Biography
K B Hancock - Painter, raconteur, 'bon-viveur'
Member of La Société Nationale des Beaux Arts (Paris Salon)
'Judge the work, not the man'.
K B Hancock - the painter - self-critical and reclusive, is consumed by his passion for achieving pure impressionism and light in his oil paintings of France, and considers that every day when he does not paint is a day of his life that is lost forever.
K B Hancock - the man - is charismatic, generous and fascinating. He can normally be found at the end of his working day, seated by his easel, wearing brightly coloured spectacles, one of his many pipes in one hand and glass of champagne in the other, recounting interesting and amusing tales of his varied life and the people he has known to the select few friends who are allowed into his studio.
Formative years
Suggesting he is only 64, preferring to think of himself as 40, K B Hancock was the youngest son of a successful portrait and landscape painter. Recognising his talent, his father sent the young boy to Paris to study with a master in his atelier to learn the fundamentals of drawing and painting. It was here that his love for France and its way of life was born.
On his return to England, a few magical years were spent in St Ives in the golden years of great artists of that school. Still a young man, KBH was privileged to live and work alongside painters and sculptors such as Ben Nicholson, Barbara Hepworth, Sven Berlin, Patrick Heron and Terry Frost, gleaning information and inspiration from already established artists.
French landscapes
Trying to shun publicity, and major exhibitions, KBH has spent his life developing his personal style of impressionism to capture the beauty of the countryside of France, the country which he calls his home, and which was the birthplace of his inspiration to paint his unique canvases in oil with luminosity and an almost three dimensional quality which would be the envy of the Impressionists.
The Great War 1914-1918
KBH cannot 'rest on his laurels' and his work evolves continuously. In 1993 he visited the WW1 trenches of Northern France and was compelled to produce a series of thirty paintings. Not wanting to depict battle scenes, he illustrated personal and private moments in the trenches; a soldier washing in dirty water in a shell hole; stretcher-bearers; brewing tea and smoking cigarettes between battles; and playing football in the famous Christmas truce of 1914. Prince Charles opened a retrospective exhibition in 1995. A WW1 veteran who 'went over the top' on the first day of the battle of the Somme on his sixteenth birthday said that the paintings were perfect in every way except one - KBH had not managed to capture the smell! A book of the paintings is in the planning stage.
Russian Convoy paintings
Passionate about the sea, KBH has spent many hours on deck watching the intricacies of how the sea moves. When he is not painting his beloved France, he produces powerful and moving marine paintings for his own pleasure. He is currently working on a second series of paintings of the Russian and North Atlantic convoys of WW2 for a private exhibition.
Having expressed his feelings on the stupidity of mankind and having shown his ability to paint in many different styles, he always returns to his beautiful paintings of France.
Provence and the Cote d'Azur
Although he often finishes many of his paintings in his studio in England, KBH has spent much of the last ten years working in Provence and on the Cote d'Azur. Like Cézanne, Mont St Victoire rising out of the red earth of the area inspires him. His skill allows him to capture the mountain as pale mauve in the early morning, white in the heat of a sunny day and pink as the sun sets. The red and orange ochres, purple lavender, green pine trees, yellow mimosa, red poppies, dark stemmed vines and bright sunshine all inspire a warm Provencal palette that is rich in colour. All of his paintings are different but all reflect the intense light of the region and the beauty of the villages and landscapes of the South of France.
Barcelona
He is also fascinated by the work of the architect, Antoni Gaudi, and has just completed his masterpiece to date in a series of paintings of Barcelona as homage to the extraordinary roof lines, chimneys and Sagrada Familia cathedral designed by Gaudi. 'When he designed these buildings, people said he was either mad or a genius. It took me seven weeks to paint the picture and was nearly scrapped three times. Love it or hate it, its myriad of hues and shapes pay homage to Gaudi.'
Paris Salon (La Société Nationale des Beaux Arts)
K B Hancock has been given the rare privilege for the last eight years to be invited to show at the prestigious Paris Salon at the Carousel du Louvre. In spite of the fact that in the past he has often refused membership of prestigious art associations, in February 2006 KBH was honoured by La Société Nationale des Beaux Arts (National Society of Fine Arts in Paris) by being appointed an Associate. The Vice President of the SNBA said that KBH's impressionist style was the work of a great master, and his more abstract, experimental style the work of an exciting young painter. In 2008 he was made the only existing British full member - seemingly the first since Henry Moore in the 1950s.
Art en Capital, Grand Palais, Paris
He was honoured again by the SNBA in 2007 to be invited as the only English painter among 2,000 exhibitors to show at the prestigious 'Art en Capital' exhibition at the Grand Palais in 2007. His painting of the chateau at Chantilly will be at the Grand Palais from 21 November to 30 November 2008
Charitable work
Over the years K B Hancock has raised considerable sums of money for Across (he made a substantial contribution towards the cost of a new purpose-built home for holidays of a lifetime for handicapped and chronically sick people); CLIC; Red Cross; towards the restoration of St Mary's Church in Tetbury for which HRH the Prince Charles was patron. He is currently working on a project close to his heart to raise money for the restoration of the church of St Thibault en Auxois in Burgundy. (See separate page.)
General
Until recently, KBH rarely exhibited and in spite of the fact that he normally shuns television and radio interviews, he has been featured on BBC Midlands TV, Central TV, BBC Radio Birmingham, Bristol and Gloucester and was the subject of a biographical programme broadcast four times on Sky Performance channel in 2006.
He consistently refuses to produce a formal curriculum vitae preferring that people 'Judge the work - not the man' but his paintings are purchased by international private collectors, some of whom have as many as thirty canvases, each reflecting the different light and colours of times of day and season in his beloved France.
Visitors to his studio in England, seeing the different styles, often ask how many painters exhibit there - only one - but one with the skill and inspiration to portray what he sees and feels - his eloquence seen in a myriad of brush strokes and hues that speak directly to the soul of the onlooker and show us why painting has a relevance in our life. He is driven by his passion for light and colour and, according to his wife, Elisabeth, painting is his mistress!
He says that you if you want to know any more, you will have to meet him or 'read the book' that his wife is trying to write!