Harry Britton ( 1878-1958 ) RCA
Title “Moonrise”
Size: 12″x 16″ ( 19 1/4″ x 23 1/4″ framed )………. SOLD!!!
British born Canadian artist Harry Britton studied in Toronto under the well-regarded marine artist Farquhar McGillivray Knowles from 1902-08. During this period he started exhibiting at the RCA with his first admission in 1905, then four works in 1906, five in 1907 and in 1908 he was elected an associate member of the academy. To further his studies in 1908 he moved to England enrolling at the Heatherley’s School of Art in London, known for its portraiture and figurative painting and he also spent time at the London Art School. Moving to St. Ives, Cornwall, a marine painter’s paradise with its diverse coastal scenery and readily available studio spaces, Britton held art classes. Here he met and married student Henrietta Hancock a British born Canadian who also exhibited at the RCA and was well known for her portraits, landscapes and marine paintings. Harry Britton was still exhibiting at the RCA while residing in the UK and may have received help from his mentor McGillivray Knowles handling his paintings for exhibition. Records with the Royal Canadian Academy show Britton sharing the same Toronto address as Knowles both in 1909 to 1911, 340 Bloor St W, Toronto and 1912 -1913, 278 Bloor St W, Toronto.
Around 1914 the Brittons returned to Canada where Harry provided private art lessons in Toronto. From 1916 to 1918 Britton first taught watercolour technique and basic oil painting to A. J. Casson, a future Group of Seven member. Casson viewed Britton as the best marine artist Canada ever had.
In 1921 the couple returned to the Cornwall region of England and travelled within Europe. Examining Britton’s exhibited paintings at the Royal Canadian Academy provides some record of his European travels. From 1910 to 1926 there were numerous St. Ives and Cornish titled works, Capri titles in 1914, 1915 and 1919, Dutch in 1920 and French in 1922.
In 1925 the couple moved to Nova Scotia eventually residing in the town of Amherst. The shores of Bay of Fundy and Atlantic Coast offered fertile painting grounds with Lunenburg harbour frequently depicted.
Harry Britton was finally elected an RCA member in 1934. In the late thirties the couple moved back to Toronto and he would continue exhibiting at the academy until 1946. The artist was briefly a member of the Ontario Society of Artist from 1907-08 and did exhibit annually from 1903 to 1921, 1928-30 and 1935-36. However, between the years 1907-09, nine members resigned from the OSA of which Harry Britton was the second last to secede.
Harry Britton passed away in 1958.
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