Photo credit: Robert McBurney
The painter, Kenneth (Ken) McBurney (1944 -2006) was born at Tyers Hall, near Barnsley, where his parents, father, also named Kenneth, and mother, Mary, lived at that time. It was a stone house, originally a farm house, divided into three and the family rented the middle property. His parents moved homes frequently, but eventually came to Bradford to live at North Park Road, near Lister Park. In addition to Ken, there were three other children in the family: Ken’s older brother, Bob, and sisters, Mary and Anne Louise. Bob McBurney later became a professional photographer, writer and artist .
Ken showed an early aptitude for art and after leaving secondary school studied art at Bradford School of Art. He later said that it took him ‘…years to forget the conformity he acquired there, but that he valued the basic technical training he received, which enabled him to know exactly how paint will react to a certain treatment’ (Smith, 1973).
‘Manningham’. Image: in a private collection.
He worked as a freelance artist, painting regional and urban scenes, and particularly around the Haworth area, which eventually became his home area and the focus of his most collected artwork. His subjects were often forgotten, overlooked, or even derelict, corners of the district and region. He was concerned about the preservation of the old buildings and man-built landscape features and sought to capture the enduring quality and uniqueness of these in his artwork.
He used a variety of art media, including oil, watercolour and pencil, applying paint with his fingers and rags; he felt that brushes got between him and the subject. He subsequently glazed his artwork to protect the thin paint layers. He was described by a journalist who met him as a ‘shy and self-effacing’ and ‘ .. a man who says people do not interest him so much as ancient buildings or beautiful architecture’ (Smith, 1973).
Ken’s early work was spotted by a Bradford art collector, Mrs Muriel Bell, who lent him a room in her house as a studio to paint and organised his first exhibition. As he became more established and moved into his own home, he often still sought her advice and opinion on his artwork.
‘Roadway and wall.’ Image: in a private collection.
The Bronte Society of America commissioned him in the early 1970s to paint a moorland scene for their collection , and the Stables Gallery, Trawden, regularly exhibited and sold his work.
Farmhouse, Haworth Moor. Image: in a private collection.
In addition to painting, he was also a talented musician. He played the classical guitar, composed and played jazz, and once recorded for the BBC.
He married in 1972, but moved to Germany after the marriage faltered. He moved back to Yorkshire to live in the Castleford area, and his death was recorded at Pontefract.
Source: Smith, K. (1973) ‘Ken McBurney: The Man Who Paints the Past’. Dalesman. Dec. 1973, pp.703-4.
(With thanks to Astrid Hansen for alerting me to this artist and for biographical information about him).