Clewin Harcourt was born at Dunnolly, Victoria on 13 December 1870. His lawyer father, Durrant Harcourt, contributed literary pieces to the Melbourne press while his mother was a well-known amateur messo-soprano. His love of music stayed with him all his life and in his later years he made flutes, recorders and piccolos.
His initial art studies at the National Gallery School under Fredrick McCubbin and George Folingsby were truncated on his father’s death in 1888 as he was obliged to work to support his family. He travelled to work at Broken Hill, Coolgardie, and finally Perth where he was a draughtsman in the Mines Department. In 1896 he became a foundation member of the West Australian Society of Arts and Crafts.
In 1901 he left Australia to study art in Europe, where he first spent six months at the Westminster School under Mouat Loudan, but soon left London for Antwerp where he studies at the Academie des Beaux Arts under M.de Vriendt. In 1902 he was awarded a silver medal for life drawing. After spending time in Paris he returned to London. Here he received commissions for portraits as well as making black and white illustrations for magazines such as Pearsons, The Lady’s Realm and The Ladies’ Sphere.
In 1912 he returned to Melbourne where he became a foundation member of the Australian Art Association and participated in many group exhibitions. He moved to Sydney for a short time in the early 1920s, but in 1922 left again for Europe.
On his return in 1928 he built a studio at Heidelberg in Victoria, where he lived for the rest of his life. His last exhibition was in 1938, and in his later years he became increasingly reclusive.
- Writers:
-
Joanna Mendelssohn
- Date written:
- 2012
- Last updated:
- 2012
