Artists

George Harcourt

1868–1947

British

Sir Herbert Austin (1866–1941)
Image credit: British Motor Industry Heritage Trust

Sir Herbert Austin (1866–1941) 1932

George Harcourt (1868–1947)

British Motor Industry Heritage Trust

Painter, born in Dunbartonshire, husband of the artist Mary Lascelles Harcourt, their daughters being the painters Anne, Aletha and Mary Edeva Harcourt. He studied for three years with Hubert von Herkomer at Bushey School of Art and was from 1901–9 governor of the Patrick Allan-Fraser School of Art, Hospitalfield, Arbroath. He was elected RBA in 1897, RP in 1912 and RA in 1926 and was also a member of the Arts and Chelsea Arts Clubs. A prolific exhibitor, Harcourt showed also at Fine Art Society, Walker Art Gallery in Liverpool, RSA and Royal Glasgow Institute of the Fine Arts. National Gallery of South Australia in Adelaide, Bank of England and Winchester College acquired his works. Lived latterly at Bushey, Hertfordshire.

Text source: 'Artists in Britain Since 1945' by David Buckman (Art Dictionaries Ltd, part of Sansom & Company)

Artworks by George Harcourt

  • Sir Herbert Austin (1866–1941)
    Sir Herbert Austin (1866–1941) George Harcourt (1868–1947)
    British Motor Museum
  • The Right Honourable Sir Dennis Henry Herbert (1869–1947), Lord Hemingford
    The Right Honourable Sir Dennis Henry Herbert (1869–1947), Lord Hemingford George Harcourt (1868–1947)
    Watford Museum
  • Sir Arthur Dixon
    Sir Arthur Dixon George Harcourt (1868–1947)
    The Fire Service College
  • Sir Arthur Wallace Pickard-Cambridge (1873–1952), Vice-Chancellor of the University of Sheffield (1930–1938)
    Sir Arthur Wallace Pickard-Cambridge (1873–1952), Vice-Chancellor of the University of Sheffield (1930–1938) George Harcourt (1868–1947)
    University of Sheffield, Heritage Collection
  • Commander Sir Aylmer Firebrace (1886–1972), Commander of the London Fire Brigade (1938–1941), Leader of the National Fire Service (1941–1948)
    Commander Sir Aylmer Firebrace (1886–1972), Commander of the London Fire Brigade (1938–1941), Leader of the National Fire Service (1941–1948) George Harcourt (1868–1947)
    The Fire Service College
  • Lady with a Mandolin
    Lady with a Mandolin George Harcourt (1868–1947)
    Watford Museum
  • Elizabeth Aletha Harcourt (1903–1985)
    Elizabeth Aletha Harcourt (1903–1985) George Harcourt (1868–1947)
    Watford Museum
  • 51 more

Stories

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George Harcourt was born in in Dumbarton, Dumbartonshire, Scotland on 11 October 1868. He studied art in Dumbarton and then worked as an interior decorator of ships and yachts built by William Denny and Brothers Limited, a local shipbuilding company

In 1888 he moved to Bushey in Hertfordshire where from 1889 to 1892 he studied at the Herkomer Art School. From 1901 to 1909, he acted as Governor of the Art School at Hospitalfield, near Arbroath. He then returned to Arbroath. He then returned to Bushey and subsequently lectured at the Herkomer School. He later also taught at the Slade School of Fine Art, University College, London.

Harcourt exhibited on numerous occasions at the Royal Academy in London from 1893 to 1948. He also exhibited at the Fine Art Society, Grosvenor Gallery, New Gallery, Royal Society of Portrait Painters, and Royal Society of British Architects in London; Royal Birmingham Society of Artists; Royal Glasgow Institute of the Fine Arts; Walker Art Gallery in Liverpool; Manchester City Art Gallery; and at the Royal Scottish Academy in Edinburgh. He participated in the Exposition Universelle in Paris in 1900 where he received an Honourable Mention.

He was elected a member of the Royal Society of British Artists (RBA) in 1897; the Royal Society of Portrait Painters (RP) in 1912; an Associate of the Royal Academy (ARA) in 1919; a Royal Academician (RA) in 1926; and a Senior Royal Academician in 1944. In 1927 he was appointed temporary Director of the Royal Academy Schools in London.

Harcourt contributed illustrations to Past Worthies of the Lennox: A Garland of Their Droll Sayings and Doings by Donald Macleod (1894). He died in Bushey, Hertfordshire on 30 September 1947.

His wife, Mary Lascelles Harcourt (née Leesmith, 1870-1848), and three daughters, Mary Edeva Harcourt (1901-1985), Elizabeth Aletha Harcourt (1903-1985), and Dorothy Anne Adeleve Harcourt (1907-1985) were all exhibiting artists.

Text source: Art History Research net (AHR net)

Venues

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