The artist and teacher, Peter Kenneth Cowley Jackson (1930 -2006) was better known as Ken or ‘PKC ‘to his students and others who knew him well. He was an artist whose artwork included a wide range of subjects, including landscapes, racecourse scenes, railways, and portraits.
Peter was born on the 8th September 1930 in Windhill, Shipley, the son of an engineer. His talent for art was spotted at school and he was encouraged to study at Shipley Art College, where he gained a scholarship to study at the Leeds College of Art to as more advanced level. This led to the award of a scholarship to study at the Royal College of Art (RCA) in London.
After graduating from the RCA he moved back to Yorkshire to work as a freelance artist and art teacher at Haworth Secondary School. In 1960 Peter married Rosemary, a local nurse, and the couple moved to Stanbury, near Haworth and raised three daughters. He continued to teach and paint in his free time, but in the late 1960s he quit teaching to become a freelance painter working from a small studio in the centre of Haworth. His subjects included local landscapes and commissioned portraits – which increasingly became a key source of his income.
Snow scene, Stanbury. Image: in a private collection.
Beamsley Wharfedale. Image: in a private collection.
He worked with charcoal, pencil, oils and pastel and during the filming of ‘The Railway Children’ (1970) in the Haworth area during the late 1960s became a familiar figure with his sketchbook, where he captured images of the actors and crew of the film. He later painted a scene in Main Street, Haworth, (see below) depicting the actors, film crew and local residents; see below. The original painting is now in a private collection and over 800 prints of it were made and sold.
‘The Railways Children‘ painting brought Peter’s name to greater public attention and particularly for his finely detailed figurative and portrait artwork: see example below, ‘Portrait of a Gentleman Sitting in an Armchair’, 1970, now in a private collection.
In 1979 he was commissioned to paint a portrait of the former Prime Minister, Harold Wilson, during Wilson’s tenure as Chancellor of the University of Bradford (1966-1985), see below.
Image: University of Bradford Art Collection
Over twelve other academic and professional association commissions followed. These included a portrait in 1980 of the musician, composer and musicologist Professor Eric Fenby, OBE for the University of Bradford; a portrait of Donald G. Hopewell, long-time President of the Bronte Society, 1982; and one of Professor John Pemberton (‘Pasco’) Clark for the University of Leeds, 1985.
Professor Eric Fenby. Image: University of Bradford Permanent Art Collection
Donald G. Hopewell. Image: Bronte Parsonage Museum
Professor John Pemberton (‘Pasco’) Clark . Image: The Stanley &; Audrey Burton Gallery, University of Leeds.
Peter Jackson was well-regarded as an approachable and talented teacher at the art classes he organised for adults in the Keighley district. After his death, a student who had attended Peter’s classes for 30 years told the ‘Keighley News’ (18/01/2007):
He had a great knowledge and he knew how to paint. He was one of the best in the country and we were lucky to have him. He did some wonderful paintings.
Peter Jackson’s paintings are to be found in many private collections, as well as with the Bronte Society, and within the collections of the Universities of Bradford, Leeds, Sheffield, Liverpool (Hope), and the University of Roehampton, London (at both the Froebel and Whitelands colleges).