Kenneth Webb was educated at Bristol Grammar School and at Lydney Grammar School, obtaining a scholarship to the Slade School of Art. From 1949 to 1952 he studied at Gloucester College, graduating with a National Diploma in design. In 1953 he was appointed head of painting at the
Ulster College of Art in Belfast, and the following year had a solo show at the Arts Council Gallery, Belfast. He went on to found the Irish School of Landscape Painting in 1957.

From early in his career, colour made a deep impact on Webb, form being of less interest to him. Influenced by English Romantic landscape painting, his paintings are inspired by his garden and by the bogs around his home in Connemara. The textures, moods and shapes of the everchanging landscape of the Irish countryside are reflected in his work. The vibrant colours evoke a magical atmosphere, transcending the individual scene.

From 1960 to 1970 Webb worked in the extra-mural department of Queen´s University, Belfast, and between 1978 and 1980 he lectured at the Victoria & Albert Museum and the National Gallery, London. He has shown his work in numerous venues since the early 1950s and has had solo exhibitions at the Kenny Gallery, Galway, and the James Gallery, Dublin. He has also shown at the Belgrave Gallery, London, and the Wren Gallery, Oxford. In 1990 a retrospective of his work was held at the Kenny Gallery, Galway, in conjunction with the publication of a profile on him Tom Kenny. In 1999 a documentary, Kenneth Webb – A Life in Colour, was made by Donal Haughey.

— JOB