Ray Denton (1939-2022)

Ray Denton was born in Lambeth, London but brought up in West Yorkshire.

At the age of sixteen he won a place at Leeds College of Art, gaining an Intermediate Award in Arts and Crafts, graduating in 1960 with an N.N.D. in illustration. This was followed by a post graduate course in illustration.

At this time Harry Thrubron was head of the School of painting and had a profound influence on the college, bringing in established painters such as Patrick Heron, Sir Terry Frost and Victor Passmore. In 1962 Ray returned to London to work as company designer for Ilford Films with the responsibility for the design and implementation of the company image. This was followed by a stint in educational publishing. 1980 saw him doing freelance book designing and illustration, increasingly painting and by 1985 he was working entirely in fine art including a teaching post at East Ham College.

Throughout his life Ray and his wife Ann had enjoyed sojourns down to the beautiful Cornish coast. In 1996 the wrench of leaving for the return trip back to London became too much and they made the decision to settle there to be near to his source of inspiration. Having been a Member of the Hesketh Hubbard Art Society at the Mall Galleries until leaving London, in 1998 Ray was elected a Member of the Penzance Society of Artists. In 2002 he also became a Member of the Society of St Ives Artists and is also active in the Penzance Arts Club.

Ray Denton is a hugely gifted painter, an artist able to work in the best traditions of the ‘plein air’ artists when depicting the bustling Cornish harbours, yet he is just at home portraying the golden sands of the coast peppered with happy families. Ray has exhibited widely and consistently since 1991, participating in many shows, winning the Charles Pears prize at the Royal Society of Marine Artists, Mall Gallery, London in 1996 and the winner of The Best in Show Award in St Ives in 2004. Other exhibitions include the Royal Academy Summer Exhibition in 1993, The Burlington New Gallery, London, 1994 and The Art Workhouse, Kings Road, London in 2001/2.





View paintings by Ray Denton