Robert Harris (painter)
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Robert Harris (September 18, 1849 – February 27, 1919) was a
Welsh Welsh may refer to: Related to Wales * Welsh, of or about Wales * Welsh language, spoken in Wales * Welsh people, an ethnic group native to Wales Places * Welsh, Arkansas, U.S. * Welsh, Louisiana, U.S. * Welsh, Ohio, U.S. * Welsh Basin, during t ...
-born
Canadian Canadians () are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of their being ''C ...
painter, most noted for his portrait of the
Fathers of Confederation The Fathers of Confederation are the 36 people who attended at least one of the Charlottetown Conference, Charlottetown Conference of 1864 (23 attendees), the Quebec Conference, 1864, Quebec Conference of 1864 (33 attendees), and the London Conf ...
.


Early life

Born in
Caerhun Caerhun () is a scattered rural Community (Wales), community, and former Community (Wales), civil parish, on the west bank of the River Conwy. It lies to the south of Henryd and the north of Dolgarrog, in Conwy County Borough, Wales, and inclu ...
,
Conwy Conwy (, ), previously known in English as Conway, is a walled market town, community and the administrative centre of Conwy County Borough in North Wales. The walled town and castle stand on the west bank of the River Conwy, facing Deganwy ...
, Wales, Robert Harris grew up on his father’s farm before moving to Charlottetown,
Prince Edward Island Prince Edward Island is an island Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada. While it is the smallest province by land area and population, it is the most densely populated. The island has several nicknames: "Garden of the Gulf", ...
in 1856. Encouraged by his mother, he developed an interest in art, and to practice drawing, he often sketched images from magazines. In 1867, he travelled to
Liverpool Liverpool is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. It is situated on the eastern side of the River Mersey, Mersey Estuary, near the Irish Sea, north-west of London. With a population ...
, where he independently studied and sketched from the plaster casts in the local museum, learning human anatomy and proportion. Already skilled in portraiture, and receiving commissions, he decided to pursue formal instruction in 1873 in Boston at the Lowell Institute, in London at the
Slade School of Art The UCL Slade School of Fine Art (informally The Slade) is the art school of University College London (UCL) and is based in London, England. It has been ranked as the UK's top art and design educational institution. The school is organised as ...
with
Alphonse Legros Alphonse Legros (; 8 May 1837 – 8 December 1911) was a French, later British, painter, etcher, sculptor, and medallist. He moved to London in 1863 and later was naturalized as British. He was important as a teacher in the British etching ...
(1877) and at the Heatherly School of Fine Art (1877), and, finally in Paris with
Léon Bonnat Léon Joseph Florentin Bonnat (; 20 June 1833 – 8 September 1922) was a French painter, Grand Officer of the Légion d'honneur, art collector and professor at the Ecole des Beaux Arts. Early life Bonnat was born in Bayonne, but from 1846 to 1853 ...
at the Atelier Bonnat later that same year. In 1880, he was commissioned to sketch the principal parties in the Donnelleys' murder trial for the Toronto ''Globe''. He returned to study in Paris with Bonnat again in 1881. In 1882, he shared a studio with American painter A. B. Reinhardt at Ecouen, 17 miles from Paris. In 1883, he exhibited at the Paris Salon. While abroad, he may have learned of
Impressionism Impressionism was a 19th-century art movement characterized by visible brush strokes, open Composition (visual arts), composition, emphasis on accurate depiction of light in its changing qualities (often accentuating the effects of the passage ...
. On his return to Canada, in 1883, he was commissioned by the Dominion Government to paint a record of the 1864 Quebec Conference. The painting was later known by the popular title ''The Fathers of Confederation''. Afterwards, he settled in Montreal, and began painting in an academic style the social and political elite in Toronto and Montreal.


