THE first retrospective of the artworks Rolf Harris, goes on display at the Walker Art Gallery, this summer.
Titled: Rolf Harris: Can You Tell What It Is Yet?, it features paintings, and memorabilia from the UK’s best selling published artist and well loved entertainer.
Sneered by fine art critics for being sentimental, the 82-year-old's works have nevertheless become popular in the art buyer's market and two years were up for sale at Rennes Gallery on Bold Street commanding - and fetching - high prices
The original works on display at the Walker- including paintings, drawings, lithographs, cartoons and sculptures - range from Harris's early days as a student to paintings he created at lightning speed in front of a TV camera. The exhibition also includes some of his most well known pieces, such as his portrait of The Queen, painted in 2005 to mark her 80thbirthday the following year.
)This is the first major UK exhibition to explore his life and work. It displays the various ways he has succeeded in bringing art into the lives of millions of people both here in the UK and abroad, from Rolf on Art, his popular BBC TV programme, which covered the lives and techniques of many great artists such as Rembrandt, Vermeer, Gainsborough and van Gogh, to his own work.
Alongside will be a large array of artefacts and memorabilia including objects from his childhood to the present day. From Australian Junior Backstroke Champion to singer and award-winning television presenter and artist, the items on display are as diverse – unusual musical instruments, paint splattered jeans, awards, photos, papers, album covers, TV clips and many more!
Rolf says: “This is hugely exciting for me. I’ve been drawing, painting and singing as long as I can remember and to see so many of my life’s endeavours together in one exhibition is hard for me to believe. With all the other ‘Rolf’ related items, gathered from as far afield as Australia, this promises to be like a tapestry of my life.”
*Rolf Harris, Can You Tell What It is Yet, Walker Art Gallery, Liverpool, from 19 May to 12 August 2012.
