Description
HAROLD HERBERT ELIOTT Nona or Doris Please 32″ x 30′ Signed on Back H.H.Eliott #737 PBW & Van B.C. 1964 Original Oil Painting on Canvas board. Photos of H H.E. come from a local Private Collection Harold Herbert Elliott (1890 – 1968) was a Canadian Artist. After having a heart attack in his Forties, and being told by his Doctor he needed to change his lifestyle, this semi- successful Businessman, who ran a Pickle and Relish Factory on Victoria Drive, started dressing like Rembrandt and Emily Carr… calling himself The Gypsy, and “Painting against Time.” He bragged he painted over 5000 paintings before he died. One Critic stated perhaps Harold Elliott only did 5 paintings in his lifetime, but he executed each one over 1000 times. This is one of those paintings. One of the common themes from a Master who lived as if life is a fairytale. “Nona or Doris Please.” Nona refers to his mentor, and perhaps his lover, B.C. Artist Nona Franks. Doris is his wife. Nona appears on the left. Doris on the right. Harold in the middle.
Harold Herbert Elliott occasionally dressed in drag… in a time when it was daring, dangerous… and probably illegal. He is one of the many forgotten artists of British Columbia.
In his lifetime, he won several art competitions in Seattle and participated in New Talents B.C. 1964 at the VAG curated by Doris Shadbolt. Anyone interested should check out the OR Gallery Biography “Dreaming against Time” by Arni Runar Haraldsson.