Career

In 1886, his painting of ''A Meeting of the School Trustees'', of a woman teacher in P.E.I. named Kate Henderson converting a gathering of male trustees to her point of view, was the sensation of the 1886
Royal Canadian Academy of Arts The Royal Canadian Academy of Arts (RCA) is a Canadian arts-related organization that was founded in 1880. History 1880 to 1890 The title of Royal Canadian Academy of Arts was received from Victoria of the United Kingdom, Queen Victoria on 16 ...
show. ''The Fathers of Confederation'', early in his career, established his reputation as one of the most distinguished portrait painters in Canada. Between 1889 and 1896, he painted over 55 commissioned portraits superior to other portraits being done at the time. In 1903, he painted his portrait of ''the Countess of Minto''. In the late '00s, Harris turned to painting in an Impressionist-influenced mode after purchasing the first book in English on the subject, ''The French Impressionists (1860–1900)'' by Camille Mauclair. (His copy of the book is in the
Confederation Centre Art Gallery The Confederation Centre Art Gallery (CCAG; ) is an art museum that forms a part of the Confederation Centre of the Arts in Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island, Canada. The art museum pavilion forms the northeast portion of the Confederation Centre ...
). Over the next eight years, he began to incorporate small touches of vibrant colour and the fluid brushwork of the Impressionists, while still maintaining the formal characteristics of academic portraiture. Harris taught at the
Ontario School of Art Ontario College of Art & Design University, commonly known as OCAD University or OCAD U, is a public university, public art school, art university in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Its main campus is located within Toronto's Grange Park (neighbourh ...
(1879-1881) and at the
Art Association of Montreal The Montreal Museum of Fine Arts (MMFA) is an art museum in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. It is the largest art museum in Canada by gallery space. The museum is located on the historic Golden Square Mile stretch of Sherbrooke Street west. The MMFA ...
in the 1880s, and like Brymner, as a teacher, Harris followed an academic curriculum and encouraged many of his students, like
George Agnew Reid George Agnew Reid who signed his name as G. A. Reid (July 25, 1860 – August 23, 1947) was a Canadian artist, Painting, painter, influential educator and administrator. He is best known as a genre painter, but his work encompassed the mu ...
and Mary Alexandra Bell Eastlake, to pursue further studies in Europe and to develop a distinctively Canadian art. An important collection of his works is housed at the Confederation Centre Art Gallery in
Charlottetown Charlottetown is the capital and largest city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Prince Edward Island, and the county seat of Queens County, Prince Edward Island, Queens County. Named after Queen Charlotte, Charlott ...
, P.E.I.. In 1965, the
Confederation Centre Art Gallery The Confederation Centre Art Gallery (CCAG; ) is an art museum that forms a part of the Confederation Centre of the Arts in Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island, Canada. The art museum pavilion forms the northeast portion of the Confederation Centre ...
in Charlottetown accepted the Robert Harris Collection and Archives, which includes Harris's 1883 preparatory sketches for his painting of the Fathers of Confederation, from the Robert Harris Trust. This acquisition of drawings, paintings, sketchbooks, letters and memorabilia numbered nearly 9,000 items. His painting ''A Meeting of the School Trustees'' appeared on a Canadian stamp in 1980 and was dramatized by television on ''
Heritage Minutes ''The Heritage Minutes'' is a series of sixty-second short films, each illustrating an important moment in History of Canada, Canadian history. Published by Historica Canada the ''Minutes'' integrate Canadian history, Canadian folklore, folklore ...
''. In 1986–1987, the exhibition ''Robert Harris, 1849-1919'', was circulated in Wales by the
National Museum of Wales National may refer to: Common uses * Nation or country ** Nationality – a ''national'' is a person who is subject to a nation, regardless of whether the person has full rights as a citizen Places in the United States * National, Maryland, c ...
. The first language of the catalogue was Welsh, the second English.


