Steven was born in Kent in 1953, and before leaving school had already decided that he would be an artist. Graduating from art college aged 20, his Thames paintings were already showing in Frances Isles Gallery Rochester and two commissioned wall-sized drawings of street scenes for Rochester Museum were on permanent display.
In his 20’s a series of one-man shows in central London established Steven’s reputation as a mood painter in landscape, with an Art Review critic describing him as “a mood painter par excellence” at his first solo exhibition. Painting in oil and pastel, he has continued as a full-time working artist to the present, never considering any other occupation.
Steven was elected to the RBA in 2003, and paints in his secluded studio in the Wye Valley Gloucestershire.
I would describe myself as very introspective. My aim is to use what I see to create paintings which go beyond mere appearances and become expressions of my ideas and mood. My imagery is all around, outside my studio. Seeking the universal and elemental aspects of the familiar is the essence of what I try to do.
Solo Exhibitions
1986 King Street Gallery, St. James’s, London SW1
1985, 1983, 1981, 1979, Seen Gallery London W1
1975 Court Lodge Gallery Kent
Retrospective
1992 Gloucester Museum & Art Gallery, Retrospective: ‘Themes and Perceptions’ works mainly loaned from private collections
International Exhibitions include
Affordable Art Fairs include New York, Hong Kong, Singapore
ARTEXPO New York
Seen Gallery Seattle
The Private Collector Gallery Dublin & County Cork
Mall Galleries London Exhibitions
2022 Winners, Award Winning Artists Exhibition
2025 Beyond the Prize, Award Winning Artists Exhibition
2010 Discerning Eye Exhibition, Invited Artist
2004, Not The Turner Prize finalist
2003, Royal Society of British Artists, annually to present
1976 onwards: New English Art Club, Royal Institute of Oil Painters, Pastel Society, inclusion
London exhibitions include
The Art Connoisseur Gallery
Berkley Square Gallery Knightsbridge
The Linda Blackstone Gallery
Llewellyn Alexander Fine Paintings Waterloo
Lloyds Register, Fenchurch Street
Mackley Gallery Royal Opera Arcade
Malcolm Innes Gallery Knightsbridge
Russell Gallery Putney
Affordable Arts Fairs Battersea, Hampstead, & Bristol
Art London Chelsea
LAPADA Fine Art & Antiques Fair
Kensington Arts Fair
London Watercolours & Drawings Fair
UK exhibitions include
Bank St. Gallery Sevenoaks
Century Fine Art Datchet
Christie’s Contemporary Arts Bath & Cambridge
Fairfax Gallery Tunbridge Wells
Island Fine Art Bembridge
Kelvingrove Art Gallery & Museum Glasgow
Mandells Gallery Norwich
Red Rag Gallery, Bath & Stow on the Wold
Reynolds Fine Art Essex
Royal Liver Building Liverpool
Birmingham National Exhibition Centre
Edinburgh Art Fair
2023 Michael Harding Award, RBA exhibition
2021 Michael Harding Award, RBA exhibition
2017 Frinton Frames Award, RBA exhibition
2007 The Arts Club Award, Pastel Society exhibition
2005 The Artist Magazine Award, RBA exhibition
2005 Sir William Ramsay School Award, RBA exhibition
2004 Not the Turner Prize, a prize-winning finalist