Harold Harvey

Harold Harvey (1874–1941) was a Newlyn School painter who painted scenes of working class Cornish fishermen, farmers and miners and Cornish landscapes. He was born in Penzance and trained at the Penzance School of Arts under Norman Garstin and the Académie Julian in Paris (1894–1896).^[1]

Private life

Harold Charles Francis Harvey was born to Mary Bellringer Harvey and Francis McFarland Harvey on 20 May 1874 in Penzance. His father was a bank clerk. During his youth, he was home schooled.^[2] From 1894 to 1896, he studied art at the Academie Julian in Paris under Norman Garstin. In 1896, he studied at both the Académie Delecluse and the Academie Colarossi.^[2]

Prior to 1911, Harvey lived in Penzance. In 1911, Harvey married fellow artist Gertrude Bodinnar. They first met when Gertrude posed for Harvey. She discovered that she had artistic talent and became an artist in her own right in a wide range of visual and textile arts. The married couple lived in Newlyan at Maen Cottage. Friends of the Harveys included Laura Knight, Harold Knight, Annie Walke, and Father Bernard Walke of St Hilary Church.^[2][3]

Late in his life, he converted to Catholicism. He died in Newlyn on 19 May 1941 and was buried in Penzance at the St Clare Cemetery.^[2] Gertrude lived in their cottage until 1960 when she moved into a St Just nursing home. She died six years later.^[3]

Career

After completing his schooling in Paris, Harvey returned to Penzance and began working with Norman Garstin. His works included landscapes and life settings of his native Cornwall, religious themes and interiors. He used oil and watercolour paints.^[2]

From 1909 to 1913, he was an Associate of the Royal Cambrian Academy of Art, Conwy and, in 1910, he was a member of the South Wales Art Society. From about 1910 and into the early 1930s, he was a member of the Newlyn Society of Artists, particularly with artists from the Lamorna valley.^[2]

In 1920, Harvey and his best friend Ernest Procter established the Harvey-Procter School in Newlyn, Cornwall.^[4]

Exhibitions

His work was exhibited starting in 1895 as follows:^[2]

• In Whitechapel, other locations in Britain, Pittsburgh and Venice
• 1895 - Newlyn Art Gallery
• 1899 - Newlyn Art Gallery
• 1909 - Newlyn Art Gallery - he had his first gallery sale
• 1913 - Mendoza Gallery, London
• 1914 - Newlyn Art Gallery
• 1918 - Leicester Galleries, London - with Gertrude
• 1920 - Leicester Galleries, London - with Gertrude
• 1921 - Newlyn Art Gallery
• 1921-1941 - Royal Academy
• 1924-1928 - Newlyn Art Gallery
• 1924 - Oldham Municipal Gallery Spring Exhibition
• 1927 - Leicester Galleries, London
• 1932 - Barbizon House, London
• 1937 - Bristol
• 1939 - Bristol

Posthumous exhibitions:

• 1979 - Artists of the Newlyn School, Part 1
• 1985 - Artists of the Newlyn School, Part 2
• 1987 - Looking West, Newlyn Art Gallery and Royal Cambrian Academy
• 1989 - A Century of Art in Cornwall 1889-1989, Truro, CCC Centennial
• 1992 - Artists from Cornwall, 1992 Royal West of England Academy, Bristol