author
William Kiddier
1859–1934
A Nottingham artist, writer, and brushmaker, he brought a craftsman’s eye to everything he did. His books and paintings both show a love of working life, local character, and the textures of ordinary experience.
1 Audiobook
The profanity of paint
by William Kiddier
About the author
Born in Loughborough in 1859 and associated for most of his life with Nottingham, William Kiddier was a British painter, etcher, and author. Reliable sources also identify him as a brushmaker by trade, and that practical background seems to have shaped the direct, observant voice found in his writing.
Kiddier was active in Nottingham’s art world as well as its working life. Accounts of his career note that he helped establish the Nottingham Atelier in 1897, a group created to support local artists. His published works include The Profanity of Paint and The Brushmaker and the Secrets of His Craft, showing how comfortably he moved between art, memoir, and the skilled trades.
He died in 1934, leaving behind a reputation that stretches across several fields at once: painter, poet, draughtsman, and author. That mix makes him especially interesting today, because his work offers not just pictures or stories, but a window into the artistic and industrial culture of his time.