Ken Hunt

I work from a couple of studios on the sunny Kapiti Coast of the North Island of New Zealand. I share my studio space with my daughter, and we have exhibited together for nearly 20 years.

I have painted in oils, since the 1960s, and still have a loyal following of collectors who purchased my works back in the early years, but it wasn't until 1989, and after I had a catastrophic motor bike accident, that nearly cost my life, that I closed down my business to concentrate solely on painting. As a consequence of my near death experience I was renamed Lazarus by my surgeons, which is often the moniker on my paintings.

Like many New Zealanders I have also done some film and TV work, the most significant being four portrait paintings that featured in the first, and last installments of the Lord of the Rings, and the Hobbit trilogies

Up until 2004 I painted solely on commission, and very rarely exhibited in art galleries. In 2006 I had my first one man exhibition, opened by my patron Sir Richard Taylor, of the famous Weta studios. Since then I have participated in many joint and solo exhibitions.

During, and since the covid era I've found that most of the galleries I exhibited in have closed their doors, so I'm back to commissions, an...

I have been trained in the Classical Realism style of painting as apprentice for several years to two classically trained artists, one from the UK, the other out of Florence