“Our Children: Reflections of Childhood in Historical Canadian Art”, Varley Art Gallery, Markham, 13 April - 23 June 2019
“Collectors’ Treasures II / Trésors des collectionneurs II”, Galerie Eric Klinkhoff, Montreal, 24 October-7 November 2020, no. 23
Literature
Canadian painter Robert Harris began his formal artistic training in 1873 at the Lowell Institute in Boston, despite already being recognized as a talented portrait artist. He continued to study in London and in Paris, working with a group of young painters at the Atelier Bonnat under Léon Bonnat, a prominent academic painter of historical scenes. It was in Paris with Bonnat where Harris was exposed firsthand to the flourishing French impressionist style. In 1879 he returned to his hometown of Charlottetown, but soon relocated to Toronto, which provided more opportunity for a young artist.
In Toronto, Harris took on many commissions, including “Young Miss Fowler”, depicting a fashionably dressed young girl. The sitter wears an extravagant attire consisting of a blue taffeta dress with a lace-trimmed yoke and large velvet bow. Resting on her golden blonde locks is a wide-brimmed straw hat with a large white feather band. Her lavish clothing, in addition to the fact that she had an individual portrait done at such a young age, suggests that Miss Fowler’s family was of a high socioeconomic status. Harris’ painting displays a subtle stylistic influence of Impressionism, with a pastel colour palette, loose brushstrokes in the dress, as well as a bright, warm light emanating from the canvas.
“Young Miss Fowler’ was completed in 1881, as Harris was beginning to see continuing success and financial stability. Later that year, the artist took another extended trip to Europe, this time to England, France and Italy. He rented a studio outside Paris and in 1883 the artist exhibited at the Paris Salon.
