Art Sunday; an all round nice guy.
I sat at this computer for an hour yesterday hoping for inspiration for toady's Art Sunday, I was completely devoid of ideas and by the evening I had almost decided to re-post an old one. 
But then Rolph Harris appeared in Piers Morgan's Life Stories and I became sucked into the telling of this guys life story. The overwhelming impression left by the programme is ‘what an all round nice guy’. There are so few completely unpretentious genuinely nice people around these days but he has to be one of them. AND………..he is so multi talented.
http://www.rolfharris.com/
Rolf Harris, CBE, AM was born 30 March 1930 has been all of these things; a teenage champion swimmer, musician, singer-songwriter, composer, painter and television personality.
He was born in Perth, Western Australia and when only 16 I had his first solo exhibition in Perth, showing a collection of watercolours and a few oils of local landscapes.
All the paintings sold and he had another show the following year. He struggled at university and left after two years to enroll at a teacher training college. His first job was teaching children to swim which he loved until he fell in and was hospitalised with a mystery viral illness. During the months he was ill he made the decision to move to England and Study art.
(That goes to show how silly preconceived ideas are, I never expected his to paint snow so well)
Below MachuPicchu and a Snow scene in England.
In 1952, just before his 22nd birthday, he left Australia on a ship bound for England and enrolled as an art student at City and Guilds Art School, Kennington, South London.
He met his wife, the Welsh sculptress and jeweller Alwen Hughes, while they were both art students, they married on 1 March 1958. They have one daughter, Bindi Harris who studied art at Bristol Polytechnic and is now a painter.
He has become a household name around the world, particularly in Britain, Canada and Australia. He is known as entertainer, TV personality, singer, artist and all round Mr Nice Guy.
He is a guy universally hated by critics, and loved by the public.
On the programme last night he talked about his invite to paint the Queen to celebrate her 80th birthday. He told how the artist is allowed to choose what the Queen wears and he chose the bright turquoise dress.
While looking trough his paintings I realised this colour is exactly the same colour as the dress worn by his wife in his portrait of her. Its also the same colour he uses for the seas and rivers he paints around the world. He must be very fond of that colour.
Below, Felluci and Venice.
Above, portrait of him painting his wife with the family pert
The Queens comment on Rolphs portrait of her was that it looked ‘friendly’, and it does. He manages to make Queen Elizabeth 11 look like someones granny in her favourite turquoise dress. Now that’s an achievement.
Piers Morgan introduced him as ‘the man who makes people smile’, apparently every time Piers told someone he was interviewing Rolph Harris, their reaction was to smile, I can see why.
Below; a Wispa Gold billboard competition
i think his work is remarkable
ReplyDeletethe video is fun also
:)
Love his landscapes and his backgrounds!! Beautiful art!!
ReplyDeleteinteresting use of colors......i love the Machu Piccchu one the best. well done, Loretta!
ReplyDeleteI wonder why he is hated by critics. Not avant-guard enough? Anyway, I like his pictures, some of them I love!! I very much like the one of the Queen. She does look friendly in it. Thanks for this, Loretta!!
ReplyDeleteBecause critics love things to criticise. When you have someone who the public love and has none the modern 'celeb status', then they have nothing to write about. The critics want, first and foremost, dirt they can dig up.
ReplyDeleteRolf seems to have been around for ever!! I remember him on TV when I was a kid. Singing 'Tie Me Kangaroo Down Sport' and 'Two Little Boys'. I was always fascinated by how he could make images magically appear from seemingly random daubs of paint. Something I still admire, having no artistic ability with pen or brush myself. I always loved his tagline "Can yer tell what it is yet?"
ReplyDeleteI agree.
ReplyDeleteBy the very nature of their occupation they critique, criticize, appraise, etc. The modern day critics of all of the arts choose to prop up whomever and whatever attracts the most attention. Today's critics seem to overlook the differences among negative, positive and constructive criticisms. In short, to them, it either sells big or it is panned, ignored or dismissed. I for one stopped paying attention to critics and pundits many years ago. Critics for the most part are those who tried to be artists or performers, didn't succeed, so went into the occupation of critiquing the art form at which they had personally failed.
I like many of the Rolph Harris paintings and the 'bursting' colors are wonderful. Thank you for posting this. I would not have found it for myself, especially since I am not a fan of Piers Morgan.
This bought a smile to my face. It's a good thing you didn't come up with any ideas for an hour or so because this one is perfect! Thanks for such a nice post, Loretta.
ReplyDeleteWhat a blessed man to have touched so many lives. How blessed all those people have been...I am touched by his colors and works!
ReplyDeleteIts the songs lol..that's what spoils it all for me, oh and the Queen, can't stand her either....but some of the pictures are nice, I will grudgingly accede to that.
ReplyDeleteRolf Harris is a Star all the way.
ReplyDeleteHe gives so much Joy. In all ways, shapes and forms.
Queen Elizabeth II looks so beautiful in her old age. See the Photos of her recent visit to Australian.
http://tracker.org.au/wp-content/uploads/2011/10/Queen-Elizabeth.jpg?9d7bd4
I just checked out his site...his works really span a list of subject matter. So talented! Thank you for posting this♥
ReplyDeletethank you for the introduction of this artist-I love his works too, lovely painting of the Queen
ReplyDeleteI think he is great. I can remember watching him on TV and being fascinated by how he could appear to be daubing paint randomly and then suddenly a picture would take shape but it's interesting to see some of his other works to really appreciate his talent. There was a documentary programme about him painting the Queen's portrait which was really interesting. And he does seem like a really nice man.
ReplyDeleteI love the use of colours in Rolph Harris' work. His colours just pop. I also think it interesting about the use of his favourite colour choice for his seas and rivers because I just recently used the same shade of green as a font for my DPT something beginning with the letter h. I chose Harlequin Rasbora's for the DPT (daily photo theme). I will be surprised if you don't agree with me that it is the same shade of turquoise and if not it is at least a close second.
ReplyDelete")
its not 'the queen' ie little old lady with handbag who is objectionable, ( I don't know her).It's the hereditary institution of monarchy which is kinda on the unethical side. Which is why, of all the paintings of Liz that I've seen.............this one quite appeals to me. He made her look like a granny, a person as opposed to a hereditary head of state.
ReplyDeleteand yes.............his music is 'questionable', but like I said, all round Mr nice guy who gives pleasure to a vast number of people and who is not in the least offensive to any one.
snobbery, he's an ordinary guy with a great talent for making people happy. he doesn't fit into any category that critics can understand. He is too frivolous for the critics, his 'music' is funny and enjoyed by children, his art is big bold and not sophisticated enough for the discerning eye of the critic.
ReplyDeleteOh me too, he was a real favourite of mine as a child growing up in the 50's.............all round entertainer. Also, when you think of programmes like 'Art Attack' etc..............his programme was the first to do any thing like that. All of the childrens art programmes took their lead from him.
ReplyDeleteI can relate to that..............I don't watch Piers Morgan very often, I only kept it on because I noticed it was Rolph Harris being interviewed. Even if you don't like Piers, if you get the chance to watch this one is is quite interesting.
ReplyDeletehe was the first guy to do this on TV and it fascinated me too, actually seeing him on TV every week did encourage me to start drawing more.
ReplyDeleteAh yes ! 1000 times yes !
ReplyDeleteI experienced the most enchanting times watching all the TV programs of Ralph Harris at the BBC, and they were many.