Henry Marvell Carr 1894 - 1970
oil on canvas
height 760mm x width 630mm
a rare self portrait of the artist henry marvell carr. the 1965 royal academy summer exhibition catalogue entry number 96 is for a painting by henry marvell carr titled, portrait of the artist in rome.
henry marvell carr was born in hunslett in 1894. he attended leeds modern school and then at the age of eighteen, leeds art school. in 1914 he was about to enter his final year of his diploma, when war was declared. henry volunteered for the army and served in france with the royal field artillery. he kept sketch books of his experiences at the front which he would send home to his fiancé olive Francis rundle. he was one of the few to survive the entire war. in 1920 he married olive and resumed his studies at art school. he won a place at the royal college of art in 1921 along with fellow leeds students henry moore and barbara hepworth.
henry graduated from the rca in 1922. he pursued his love of art, painting portraits and landscapes, his work regually shown at the royal academy. he taught at beckenham art college for 18 years leaving as its principle.
with the outbreak of the second world war, henry was accepted as an official war artist. initially he painted scenes on the home front. in 1943 he was sent to north africa where he painted the portraits of high ranking officers and generals such as eisenhower, Cunningham, alexander etc., even fellow artist Edward ardizzione. as well as dignitaries such as his highness the bey of Tunis, he painted the portraits of regular soldiers, sailors and airmen, he was passionate that the life and work of every day servicemen should be recorded.
the imperial war museum now has over 70 of henrys war time paintings in its collection. the national maritime museum owning henry carrs famous portrait of the royal navy telegraphist maurice alan easton.
when peace was declared henry resumed his work as an artist and was in strong demand for his portraits. he won many commissions of eminent people of the time, such as princess Margaret ( photograph in the press archive ) who he painted wearing her st. johns ambulance uniform. he was commissioned to paint a mural at salts mill depicting the work of the mill workers. the mural took two years to complete.
henry published books on painting and even pioneered a tv art program demonstrating painting techniques. henry exhibited throughout his life.
he was elected an associate of the royal academy in 1957 and a full member in 1966.
there appears to be an area of retouched paint loss along the bottom of the painting.
