Eric Kennington
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Eric Henri Kennington RA (12 March 1888 - 13 April 1960) was a British artist and sculptor, and an official war artist in both World Wars.
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[edit] Early life
He was born in Chelsea, London, the son of the painter Thomas Kennington. His father was a portrait painter and an active member of the New English Art Club.
He was educated at St Paul's School and the Lambeth School of Art.
[edit] Career
Kennington first exhibited at the Royal Academy in 1908.
At the start of World War I, Kennington enlisted with the 13th London Regiment. He fought on the Western Front, but was badly wounded and sent home in June 1915. During his convalescence, he produced "The Kensingtons at Laventie", a portrait of a group of infantrymen. When exhibited in the spring of 1916, its portrayal of exhausted soldiers caused a sensation. Kennington returned to the front in 1916 as an official war artist.
Kennington regarded himself chiefly as a sculptor, creating a number of memorials, including one to his friend T E Lawrence, He also produced the illustrations for Lawrence's The Seven Pillars of Wisdom. Kennington also created many pastel portraits and lithographs.
Kennington again became an official war artist during the [[World War II], personally commissioned to do work for the Ministry of Information by Edwin Embleton. Darracott and Loftus describe how in both wars "his drawings and letters show him to be an admirer of the heroism of ordinary men and women", an admiration which is particularly notable in the poster series "Seeing it Through".
Kennington is buried in Checkendon Cemetery, Oxfordshire, and is commemorated on a memorial in Brompton Cemetery, London.
[edit] Personal life
In 1922, he married Edith Cecil, with whom he had a son and a daughter.
