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Lot Essay
Harold Harvey was one of the few Cornish-born artists associated with the Newlyn School and its affiliations. The school, founded by Stanhope Forbes and his wife Elizabeth in 1899, sought to inject British painting with a healthy dose of the French plein air tradition. The artists painted real-life subjects with a focus on 'drawing, atmosphere and truth of local colour' (Magazine of Art) rather than narrative or symbolic content.
Harvey was the son of a bank manager and grew up in Penzance, witnessing its role as a developing centre of artistic innovation. He studied under Norman Garstin before travelling to Paris and completing his training at the Academie Julian. He returned to Cornwall and in 1912 moved to Maen Cottage in Newlyn with his new wife Gertrude Bodinnar.
Fields of Flowers shows Harvey working with Newlyn precepts in mind; the brushwork is deft and spontaneous, the effect impressionistic rather than solid. As his style developed Harvey's compositions became more stylised and his figures more sculptural. The present picture probably predates this transition, which occured around 1916.
Harvey was the son of a bank manager and grew up in Penzance, witnessing its role as a developing centre of artistic innovation. He studied under Norman Garstin before travelling to Paris and completing his training at the Academie Julian. He returned to Cornwall and in 1912 moved to Maen Cottage in Newlyn with his new wife Gertrude Bodinnar.
Fields of Flowers shows Harvey working with Newlyn precepts in mind; the brushwork is deft and spontaneous, the effect impressionistic rather than solid. As his style developed Harvey's compositions became more stylised and his figures more sculptural. The present picture probably predates this transition, which occured around 1916.