George Harcourt

Inscriptionback to top

Inscr. in pencil lower left: ‘Geo Harcourt / 96’;
in pencil (another hand) upper right: ‘unfixed drawing do not rub’.
On reverse inscr. in pencil: ‘George Harcourt / By Himself’.

This portraitback to top

An article on the sitter published in the Magazine of Art in early 1897 praised his work for ‘fulness of colour and amplitude of line’ and compared his artistic idealism to that of George Frederic Watts.[1] This drawing, reproduced with the text, was probably executed to accompany the article; it was retained by the writer, Marion Harry Spielmann. It appears to convey perfectly the artist’s self-effacing manner – his chin and mouth are virtually undefined, blending into the shadow behind the head.

To his pupils Harcourt presented an unworldly demeanour. ‘In speech he invariably suggested a mind that was not bothered by generalities or superficialities. A mind completely serene, never ruffled, never jealous and always placid … though I have recently been told that he would become agitated if late for an appointment.’[2]

Dr Jan Marsh

Footnotesback to top

1) Spielmann 1897.
2) Bernard Adams, foreword to Harcourt 1949, p.3.

Physical descriptionback to top

Head-and-shoulders, profile to left.

Conservationback to top

Mounted and conserved 1984

Provenanceback to top

M.H. Spielmann, by whom presented 1939.

Reproductionsback to top

Magazine of Art, February 1897, p.233 (engr. by A[ndré] & S[leigh]).

View all known portraits for George Harcourt