John Keane

John Keane was the official British war artist during the first gulf war and has work displayed in numerous public collections including the National Portrait Gallery and the Contemporary Art Society.

John Keane was born in Hertfordshire in 1954 and attended Camberwell School of Art. His vivid, shocking, and often darkly comic paintings have focused on many of the most pressing political questions of our age. He came to national prominence in 1991 when he was appointed as official British war artist during the Gulf War. His work has always been deeply concerned with conflict – military, political and social – in Britain and around the world. His subjects have ranged from Northern Ireland to Nicaragua, and from the British coal industry to the mass media. His topics are more commonly associated with journalism than fine art. Yet through his paintings Keane confronts issues and explores their subtleties in a unique and penetrating way.