Benjamin Hope

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Benjamin Hope (born 1976) [1] is a British artist, based in London.

Contents

Life

He grew up in Oxford, the son of the painter Jane Hope and an academic historian (two of his grandparents were also artists). [2]

After studying Mathematics and Physics at the University of Warwick and taking Part III of the Mathematical Tripos at Cambridge University, he was awarded a PhD in theoretical nanoscience at Cambridge. [3] He has been a competitive runner and earned four Cambridge Blues for cross-country. [3] [4]

Hope was invited to join the Oxford Art Society in 1999, and in 2001 his still-life Old Violin won the Oxford Times Critics' Choice at the society's Members' Exhibition. In 2002, for its 400th anniversary, the Bodleian Library commissioned a commemorative still-life. [5]

On leaving academia in 2007, he worked as a risk analyst in the City of London in order to earn enough to start painting professionally. [2] [6] In 2011, he left the City to paint full-time from his studio in Blackheath, South East London.

Work

Working mainly in oil, but also in charcoal, pastel, and pencil, [1] his works include plein air street scenes, detailed still lifes, and impressionistic portraits. [6] The street scenes are mainly of locations in central and south London, [7] while he has also painted landscapes beyond the capital. [1] John Walsh in The Independent called him "a brilliantly accomplished impressionistic painter of street scenes." [2]

His work has been selected for a number of exhibitions, [8] including the Royal Academy Summer Exhibition in 2013. [9] His first solo show, Observations was staged by the JP Art Gallery in London in 2015. [10] A joint exhibition with sculptor Ben Hooper was held at the Gallery Different in Fitzrovia in June 2017. [7]

In 2018 he was elected to The Pastel Society [11] and the New English Art Club. [12]

Awards and recognition

Hope has won a number of prizes and awards: [8]

His work has been selected for exhibition in [1] [8] [9] [10]

Notes

  1. 1 2 3 4 Island Fine Arts 2017.
  2. 1 2 3 Walsh 2015.
  3. 1 2 Caves 2016.
  4. ↑ Nichols 2012.
  5. ↑ Sysmoko 2017.
  6. 1 2 Oxford Art Society 2017.
  7. 1 2 Wall Street International 2017.
  8. 1 2 3 Mall Galleries 2017.
  9. 1 2 John Jones London 2013.
  10. 1 2 ArtRabbit 2015.
  11. ↑ Pastel Society 2018.
  12. ↑ NEAC 2018.

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References

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