Richard Colson was born in Edinburgh in 1955. Educated at Oundle, he benefited from the teaching of John Booth and it was at school that he first started to use oil paint, and to appreciate the achievements of Francis Bacon.
Richard studied painting at Goldsmiths (1973-77) and was taught by Basil Beattie RA, Albert Irvin RA, and Sam Fisher. He also studied drawing with Victor Newsome and Harry Thubron. Richard returned to Goldsmiths to study for an MA in Fine Art (1978-80), extending his understanding of the career options open to artists. Richard Wentworth and Jon Thompson were very influential. He taught at colleges over the next few years and first participated in group shows at the the New Grafton Gallery and Cadogan Contemporary.
Richard showed with Francis Kyle Gallery for some time and then, following a prize at the London Group in 1992, Thomas Agnew & Son bought work from the studio. Subsequently his work came to the notice of Theo Waddington in 1993 and Richard joined his gallery the following year, participating in group shows of drawing and painting. Theo Waddington gave him a solo show in 1996 and a solo show at the Solomon Gallery in Dublin in 1997.
Richard’s aerial views of London, Dublin and New York feature in the collections of the Houses of Parliament and the Financial Times. Shell put on a solo show in 2005 and in 2006 he showed at the Palace of Westminster. During this time he also exhibited regularly with the Russell Gallery. He showed at the London Group in 2017 and was awarded the Fresh Paint Prize in the same year. In 2018 he joined Cricket Fine Art as a gallery artist.