HAROLD HARVEY (BRITISH, 1874-1941)

Unlike many members of the Newlyn colony of artists, Harold Harvey actually came from Cornwall.  He trained under Norman Garstin who gave painting and drawing classes alongside the famous Stanhope Forbes school.  A naturally talented artist from a wealthy Penzance family of bankers, Harvey painted 'Sport on the Shore, a Crab Race' around 1890 whilst still in his mid-teens.  Harvey furthered his studies between 1894 and 1896 at the Academy Julien and the Atelier Colarossi in Paris, schools which promoted the practise of painting 'en plain air', where artists worked outside, with the aim of capturing a subject's essence as faithfully and rapidly as possible.  The present work, painted in 1906, is a fine example of this, where a moment from everyday life in Newlyn is evoked with a beautiful and serene simplicity.

Condition report

Original canvas.  The paint surface has scattered spots of dirt a couple of tiny flecks of paint loss in the sky, upper right and to the figure's waist; some dirt to frame abrasions.  Ultraviolet reveals no sign of retouching or restoration.  Held in an ebonised frame with shot slip which is lose with extensive losses.