HENI is proud to release Keith Cunningham: The Lost Master, featuring a selection of paintings from Cunningham’s Sky Studies series created between 1984 and 2002. Each piece, executed in either watercolour or pastel, is unique, signed and dated. Vibrant and dramatic, these compositions reveal a major body of work by one of the most compelling and mysterious artists in post-war Britain. The paintings are available by application until 17:00 BST on 26 June 2025.
The release features framed watercolour and pastel paintings across several sizes and the prices range from $500 to $1,750 (plus applicable taxes). The Sky Studies offer a compelling entry point for collectors, providing access to a more playful and vibrant side of Cunningham’s practice. The works are on view at the HENI Gallery for the duration of the release as part of the exhibition, Keith Cunningham: The Lost Master.
An exclusive selection of Keith Cunningham’s oils on canvas will be sold by appointment only.
About Sky Studies
Over several decades, Keith Cunningham created vibrant studies of the sky which engage with colour in a surprisingly contemporary visual language. Produced almost daily, like an intimate visual diary, these pieces record the constant change of clouds and light. A previously unseen group of Sky Studies, subdivided into Watercolours and Pastels, are on display and available to purchase until 26 June 2025. To view all artworks available, download our index here or click the links "View Watercolours" and "View Pastels" below.
Watercolours
With loose, transparent washes and a lightness of touch, Cunningham’s watercolours capture fleeting shifts in weather, colour and light. Their vivid colour palette may have reflected the influence of his travels in Spain, echoing the unearthly tones of painters like Goya, Zurbarán and El Greco, whose work Cunningham admired.
Framed Watercolour paintings
Pastels
By contrast, Cunningham’s pastels are more minimalist and structured, leaning into abstraction and reflecting his background in graphic design. Stark contrasts, flattened planes and geometric shapes give these works a distinct visual rhythm, with their stylised compositions and explosive colour palette suggesting a controlled energy, balancing spontaneity with intention.
Front and verso of a framed Pastel painting
About Keith Cunningham
Keith Cunningham (1929-2014) was a painter of astonishing skill, widely admired by peers and mentors alike. Trained at the Royal College of Art in the 1950s alongside Leon Kossoff and Joe Tilson and a revered contemporary of Francis Bacon and Frank Bowling - a group that would go on to define post-war British art - Cunningham was tipped for greatness early on.
But unlike his contemporaries, Cunningham walked away from the spotlight. By the late 1960s, he had turned his back on the public art world entirely. Yet, he kept painting in the solitude of his studio, creating some of the most powerful and uncompromising works of post-war British art.
When Cunningham passed in 2014 at the age of 85, he left behind an extraordinary body of work spanning large-scale oils, delicate pen-and-ink drawings, and lyrical sky studies in pastel and watercolour.
HENI Talks has released a new film exploring the artist’s life and legacy. Featuring thought-provoking insights on the significance of Cunningham's work from contemporary art giants - including Damien Hirst, Peter Doig, Sir Frank Bowling, Ralph Taylor and Hans Ulrich Obrist.
About the Oil Paintings
Striking for their psychological depth and material intensity, often heavy in palette and rough in texture, these works evoke the haunting atmosphere of the Old Masters Cunningham admired.
The selection of oils includes 25 paintings in various sizes and features works produced between 1952 and 1960. The works come framed and have been signed by Keith Cunningham on the verso.
Available to access by all, but sold by appointment with the curator, a hidden room within the exhibition offers collectors and curious visitors a rare opportunity to experience some of the artist’s most intimate and rarely seen works, presented in an atmosphere that closely mirrors the privacy in which they were created.
Available to access by all, but sold by appointment with the curator, a hidden room within the exhibition offers collectors and curious visitors a rare opportunity to experience some of the artist’s most intimate and rarely seen works, presented in an atmosphere that closely mirrors the privacy in which they were created.
Keith Cunningham, Pack of Dogs, Spain, 1955, Oil on Canvas, 1060 x 1728 mm (unframed), signed
Exclusive Books and Posters
You can now buy exclusive posters for Keith Cunningham: The Lost Master as well as the books Keith Cunningham: Dancers and Keith Cunningham: Paintings from HENI Publishing on the HENI shop.
The posters and books will also be available for purchase at the HENI Gallery.
Visit HENI Gallery
A selection of the Sky Studies and Oil Paintings are on display at the HENI Gallery from 13 June until 26 June. Admission to the gallery is free. Click here to learn more about the exhibition.
Heni Gallery
6-10 Lexington St, London W1F 0LB, United Kingdom
Open Monday - Sunday, from 10am to 6pm.
