Stephen Harris (painter)
Encyclopedia
Stephen Harris was a British Post-Impressionist artist.http://www.stephenharris.org.uk/Home.html He has been described as “a 20th-century English painter of first importance." (Art Review, October 2002, Volume LIII) Since his death in 1980, Harris’ surviving body of work has been the subject of increasing academic and commercial interest. The first reproductions of his work appeared in an article in Art Review in 2002, and a complete exhibition is now being planned.
Stephen Harris was born in Dorset in 1913, the son of a serving Petty Officer. At age 10, Harris was sent to the Royal Naval School at Greenwich. Recognizing his talent, the superintendent of the school transferred him at his own expense to the Battersea Polytechnic to study art. Later he moved to the City and Guilds School and became a pupil of Duncan Grant
. Harris won the Silver Medal for drawing in 1937, and was later commissioned to design costumes for a new ballet for the Ballet Russe de Monte Carlo
.
Harris married Florence Hollins, a fellow student, in 1939 and entered the RAF during World War 2. He returned to civilian life in 1947 and moved his wife and two daughters to the village of Barbon in Cumbria
where all of his surviving work was painted.
Although a pupil of Duncan Grant
, a leading member of the Bloomsbury Group
, Harris’s love of the Old Masters – in particular J. M. W. Turner
and John Constable
- influenced his painting and at the same time set him apart stylistically from his contemporaries. He was also influenced by the Impressionists.
Moving away from London isolated Harris. He did not sell his paintings, and refused to exhibit them. He died in 1980. His collection is now held privately.
Stephen Harris was born in Dorset in 1913, the son of a serving Petty Officer. At age 10, Harris was sent to the Royal Naval School at Greenwich. Recognizing his talent, the superintendent of the school transferred him at his own expense to the Battersea Polytechnic to study art. Later he moved to the City and Guilds School and became a pupil of Duncan Grant
Duncan Grant
Duncan James Corrowr Grant was a British painter and designer of textiles, potterty and theatre sets and costumes...
. Harris won the Silver Medal for drawing in 1937, and was later commissioned to design costumes for a new ballet for the Ballet Russe de Monte Carlo
Ballet Russe de Monte Carlo
Ballet Russe de Monte Carlo was a ballet company created by members of the Ballets Russes de Monte-Carlo in 1938 after Léonide Massine and René Blum had a falling-out with the co-founder Wassily de Basil...
.
Harris married Florence Hollins, a fellow student, in 1939 and entered the RAF during World War 2. He returned to civilian life in 1947 and moved his wife and two daughters to the village of Barbon in Cumbria
Cumbria
Cumbria , is a non-metropolitan county in North West England. The county and Cumbria County Council, its local authority, came into existence in 1974 after the passage of the Local Government Act 1972. Cumbria's largest settlement and county town is Carlisle. It consists of six districts, and in...
where all of his surviving work was painted.
Although a pupil of Duncan Grant
Duncan Grant
Duncan James Corrowr Grant was a British painter and designer of textiles, potterty and theatre sets and costumes...
, a leading member of the Bloomsbury Group
Bloomsbury Group
The Bloomsbury Group or Bloomsbury Set was a group of writers, intellectuals, philosophers and artists who held informal discussions in Bloomsbury throughout the 20th century. This English collective of friends and relatives lived, worked or studied near Bloomsbury in London during the first half...
, Harris’s love of the Old Masters – in particular J. M. W. Turner
J. M. W. Turner
Joseph Mallord William Turner RA was an English Romantic landscape painter, watercolourist and printmaker. Turner was considered a controversial figure in his day, but is now regarded as the artist who elevated landscape painting to an eminence rivalling history painting...
and John Constable
John Constable
John Constable was an English Romantic painter. Born in Suffolk, he is known principally for his landscape paintings of Dedham Vale, the area surrounding his home—now known as "Constable Country"—which he invested with an intensity of affection...
- influenced his painting and at the same time set him apart stylistically from his contemporaries. He was also influenced by the Impressionists.
Moving away from London isolated Harris. He did not sell his paintings, and refused to exhibit them. He died in 1980. His collection is now held privately.