Best of British | Ric W. Horner

Ric’s hometown Margate has recently grown to be quite an artistic hub for Kent. Ever since the opening of the Turner Contemporary back in 2011, The Old Town has grown increasingly trendy and attracted a rise of down-from-Londoners moving to the area. Located adjacent to the harbour, this is an excellent place to start your adventure as it is often buzzing with daily activities of locals and tourists alike. There’s a variety of art galleries like the famous Turner Contemporary, one of the UK’s best contemporary art galleries who is celebrating Margate’s connection with the painter J. M. W. Turner.

The award-winning Margate Main Sands is also a must-visit if you want to experience the famed English seaside. For centuries, it’s drawn in visitors with its golden sandy bay and shallow tidal pool. As one of England’s first grand seaside resorts, Margate continues to live up to its reputation as the go-to for summer holidays, with its charming old town coastal architecture, blend of colourful history, rich cultural traditions, and breath-taking coves and coasts. Furthermore, walking the Thanet Coastal Path is an equally unique experience following the longest continuous stretch of coastal chalk coastline in the country, while enjoying the extensive beaches and wealth of marine wildlife in the North East of Kent.

The Turner Contemporary is well known for showing contemporary and historical art in a striking building and normally presents a rolling programme of temporary exhibitions, events and learning opportunities. With stunning views over Margate Sands, the gallery has exhibited the work of countless international artists, including Turner Prize nominees and winners Antony Gormley, Jeremy Deller, Tracey Emin, Yinka Shonibare, Paula Rego and Grayson Perry.

Ric has painted many places in and around Margate and the Isle of Thanet over the years. They feature some of the nature parks and beaches, like the utterly spectacular Ramsgate Harbour, the marvellous chalk stacks around Botany Bay in Broadstairs, and the chalk cliffs in Birchington.

J.M.W. Turner (1775–1851) described the famous sunsets along the North Kent coast as some of the best sunsets in the world and just like he did, Ric now continues this line and explores the unique light and atmospheres found in this area.

Ric is currently looking to sell his greeting cards and prints in the wider Kentish area. If you are a retailer and interested in stocking any of these, get in touch via enquiries@richorner.com, or tel. 07835294317 for an order form and a Card Catalogue

Below are some samples of framed prints that are available and could also work well in regional gift shops.

Related Images:

After graduating from Exeter College of Art in 1989, Ric Horner spent the first two years of his career living and working on Dartmoor in Devon, developing a unique and profound engagement with light, mood and distance. Consequently he produced two solo shows; one at Marloes gallery in London in 1989 and one at Exeter College in 1990.

Twenty-six years later, in 2016, Ric had the opportunity to put together yet another stunning exhibition on the subject, this time at Green Hill Arts in Moretonhampstead on Dartmoor National Park. Thanks to his longstanding friend, supporter and art collector, historian and internationally acclaimed author Dr Ian Mortimer, Ric was able to showcase a selection of over 40 original oil on canvas paintings in the town’s dedicated art space.

Dr Ian Mortimer said about this exhibition in his introduction:

“Ric Horner is one of the country’s leading landscape painters. I have no doubt that, in due course, he will be recognised as one of the most significant landscape artists of our time. Ric’s dedication is astounding; his integrity no less so. For me it has been a privilege and an honour to be so closely involved with this exhibition, and to have been able to buy a number of his paintings over the years. “

The “Dartmoor: Theatre of Light” exhibition (10th September to 29th October 2016) at Green Hill Arts in Moretonhampstead was very well received and sold well for the gallery.

This year, in spring 2024, Ric has returned to the subject and has produced 26 different greeting card designs taken from this solo exhibition, as well as from other Devonshire and Cornish coastal areas.

[Show thumbnails]

You will find all relevant images at the link Cards or you can order one of Ric’s catalogues. He is currently selling some of these cards via MAKE Southeast in Bovey Tracey and the Moretonhampstead Visitors’ Information Centre.

With over 150,000 visitors a year traveling to Dartmoor National Park, there can be no question that Dartmoor and it’s landscape has attracted artists, as well as tourists for centuries and helped fire their imagination. From the thick mists that suddenly appear and roll across the moor to the dark, bottomless mires and the craggy granite tors, each lends an air of mystery and magic, all ripe for associated legends and tales.

http://visitmoretonhampstead.co.uk.

www.ianmortimer.com

Dr Mortimer says about Ric’s work:

In this exhibition, you will find yourself on a road at night having just seen the first welcoming streetlight of the village: you will soon be home and warm. The sun has gone down behind Laughter Tor leaving a few drifting clouds and vapour trails in the deep blue sky: the seemingly eternal rocky outcrop is juxtaposed with the ephemeral vestiges of the day. But the most striking feature of these Dartmoor paintings is the light. Often the painting is not actually about the hill, rock or any other object in the distance; it is about the space between you and that object. It is a portrait of the light, a place where skies brood, threaten, delight, obscure with mist, groan with rain or brighten with a ray of optimism.”

“A stunning exhibition of the highest calibre!”

“Poetic, beautiful, bold and absolutely marvellous!”

“They are sublime. So magical and true to the atmosphere”

“Ric Horner’s work is superb – truly spectacular!”

“Breathtaking views and big skies! Fabulous.”

“Wow! “I absolutely love your work; such stunning paintings. The most amazing sky and little houses shining like jewels. What an uplifting exhibition!”

“We recently saw your Theatre of Light exhibition in Moretonhampstead and were both really moved by it. I just wanted to let you know how delighted I am to have been able to purchase one of your pictures. I bought your picture of Scorhill (image below). It’s always been a favourite place of mine on the Moor and your picture captures it so vividly.“

Ric in his studio in summer 2016 preparing for the show.

Below: Friends Ian Mortimer and Ric Horner on field trip to ‘The Strangles’ in September 2014, where the idea of the ‘Theatre of Light ‘ exhibition was first perceived.

Ric is available for commissions. Please contact him at: enquiries@richorner.com, if you fancy your own favourite views painted.

He has just (April 2024) completed a large scale panorama picturing the view as you walk across the pebble bed heaths around Joney’s Cross near Sidmouth, a high point that is looking towards the coast in East Devon.