A major exhibition dedicated to celebrated painter and muralist Ken White (1943-2025).
For more than 50 years, Ken White's work was seen by millions, often without them ever knowing his name. From Virgin Atlantic aircraft and public murals to album artwork and recording studios, his paintings became part of everyday life while he remained quietly behind the scenes.
Born and raised in Swindon, White began his career as an apprentice signwriter in the Great Western Railway Works. The craftsmanship he learned there shaped a lifetime of painting, from large-scale murals and iconic commercial commissions to deeply personal studio works celebrating the people, industries and streets of his hometown.
This exhibition brings together both sides of his remarkable career for the first time. Alongside the murals and public artworks that made him widely recognised are the paintings that reveal his enduring love of Swindon and its history.
The Last Guild Painter celebrates an artist whose legacy was hidden in plain sight, giving long-overdue recognition to the man behind some of Britain's most familiar images.
The full list of exhibited works will be added to our website soon.
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Upcoming event: Curator talk
Sliding Doors: The Hidden Life of Ken White
Date: Saturday 8 August, 11am
Location: Civic Chambers, Museum & Art Swindon
Grant Ford, founder of Winsor Birch and The Little Gallery, will be giving a talk at Museum & Art Swindon, bringing together the two halves of White's career together for the first time. Discover how a Swindon-born apprentice became one of the last practitioners of a nearly vanished craft, and what it means for an artist's most public work to also be his most anonymous.
Tickets: £9 Each
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