Rolf Harris - The Artist
Born on the 30th March 1930 Rolf Harris grew up in Perth, Western Australia before coming to London at the age of 22 in order to study. His grandfather had been a portrait painter and Rolf was keen to emulate him. So, he joined the City and Guilds Arts School in Kennington upon arriving in the UK on a trip, financed by his exhibitions back home in Australia.
Rolf Harris had been growing despondent with the course and drifted out of art school and it was a chance meeting with the Australian impressionist painter 'Bill' Hayward Veal at Earl's court tube station, which was to be a turning point in Rolf's life. Rolf had admired Veal from a young age and had seen his work exhibited in his native Australia. Rolf began to attend classes run by Veal who nurtured his talent and Rolf quickly became Veal's protégé. Veal's impressionist free-style of painting was adopted by Rolf Harris and is now synonymous with his work.
Rolf Harris is well known not only as an artist but also as a television presenter and musician and in the 90's he presented Rolf's Cartoon Club which bought art to the masses. Then, in 2001 the series 'Rolf Harris on Art' had 24.5 million viewers tuning in over the four week airing, a record audience for any visual arts programme to be aired on television.
In 2002 Rolf's work was exhibited in the National gallery at which time Rolf was quoted as saying, "As an artist there is no higher recognition than to be invited to have my paintings exhibited in the National Gallery, one of the finest galleries in the world."
Rolf Harris also painted Queen Elizabeth for a commissioning to celebrate her 80th birthday, which was unveiled on the 19th December 2005. Although Rolf loves to paint portraits from life he prefers not to sketch outlines (or maps) in pen or pencil but to go straight for the paint. In his own words, "If you draw a map first and then fill it in with colour, you're assuming the map is perfect and then you never correct any mistakes. I like to have the freedom to correct things as I go, sometimes even wiping off the whole painting and starting again if the proportions are drastically wrong"
Rolf Harris is married to Alwen whom he met at art school in 1958 and they have a daughter Bindi who is also an artist.
Other facts you may not have known about Rolf Harris are that he was a state swimming champion in Western Perth where he was born. Rolf Harris also first appeared at Glastonbury music festival in 1993 and was so well received that he returned in 1998, 2000 and 2002.
Rolf Harris was awarded an MBE in 1968, an OBE in 1977 and was made a Member of the Order of Australia in 1989 on Australia Day. He has also received an honorary membership from the Royal Society of British Artists in 2000.
