1930-2015 – After studies at the West Sussex College of Art and the Brighton College of Art in England, Donald Harvey eventually immigrated to Canada in 1958. He settled in Regina, quickly becoming involved in the arts scene there and serving as Executive Secretary of the Saskatchewan Arts Board from 1958-1961. He later moved to Victoria, BC, joining the University of Victoria’s Education Department, and together with colleague John Dobereiner, founding the Visual Arts Department in 1966. Throughout his 30-year teaching career at UVic, Harvey maintained both a rigorous teaching schedule and professional artistic practice.
Harvey began exhibiting work in the mid-1950s. His paintings, prints and drawings received significant international recognition, and his work was exhibited in the National Gallery of Canada, the Art Gallery of Greater Victoria, the Seattle Art Museum and the Musee d’art contemporain de Montreal. His work is part of UVic’s permanent collection. He retired from teaching in 1992 and died in Victoria in 2015.
Death Year
2015
Image Dimensions (inches/centimetres)
Image Height (inches)
14.5
Image Width (inches)
20
Image Width (centimetres)
59
Image Height (centimetres)
37
Acquisition Type
Purchase
Essays
British born artist Donald Harvey’s works in watercolour and acrylics were at first largely non-representational. His later images drew from nature, communicating ideas about the relationship between the natural and built environments. He was at the forefront of abstract painting experimentation in the 1960s and 1970s in Victoria, BC.
