Painting of the Week - Harold Harvey
Portrait of Clara
This superb British twenties portrait oil painting by noted Newlyn school artist Harold Harvey. Painted in 1922 the sitter is Clara Matthews. Penlee Gallery in Penzance had a very similar head and shoulders of Clara in 2001. Ours is a full length portrait and Clara is set in a landscape and holding a rose. In several of Harvey's portraits his female sitters are holding a single flower. By 1908-1910, Harvey began to develop his own unique pictorial language characterised by a brighter palette and more simplified forms. The present work dates from 1922 and depicts the model Clara standing by a wall which gives way to a gently rolling hillscape beyond. The work is a thoughtful figurative meditation in tones of grey and brown, the red highlight of the rosebud creating the focal point of the composition. A very atmospheric portrait and an excellent example of his work with good provenance.
Signed and dated lower right.
Provenance. Sotheby's
Christie's
Harold Harvey catalogue online
Click the link below for this painting
https://www.richardtaylorfineart.com/artist/harold-harvey/clara