GEORGE HARVEY

Born in Tottenham, England, George Harvey was a versatile painter who executed miniatures, large landscapes and flower paintings. Many consider him the earliest flower specialist in America. In 1820, the artist visited America. He wrote in his journal that “he found himself in the remote wilds of the New World, hunting and trapping, scribbling poetry, drawing and sketching.” After two years in the West, he returned to New York City and Boston. By 1829, he had completed approximately 400 portrait miniatures. He also did delicate watercolor studies revealing precisely delineated expanses of landscapes. Harvey traveled between England and America from that time forward, living in both places. In 1835, he bought land along the Hudson River, where he built a home and continued to record the American landscape, predominantly in watercolor. He also helped his friend Washington Irving in the design and decoration of his home “Sunnyside” in Tarrytown. As Harvey continued to paint in America, he consciously increased his use of light, in deference to the clarity of hue he found in this country. His technique remained English. Most of his still lifes are floral pieces. In 1838, Harvey hoped to publish 40 of his delicate and charming landscapes by subscription, accompanied by a text he had written which was edited by Washington Irving. The cost of the engravings was enormous and only 250 copies with four scenes were published in 1841. He also produced 20 watercolors for an unpublished series of phases of the day and year are in the collection of the New York Historical Society.