George Harcourt (painter)

George Harcourt RA (born October 11, 1868 in Dumbarton , West Dunbartonshire in Scotland , † September 30, 1947 in Bushey , Hertfordshire in England ) was a Scottish-British painter . His wife Mary and daughter Anne were also well-known landscape and portrait painters.

Life

After studying art in Dumbarton, George Harcourt first worked as an interior designer for salons and luxury cabins at the local Denny Brothers Shipbuilding yard . In 1888 he went to Bushey (north of London) and enrolled in the Herkomer School of Art . The school, founded by the German-born painter Hubert von Herkomer (1849–1914) in 1883, enjoyed a very good reputation in England at the time and was known for its unconventional training practice. As one of the best students, Harcourt later became a lecturer at this art school himself . Harcourt also completed the portrait his teacher had begun of First Marquess Curzon of Kedleston after Herkomer's sudden death in 1914. He later taught at London's renowned Slade School of Fine Art , where his daughter Anne also studied.

Harcourt's style of painting changed over the years from a pathetic naturalism influenced by Pre-Raphaelite (here mainly genre paintings , more rarely also landscapes) to an almost photorealistic portrait art . This perfection not only helped him to gain a great reputation among his colleagues, but also secured him a good income as a portraitist of the British upper class. At first he took no part in the avant-garde currents of postmodernism , which is why many art critics reviled him. In addition to his conservative style, he was accused of being For example, at the annual exhibition of the Royal Society of Portrait Painters in 1913 in the Grafton Galleries in London , the intention was to make pictures that were far too large in relation to the insignificance of the content and, moreover, not to master the format.

However, this did not stop his breakthrough. With his diploma thesis ( Portrait of Miss Anne Harcourt ) submitted to the Royal Academy of Arts at the latest , he demonstrated painting skills that went far beyond the naive kitsch of earlier years. He was also able to refute the allegations regarding the large format: the group portrait of the Krupp family from 1931 belied its former critics.

Works

1893: At the Window (exhibited at the Royal Academy)
1894: Psyche (on display at the Royal Stock Exchange in London)
1899: Forgiven (now in the National Gallery in Adelaide , Australia)
1901: Meriel, Cynthia and George Perkins
1910: The Birthday (today in the Lady Lever Art Gallery, Port Sunlight near Liverpool )
1914: George Nathaniel Curzon (started by Herkomer, completed by Harcourt. Owned by Oxford University )
1920: Portrait of a Young Girl
1921: Portrait of Miss Anne Harcourt (his daughter later became his student)
1924: Sir Maurice Fitzmaurice (the admiral was director of the British Secret Service of the Royal Navy NID )
1931: The Krupp von Bohlen and Halbach Family (owned by the Krupp Foundation in the Villa Hügel )

Awards

Harcourt received a gold medal at the Amsterdam International Exhibition in 1912 . After his work submitted to the jury of the Royal Academy of Arts in 1921, a portrait of his daughter Anne, he was accepted as a full member of the Academy in 1926 . From then on he was allowed to convert the title of Associated Royal Academician " ARA ", which he had since 1919 behind his name, into an "RA". In 1927 he was briefly deputy director of the Royal Academy Schools . In 1923 he got another gold medal at the exhibition in the Salon de Paris .

literature

Harcourt, George . In: Hans Vollmer (Hrsg.): General lexicon of fine artists from antiquity to the present . Founded by Ulrich Thieme and Felix Becker . tape 18 : Hubatsch – Ingouf . EA Seemann, Leipzig 1925, p. 162 .
Memorial exhibition of George Harcourt and Francis Hodge. Royal Institute of Painters in Water Colors , London 1949. (Catalog of the exhibition from December 20 to 31, 1949).
Stand to your work. Hubert Herkomer and his students. Watford Museum, Watford 1983, ISBN 0-907958-05-2 . (Catalog of the exhibition at the Watford Museum A passion for work: Sir Hubert von Herkomer 1849–1914 , September 1983).

Web links

Commons : George Harcourt - Collection of Images, Videos and Audio Files

Individual evidence

↑ Both painters are also listed in the General Lexicon of Fine Artists of the 20th Century . Mary Harcourt in Vollmer Vol. II (p. 374), Anne Harcourt in Supplementary Volume VI (p. 21)
^ Bob Speel: Victorian, Edwardian and Pre-Raphaelite artists
^ R. Lane Poole: Catalog of Portraits in the possession of the University , Colleges, City, and County of Oxford, 3 volumes (1912, 1925), Vol. III, p. 312.
^ The art critic Anthony M. Ludovici about a group picture of Harcourts ( Portrait Group ), in the magazine The New Age , on July 17, 1913 (p. 337 in the annual edition)
↑ George Harcourt, RA in the database of the Royal Academy of Arts , English, accessed on May 22, 2013.

personal data
SURNAME	Harcourt, George
ALTERNATIVE NAMES	George Harcourt RA
BRIEF DESCRIPTION	Scottish-British painter
DATE OF BIRTH	October 11, 1868
PLACE OF BIRTH	Dumbarton , West Dunbartonshire
DATE OF DEATH	September 30, 1947
Place of death	Bushey , Hertfordshire

[1] Both painters are also listed in the General Lexicon of Fine Artists of the 20th Century . Mary Harcourt in Vollmer Vol. II (p. 374), Anne Harcourt in Supplementary Volume VI (p. 21)

[2] Bob Speel: Victorian, Edwardian and Pre-Raphaelite artists

[3] R. Lane Poole: Catalog of Portraits in the possession of the University , Colleges, City, and County of Oxford, 3 volumes (1912, 1925), Vol. III, p. 312.

[4] The art critic Anthony M. Ludovici about a group picture of Harcourts ( Portrait Group ), in the magazine The New Age , on July 17, 1913 (p. 337 in the annual edition)

[5] George Harcourt, RA in the database of the Royal Academy of Arts , English, accessed on May 22, 2013.