Biography
Richard Kidd (b. Newcastle upon Tyne 1952 - d. 2008) studied art at Newcastle University (1970-74) under Mike Brick. He won the John Moores prize in 1974 and he won the Abbey Major Scholarship to the British School in Rome (1975-76) and was then taken on by the Rowan Gallery (later Mayor Rowan Gallery) in London, with whom he exhibited regularly from 1977 to 1993 and from where the Contemporary Art Society acquired his work and presented them to The Hunterian, Glasgow and the Ulster Museum, Beflast. He moved to San Francisco, California, USA, on a Harkness Fellowship, 1980; then lived in New York from 1981; returning to England, 1987. He also exhibited at the Serpentine Gallery in London, for the Museum of Modern Art in Rio de Janeiro, San Francisco and Zurich.
Kidd was also a teacher at Trent Polytechnic and Reading University (1975–6) and back at Newcastle University (1977–80), and later again from 2001. Having built a studio in the centre of the city in 2002, close to where his paintings hang in Central Square, he decided in 2005 to move to the Tyne valley and converted an old farm building in the grounds of the Fi Fie Fo Fum Gallery. With wonderful views overlooking the valley towards Stocksfield, Kidd produced huge canvases of his bold abstract work, entertaining collectors and sharing his space with young artists. He was later joined by his friend Tom Moore, who built a studio next to his. His works are to be found in numerous collections, including those of the British Council; Clare College, Cambridge; Northumbria University, Newcastle upon Tyne; Warwick University, and the Museum of Contemporary Art Sydney.
