, Waddington Galleries, London 1979
Chance, Order, Change, Lecture at the Ruskin School of Drawing, Leicester Polytechnic 1983
On Construction, the University of East Anglia Collection 1984

Source: http://www.annelyjudafineart.co.uk/artists/martin/kmbiography.htm