A Harley Brown portrait is a must have for any serious collector of western art.
Born in Edmonton, Alberta Canada, Harley Brown was encouraged early in life to pursue art. After high school, he enrolled in the College of Art in Calgary, but quickly became disillusioned by the abstract focus of his classes.He started selling his drawings door to door, while supplementing his income by playing piano professionally. Ready for a change, Harley, his wife, and young son moved to England, where he studied art for two years and began making a name for himself in western art.Canadian born Harley Brown is recognized as one of the most accomplished artists in the field of pastel and oil portraiture.He has studied at both the Alberta College of Art and the Camberwell School of Art in London. It was at this time that he was commissioned to paint then Prime Minister Winston Churchill.
Harley has conducted hundreds of workshops and demonstrations both in the United States and abroad, and currently resides in Tucson, Arizona as a well respected member of the National Academy of Western Art and Western Rendezvous of Art.
Returning to Canada in 1966, Harley struggled to get his work accepted by galleries and finally held his first solo exhibition of seventy paintings at the Montana State Historical Society in 1973. It was a sell-out exhibition. Today, Harley has garnered an impressive following and continues to create his works from his home and studio in Arizona.
You can read more about Harley Brown and view additional work in his book “Confessions of a Starving Artist: Art and Life of Harley Brown”.