Harold Harvey: Painter of Cornwall

Harold Harvey was a member of the Newlyn 'School of artists' from 1880 to 1930, but he is often overlooked and under-written about. His early genre paintings of rustic and marine life gave way to more sophisticated subject matter and a flatter and more decorative style of painting. His early work was compared to Stanhope Forbes, while his later paintings showed affinities with those of Laura Knight and Dod Procter. His painting output was prodigious, and this book includes approximately 100 illustrations of his favoured subjects.

Format: Paperback / softback
Length: 148 pages
Publication date: 30 April 2024
Publisher: Sansom & Co

Harold Harvey, a true son of Cornwall, has been one of the most under-rated and least written about members of the Newlyn 'School of artists which flourished from 1880 to 1930. The son of a bank manager, he grew up in Penance and after studying under Norman Garstin and a spell in Paris, he settled to a quiet life in Newlyn with fellow-artist Gertrude, painting The Cornwall he knowS from the inside. In his introductory essay, Professor Kenneth McConkey sets Harvey in the context of the art moments of the time, and shows how his early 'genre paintings of rustic and marine life, so characteristic of the early Newlyn artists, gradually gave way to more sophisticated subject matter – Harvey was noted for his sumptuous interiors – and a flatter and more decorative style of painting. His early work might be compared with that of Stanhope Forbes, while his later paintings show clear affinities with those of fellow painters such as Laura Knight and Dod Procter. Professor McConkey's essay complements the first significant 'life of Harold Harvey, researched and written by Peter Risdon and Pauline Sheppard, which is in turn illuminated by Peter Risdon's painstakingly compiled catalogue raisonne of over 600 paintings. Harvey's painting output was prodigious, and this book includes approximately 100 illustrations of his favoured subjects: the Cornish at work, children at play, and intimate interior scenes and conversation pieces. Many of his contemporaries in Newlyn were visiting 'observers, but for Harold Harvey, who rarely went outside the county even though a regular exhibitor at the Royal Academy, painting the Cornish world 'because it was there was his whole life.

Weight: 762g
Dimension: 210 x 269 x 15 (mm)
ISBN-13: 9781915670137