Kenneth Hall (artist)

Kenneth Hall
Born
Charles Kenneth Hall

(1913-04-15)15 April 1913
Lewisham, London, UKGBI
Died26 July 1946(1946-07-26) (aged 33)
Marylebone, London, UK
Cause of deathSuicide
Occupations
Known forCo-founder of The White Stag Group
StyleExpressionism
MovementThe White Stag Group

Charles Kenneth Hall (1913–1946), known as Kenneth Hall, was a British artist, painter, drafter and designer known for co-founding the Irish The White Stag art group with Basil Rákóczi.[1][2][3][4]

Early life and education

Charles Kenneth Hall was born in Lewisham, London[a] on 15 April 1913 to Arthur Henry Hall CB CBE (1876–1949) and Maud Henrietta Hall (née Webster; 1890–1953).[5][6][7][8][9] Hall's father was an assistant mechanical engineer at the Royal Arsenal and later became the Chief Superintendent at Royal Aircraft Establishment.[6][10] Hall's mother was Irish and was born in Cork.[6][9][7][11]

From 1927–1931, Hall attended Lancing College.[3][6] In 1931, Hall moved to London and studied furniture design at an interior design firm.[6][11] Whilst studying Hall began drawing and painting in his spare time.[6]

Career

Main article: The White Stag Group

In 1934, Hall showed his portfolio to the collector, patron and gallerist Lucy Wertheim.[12][13] Wertheim exhibited Hall's work at the Wertheim Gallery a few months later, marking his exhibiting debut.[13]

In July 1935, Hall meet Rákóczi at a meeting for the Society for Creative Psychology.[14] The same year Hall and Rákóczi founded The White Stag Group with the aim of promoting the advancement of subjectivity in psychological analysis and art.[14]

From 1935 to 1938 Hall and Rakozci travelled Europe and acquainted themselves with the various movements of the time including Surrealism.[12] At the outbreak of World War II the pair moved to Ireland to try to avoid the conflict that was consuming Europe. They stopped first in Galway where they did much good work before heading to Dublin, where The White Stag group began to really take off. Hall organised the group's first exhibition held in April 1940, and it was received well, with praise from the Irish Times.[15]

In 1945 he returned to London and had an exhibition at Redfern Gallery, before moving to Wertheim's flat in Marylebone, London whilst she was in Manchester.

Style

Hall received some art lessons from Juan Stoll, an architect, designer and fellow member of The White Stag Group, but was largely self-taught.[11] Hall painted in an Expressionist style and was influenced by the works of Christopher Wood, Alfred Wallis, Paul Klee and Patrick Scott.[3][16]

Personal life

Despite the success of the exhibition and the growing depth and influence of the group in Dublin, as well as support from Wertheim in London, Hall was always racked by personal demons, and people found him hard to connect with. His personal relationship with Rakoczi it has been suggested was also part of the problem. According to Irish art critic Bruce Arnold, "No one understood anything about Kenneth Hall… He was depressive, he was gay, he had this love affair with Basil, who was bisexual and very active emotionally and sexually. Kenneth Hall couldn’t take that.”[17]

On 26 July 1946 Hall died by suicide in Wertheim's Marylebone flat, aged 33.[16][18]

Legacy

Several of Hall's oil paintings are in UK public collections, including the National Museums Northern Ireland.[19]

Notes

  1. ^ Commonly misattributed as Farnham, Surrey.[3][4]

References

  1. ^ Hourican, Bridget (2009). "Rákóczi, Basil". Dictionary of Irish Biography. Dublin: Royal Irish Academy. Retrieved 31 December 2025.
  2. ^ "The White Stag Group". Dublin: Irish Museum of Modern Art. 2005. Archived from the original on 20 November 2007. Retrieved 31 December 2025.
  3. ^ a b c d Kennedy, S.B. (2005). "Biographical Notes of Principal White Stag Artists and Those Associated With Them". The White Stag Group. Dublin: Irish Museum of Modern Art. pp. 149–154. ISBN 1903811503. Retrieved 1 January 2026.
  4. ^ a b "Kenneth Hall 1913–1946". London: Art UK. Retrieved 1 January 2026.
  5. ^ "Charles K Hall [Birth Index]". England and Wales Civil Registration Indexes. 1d (Q2). London: General Register Office: 2075. 1913.
  6. ^ a b c d e f Snoddy, Theo (2002). "HALL, KENNETH (1913–46)". Dictionary of Irish Artists: 20th Century (2 ed.). Dublin: Merlin Publishing. pp. 216–217. ISBN 978-1903582176. Retrieved 2 January 2026.
  7. ^ a b "Maud Henrietta Webster". Quarterly Returns of Births in Ireland with Index to Births. 5 (Q4). Dublin: General Register Office: 81. 1890.
  8. ^ "Maud Henrietta Hall". Calendar of the Grants of Probate and Letters of Administration made in the Probate Registries of the High Court of Justice in England. London: Principal Probate Registry: 52. 1953.
  9. ^ a b "Maud Henrietta Hall". Census Returns of England and Wales, 1911; London; Lewisham; Lee; 02. Kew, Richmond: The National Archives. 1911.
  10. ^ Perring, W.G.A. (8 October 1949). "Mr. A. H. Hall, C.B., C.B.E". Nature. 164: 603–604. doi:10.1038/164603a0. Retrieved 2 January 2026.
  11. ^ a b c Marshall, Catherine; Murray, Peter, eds. (2014). "HALL, KENNETH (1913–46)". Art and Architecture of Ireland Volume V: Twentieth Century (1 ed.). Dublin: Royal Irish Academy. pp. 193–194. ISBN 9780300179231. Retrieved 2 January 2026.
  12. ^ a b Buckman, David (1998). "Kenneth HALL 1913–1946". Dictionary of Artists in Britain since 1945. Bristol: Art Dictionaries. ISBN 0953260909.
  13. ^ a b Wertheim, Lucy (1947). Adventure in Art. London: Nicholson and Watson. p. 53. Kenneth Hall tentatively submitted a portfolio of work to me in 1934—he has exhibited in no gallery up till then—and I was so thrilled with his paintings and especially his watercolours that I promised him an exhibition...When his exhibition took place a few months later I was able to place examples of his work in the hands of a couple of well known collectors
  14. ^ a b Kennedy, S.B. (2005). "Background". THE WHITE STAG GROUP. pp. 1–5. Archived from the original on 29 June 2011. Retrieved 1 January 2026.
  15. ^ http://www.modernart.ie/en/downloads/whitestagbk.doc Archived 2011-06-29 at the Wayback Machine
  16. ^ a b Kennedy, S.B. (2005). "Conclusion". THE WHITE STAG GROUP. pp. 27–30. Archived from the original on 29 June 2011. Retrieved 2 January 2026.
  17. ^ As quoted in Ryan, Vera [2006]. Movers & Shapers 2: Irish Visual Art 1940-2006, The Collins Press, Cork
  18. ^ "Charles K Hall [Death Index]". England and Wales Civil Registration Indexes. 5d (Q2). London: General Register Office: 242. 1946. Registration District: Marylebone
  19. ^ Kenneth Hall paintings (slide show), BBC Your Paintings.
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