February 2026: The Rivet Hotters by Ken White
We were deeply saddened to hear about the recent passing of the Swindon-based artist and former employee of Swindon Works, Ken White. Ken was a beloved figure in the Swindon artistic community, well known for his iconic murals in Swindon and London, and his work on Virgin Atlantic’s distinctive ‘Scarlet Lady’ livery.
As a tribute to Ken’s life and work, this month’s Object of the Month looks at Ken’s painting ‘The Rivet Hotters (Lunchtime)’ which is on permanent display in The Foundry area of STEAM Museum.
Ken began his working life at Swindon Works, following his father and grandfather into the Works when he left school at 15. In the painting ‘The Rivet Hotters’, we see a group of men wearing flat caps gathered round a brazier to make their lunchtime toast. The figure in the centre is a young Ken when he was an apprentice. Ken once said of his time as a rivet hotter “my job was to heat these metal rivets until they were white-hot and then throw them to the riveter…I remember my legs were always covered in burns from the sparks.” The young lad looks out at us with a blank expression, surrounded by these ‘larger than life characters’ that seem to loom over him and almost trap him in a claustrophobic, hopeless void. This is not a nostalgic painting. It is a testament to the hardships that the railwaymen employed in the Swindon Works faced every day and is symbolic of Ken’s aspirations to a different life.
After completing his apprenticeship, Ken managed to secure a position in the Carriage & Wagon Works as a signwriter. He had always enjoyed drawing, and this new work inspired him to enrol in the Swindon School of Art in the 1960s, changing his life forever. After living in London for several years, Ken moved back to Swindon in 1976 and began painting murals throughout the town, as well as works on canvas inspired by the Swindon Works. These paintings evoked “the atmosphere of those workshops”, often featuring dense shadows highly contrasted with the blazing light of industrial furnaces.
‘Steaming Along’ and ‘Turntable’ by Ken White, currently on display in STEAM exhibition Artistic Lines: Railways Inspiring Art until 1st March 2026
Some of Ken’s other favourite subjects were Swindon street scenes featuring working-class people and places, with Ken having commented that ‘Swindon was his landscape…It never really leaves you’. He also experimented with making linocut prints, often with a Swindon Works or railway theme to them. STEAM is lucky enough to have two of these in our collection and both are currently on display in our exhibition Artistic Lines: Railways Inspiring Art, which ends on the 1st March 2026.
Ken White will be much missed by all those that knew him, but his legacy will live on in the incredible work he created.
