News / 17 Feb 2025
MA Fine Art graduate publishes book from work produced at Leeds Arts University
MA Fine Art
Recent MA Fine Art graduate, Richard Kitson, has released the book ‘From Life’ which is a collection of 46 paintings, including much of the work he produced during his time at Leeds Arts University between 2023-2024.
Richard is a figurative artist based in Barnsley who has exhibited in the UK and internationally. He was a participant in Sky Arts Portrait Artist of the Year in 2018. Kitson’s work has been featured in selected group exhibitions, including the Royal Society of Portrait Painters, Ruth Borchard Self-Portrait Prize, Figurative Art Now and the Cork Street Open. His work hangs in various public and private collections.
‘From Life’ includes a contribution from Barnsley Poet Ian McMillan who discusses his experience of sitting for his portrait with Richard, and an essay from Richard’s Fine Art tutor, Dr David Steans, which provides a wider context for the work.
"I saw the essence of me, the real me, me as other people saw me, me as I could now see myself. […] Richard Kitson is a true detective: he finds things out, about his sitter and about the world, and he presents them to the sitter and the world as statements of artistic fact, which is much more exciting than boring old fact. He searches for clues, he builds the clues up into a case, and he presents the case."
Ian McMillan, English poet, journalist, playwright, and broadcaster
"Kitson's art is at once sensitive and measured. The atmosphere of the paintings is almost pristine in its matter-of-factness."
Dr David Steans, MA Fine Art Senior Lecturer
"The book wouldn't exist without my time at Leeds Arts University where I gained a deeper understanding of the concepts and motivations behind my practice."
Richard Kitson, MA Fine Art graduate
Richard continues to paint in his Barnsley studio with a deeper understanding of what motivates him to do so. You can find out more and purchase the book from Richards Kitson's website.