Harold Speed (1872-1957)

Artist of 9 portraits
A portrait and landscape painter, and writer on art. Initially studying architecture at the Royal College of Art in 1887, he turned to painting, and won a gold medal for life school studies in 1890. He continued his training at the Royal Academy Schools from 1891 to 1896, where in 1893 he was awarded a gold medal and a travelling scholarship that took him to Belgium, France, Italy and Spain. He exhibited his work at the Royal Academy for fifty years from 1893, and became a Member of the Royal Society of Portrait Painters 1895. He was the author of a number of books on art including The Science and Practice of Drawing (1913), The Science and Practice of Oil Painting (1924) and What is the Good of Art? (1936).