Richard Fitton Art

Richard Fitton is an Oldham-based figurative painter who graduated with honors from Loughborough University with a BA (Hons) Fine Arts Degree: First Class. While still a student, he became the youngest member of the Manchester Academy of Fine Arts (MAFA) and is widely regarded as one of the country’s most promising painters.

Richard tries to push the limits of what is possible, and his challenge is to go out of his comfort zone. Richard is always looking for, sensing, and developing new methods to communicate his ideas. The importance of the paint, brushwork quality, and the immediacy of the lines that characterize the work cannot be overstated. Every painting serves as a conduit for the next. He is motivated by the possibility of a new beginning.

Statement of Artist

I was born in Oldham, Greater Manchester, and my lifelong ambition has always been to be a painter. It’s not just a profession for me; it’s who I am. Art courses with John McCombs, the former president of the Manchester Academy of Fine Art, taught me how to achieve my goal, and I moved on to Loughborough University, where I received a first-class degree in Fine Art. Studios in Sheffield and now Rochdale have provided me with new sitters, new settings, and new ideas, all while balancing the daily challenges, pleasures, and testing that we all encounter. My work is all about an emotional reaction to a topic or sitter, and I need to create stimulation and reactions in myself to be satisfied. My life moves at a breakneck pace. It’s just not in me to do so.