Evelyn HARKE
Miss Evelyn Harke (fl.1899-1930)
Painter of mainly working horses. Lived in London and showed at the RA, SWA, GI, Walker Art Gallery, Liverpool and at the London Salon. She exhibited two paintings of horses at St Ives in the Summer of 1914 and she painted at Étaples around 1907. The art colony at Étaples had its heyday between 1880 - 1914, after which it was disrupted by World War I. Although broadly international, it was made up mainly of English-speakers from North America, Australasia and the British Isles. While some artists settled in the area, other visitors stayed only a season, or an even shorter time, as they journeyed from art colony to art colony along the coasts of Normandy and Brittany. Her painting "A Corner of the Market, Étaples" was a Royal Academy exhibit in 1907. Her address in 1907 was given as: Miss E Harke, 113 Church Road, Upper Norwood, London.
There is uncertainty over the birth and death dates of this artist and we would be pleased to receive evidence of these.
A correspondent (2019) has been in touch to tell us that her father, a US Air Force pilot, befriended Evelyn Harke and her sister during World War II, in 1944. He was given a number of paintings by her.
media
Painter, primarily of working horses
works and access
Works include:
"A Corner of the Market, Étaples" (No.154, Royal Academy, 1907).
"The Ploughing Team, Sussex Downs" (Private Collection / Bourne Gallery, Reigate, Surrey / The Bridgeman Art Library)
"Horse feeding" (Bonhams, London, Lot 71, 09-25-2007)
"The Ploughman's Rest" (David Lay, Penzance, Lot 224, 07-12-2007)
"The Ploughing Team, a Team of four Horses" (W.H. Lane & Son, Penzance, Lot 55, 10-25-2001)
"Midday Rest" (Bonhams, London, Lot 242, 03-20-2001)
"The Plough Team" (Phillips, London, Lot 69, 01-22-1991)
exhibitions
St Ives (2) July 1914
references
St Ives Times 17 Jul 1914
Hardie (2009) Artists in Newlyn and West Cornwall (p328)
Whybrow (1994) St Ives (1911-20 list pp 216-18)
Hayle Gallery (2013 research note)