Harry (Henry) Fletcher (1901 – 1989) gained a local reputation for his commissioned portrait paintings, see him looking at an example of his work above, ‘The Cellist’, depicting the Bradford cellist, Douglas Bentley. He also painted other subjects, including landscapes, in a range of styles, see examples below, and was an art teacher at the Bradford School of Art.
Christened Harry, (he later used the name Henry in his professional life), he was born the 27th January 1901 at Bradford and was raised by his parents, father, Harry, a draper, and mother, Sarah, a dressmaker. There were two younger siblings and the family lived in the Little Horton area of the city, where Harry attended a local school.
Showing an aptitude for art, he studied initially at Bradford College of Art (1915-18) under the tutelage of Fred Stead. Harry gained a scholarship to continue his studies initially at the Royal College of Art (RCA), and later on a travelling scholarship to Paris. Whilst in London, he also studied art at St. Martin’s School of Art, London.
Harry returned to Bradford to teach drawing and painting at Bradford School of Art. He married Kathleen, a local hairdresser, and they lived initially at Burnett Avenue, Little Horton, Bradford, but moved later to The Grove, Baildon.
Still Life with Fruit. Image: in a private collection.
Still Life, Flowers. Image: in a private collection.
He exhibited his own work regionally, including at Cartwright Hall, as well as at national shows of the Royal Academy, and the Royal Society of British Artists. He also showed at the prestigious Groupil Salon, New Burlington Galleries, London, where at the Summer Exhibition, 1939, his portrait, ‘Girl in a Red Cap’ gained favourable reviews. He also painted a portrait of a fellow Bradford artist, James Arundel, shown below.
Portrait of the Bradford artist, James Arundel. Image by courtesy of Frederick Marfleet, grandson of James Arundel.
Harry Fletcher’s painting, ‘Surgeon Performing an Operation‘ (circa 1926), shown below, shows a style influenced by the Vorticist Art Movement and is in the Wellcome Library Collection, London.
He died, aged 88, at Staincliffe, in the Kirklees district of West Yorkshire.