Harold Elliott (artist)

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Harold Elliott
Born
Harold Herbert Elliott

(1890-03-27)27 March 1890
Killarney, Manitoba
Died28 August 1968(1968-08-28) (aged 78)
Burnaby, British Columbia
Known forPainter
MovementFauvism, Surrealism, Expressionism

Harold Herbert Elliott (1890–1968) was a Canadian artist.

Biography[edit]

The parents of Harold Hebert Elliott were pioneers in Killarney, Manitoba,[1] and Elliott was the eldest of ten children.[2] Before arriving in British Columbia in 1920,[3] Elliot was variously a homesteader in Fielding, Saskatchewan,[4] a school-teacher , a prospector and a poet.[1] He ran a pickle-manufacturing business for 10 years.[5] His first marriage had resulted in two children, and in 1927 Elliott married again, to Elizabeth West Henderson.[2] He began painting in 1948, as recommended by his doctor following a heart failure.[6] Elliott was often described as eccentric.[1][6][7] In order to evoke the creative spirit, he liked to wear long gypsy-like robes.[6][8] He sometimes adopted personae of his own creation, or imaginatively emulated idols such as Rembrandt, Turner, and Emily Carr.[6] His asking price for his works was extremely high, and he completely refused to part with some pieces.[6] Elliott claimed to have painted over 5000 pictures.[1] His paintings are often signed "Van Volkingburgh", after his mother's family name."[1] In 1964, three of his paintings were featured in New Talents B.C. at the Vancouver Art Gallery.[5][6] Elliott donated much of his art collection, and many of his own works, to the J. A. Victor David museum located in his hometown of Killarney.[2]

Style[edit]

Most often constructed on cardboard, his paintings are generally small.[6] In Elliott's early work, he used materials like shoe polish and red ink, overlaid with thick varnish in order to achieve an effect like the old masters.[1] He preferred to concentrate on one colour at a time.[5] His landscapes typically have wandering, vaguely human figures,[1] with an overall sense of approaching menace.[6] A melancholy mood is commonly established by the sun never really breaking through the clouds.[9] Circular shapes frequently recur.[6] Another motif is triangulation, whereby a single figure observes two others from a distance.[2] Later paintings have faceless figures with large blank eyes.[6] Doris Shadbolt remarked that Elliott "is a kind of visionary painter. His work is completely apart from the historical stream of art,"[5] a summation echoed by David Watmough.[9] His paintings have an overall "unlearned" aspect, anticipating later trends.[6]

Solo exhibitions[edit]

  • Painting Against Time, Or Gallery, Vancouver, 1987[6]
  • Danish Art Gallery, Vancouver, 1965[9]

Group exhibitions[edit]

  • New Talents BC, Vancouver Art Gallery, 1964.[5]
  • Seattle Art Museum, 1961–1963[1][7]
  • British Columbia Artists Annual Exhibitions, Vancouver Art Gallery, 1952–1954, 1957, 1961–1963, 1965[3]

Collections[edit]

References[edit]

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h Dolman, 6 April 1963.
  2. ^ a b c d Wilkins, 6 September 1972.
  3. ^ a b Sim, Gary. "Elliott, Harold Herbert". British Columbia Artists. Sim Publishing. Archived from the original on 3 April 2021. Retrieved 2 April 2021.
  4. ^ Untitled (obituary), 18 Sep 1968.
  5. ^ a b c d e Stoffman, 28 May 1964.
  6. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Haraldsson, Winter 1987.
  7. ^ a b Kyle, Flora (1 November 1963). "Art: City Artist's Painting Chosen for Contest". The Vancouver Sun. Archived from the original on 3 April 2021. Retrieved 2 April 2021 – via Newspapers.com Free access icon.
  8. ^ "Artist Harold Elliott of way-out fame dies", 30 Aug 1968.
  9. ^ a b c Watmough, 9 Jan 1965.
  10. ^ "Works of: Harold Elliott". Seattle Art Museum. Archived from the original on 3 April 2021.

Sources[edit]

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