Robert Harris (painter)


Robert Harris was a Welsh-born Canadian painter most noted for his portrait of the Fathers of Confederation.

Early life

Born in Caerhun, Conwy, Wales, he came to Prince Edward Island via Liverpool with his family as a youth. He later studied art in Boston, London's Slade School of Art, and in Paris under Léon Bonnat. While abroad, he learned of Impressionism, but on his return to Canada in 1879, settling in Montreal, he painted in an academic style the social and political elite in Toronto and Montreal. He returned to study in the Bonnat Atelier once more in 1881, and the following year he exhibited in the Paris Salon.

Career

His commission to paint the Fathers of Confederation came early in his career and it established his reputation as a portrait artist.
He was later commissioned by news publications of the day to create portraits of notable personalities, ranging from politicians to scoundrels. For example, he made portraits of those accused of murdering the Donnelley's for the Toronto Globe.
In the late 1900s, Harris returned to painting in an Impressionist-influenced mode after purchasing the first book in English on the subject, The French Impressionists by Camille Mauclair.. 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.
He was a founding member of the Royal Canadian Academy of Arts and elected president of the RCA in 1893. An important collection of his works is housed at the Confederation Centre Art Gallery in Charlottetown.
His painting, A Meeting of the School Trustees illustrating a confrontation between PEI teacher Kate Henderson and her school's trustees appeared on a Canadian stamp in 1980 and was dramatized by a Heritage Minutes.
He married Elizabeth Putnam in 1885 but the couple had no children. He was the brother of the architect William Critchlow Harris and took an active interest in the artwork of his cousin Kathleen Morris.

Works – a selection