Selected works

File:John A. Macdonald par Robert Harris.jpg, ''John A. Macdonald'' File:Fathers of Confederation LAC c001855.jpg, ''Conference at Québec in 1864, to settle the basics of a union of the British North American Provinces'', also known as ''The Fathers of Confederation''. The original painting was destroyed when the
Centre Block The Centre Block () is the main building of the Parliament of Canada, Canadian parliamentary complex on Parliament Hill, in Ottawa, Ontario, containing the House of Commons of Canada, House of Commons and Senate of Canada, Senate chambers, as we ...
of the Parliament Buildings was consumed by fire in 1916. File:Robert Harris - A Meeting of the School Trustees.jpg, ''A Meeting of the School Trustees'' 1885,
National Gallery of Canada The National Gallery of Canada (), located in the capital city of Ottawa, Ontario, is Canada's National museums of Canada, national art museum. The museum's building takes up , with of space used for exhibiting art. It is one of the List of large ...
File:The Countess of Minto, R. Harris 01.jpg, ''Countess of Minto''


Honours

Harris was a founding member of the
Royal Canadian Academy of Arts The Royal Canadian Academy of Arts (RCA) is a Canadian arts-related organization that was founded in 1880. History 1880 to 1890 The title of Royal Canadian Academy of Arts was received from Victoria of the United Kingdom, Queen Victoria on 16 ...
in 1880 (RCA) and elected president of the RCA in 1893. In 1902, he was created a C.M.G., the Most Distinguished Order of Saint Michael and Saint George, a British order of chivalry awarded to men and women who hold high office or who render extraordinary or important non-military service in a foreign country, which can also be conferred for important or loyal service in relation to foreign and Commonwealth affairs. As president of the RCA in 1904, he helped spearhead the organization and installation of the
Canadian exhibition at the Louisiana Purchase Exposition The Canadian exhibition at the Louisiana Purchase Exposition was the country's contribution to what was commonly called the St. Louis World's Fair, held in St. Louis, Missouri, United States, in 1904. The exhibition included a showcase of Canadia ...
. At the exposition, he received the Commemorative Diploma and Gold Medal of Honour for Distinguished Service in Art.


Personal life

He married Elizabeth (Bessie) Putnam in 1885 but the couple had no children. He was the brother of the architect
William Critchlow Harris William Critchlow Harris (30 April 1854 – 16 July 1913) was an English-born Canadian architect, primarily noted for his ecclesiastical and domestic projects in Maritime Canada. He was born near Liverpool, England, to Welsh parents but moved ...
and took an active interest in the artwork of his cousin
Kathleen Morris Kathleen "Kay" Moir Morris (December 2, 1893 – December 20, 1986) was a Canadian painter and although not an official member of the Beaver Hall Group, she often is counted as a member since she was friendly with many of its members and exhibi ...
.Barbara Meadowcroft, Painting Friends: The Beaver Hall Women Painters, 1999


Legacy

The vast collection of works and archival material related to the artist is in the collection of the
Confederation Centre Art Gallery The Confederation Centre Art Gallery (CCAG; ) is an art museum that forms a part of the Confederation Centre of the Arts in Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island, Canada. The art museum pavilion forms the northeast portion of the Confederation Centre ...
, Charlottetown, P.E.I.Robert McKaskell, "Introduction to Crieff: Establishing a Collection", 2004. where the founding director Moncrieff Williamson was the first scholar to publish several books and catalogues on him.


References


Bibliography

* * * * *Moncrieff Williamson, ''Robert Harris: An Unconventional Biography'', Toronto: McClelland & Stewart, 1973. *


External links


Robert Harris – Confederation Painter

Pictures in the National Gallery of Canada


{{DEFAULTSORT:Harris, Robert 1849 births 1919 deaths People from Conwy People from Charlottetown Artists from Prince Edward Island Welsh emigrants to pre-Confederation Prince Edward Island Persons of National Historic Significance (Canada) Companions of the Order of St Michael and St George 19th-century Canadian painters Canadian male painters 20th-century Canadian painters Canadian Impressionist painters Academic staff of OCAD University Members of the Royal Canadian Academy of Arts