Charlotte Harris (born 1981 in

Ashford, Kent Ashford is a town in the county of Kent, England. It lies on the River Stour, Kent, River Great Stour at the southern or Escarpment, scarp edge of the North Downs, about southeast of central London and northwest of Folkestone by road. In the ...

) is a

portrait A portrait is a portrait painting, painting, portrait photography, photograph, sculpture, or other artistic representation of a person, in which the face and its expressions are predominant. The intent is to display the likeness, Personality type ...

artist who currently works from her studio in

Folkestone Folkestone ( ) is a port town on the English Channel, in Kent, south-east England. The town lies on the southern edge of the North Downs at a valley between two cliffs. It was an important harbour and shipping port for most of the 19th and 20t ...

Biography

Harris studied at

Leeds Metropolitan University Leeds Beckett University (LBU), formerly known as Leeds Metropolitan University (LMU) and before that as Leeds Polytechnic, is a public university in Leeds, West Yorkshire, England. It has campuses in the city centre and Headingley. The univ ...

, during which time she worked as a studio assistant for the artist Tom Wood, whose work is featured in the collection of the National Portrait Gallery, London. At the age of 21, she won the

BP Portrait Award The BP Portrait Award is an annual portraiture competition held at the National Portrait Gallery in London, England. It is the successor to the John Player Portrait Award. It is the most important portrait prize in the world, and is reputedly ...

in 2003 with a painting of her grandmother, described by Director, Sandy Nairne as "extraordinary and telling". She turned professional later that year after graduating with a 1st class Honours degree in Fine Art. The following year she exhibited in the Hunting Art Prize and at the Hart Gallery in Islington, London. The award-winning painting was purchased by Leeds Metropolitan University and is on display in the university buildings. Harris's first commission was that of

Vernon Scannell Vernon Scannell (23 January 1922 – 16 November 2007) was a British poet and author. He was at one time a professional boxer, and wrote novels about the sport. Personal life Vernon Scannell, whose birth name was John Vernon Bain, was born in ...

, writer and poet, who died in November 2007. Recent commissions have included a portrait of

Hans Rausing Hans Anders Rausing, KBE (25 March 1926 – 30 August 2019) was a Swedish industrialist and philanthropist based in the United Kingdom. He made his fortune from his co-inheritance of Tetra Pak, a company founded by his father Ruben Rausing, and ...

, publisher, anthropologist and philanthropist and founder of the Sigrid Rausing Trust. Harris’s portrait of the Rt. Rev. Richard Harries, Bishop of Oxford, was unveiled in April 2006 following a special service to mark the Bishop’s retirement. Commissioned to portray the Artistic Director of the Bavarian State Theatre, Harris’s painting of Sir Peter Jonas was unveiled in July 2006 at a ceremony in Munich. As part of the BP Prize, Harris was commissioned to portray Dame Vivien Duffield and this piece is now part of the National Portrait Gallery's collection. In 2007 Harris completed two further commissions for the Leeds Metropolitan University – ''Portrait of Emma Beith outside Carnegie Hall'' and ''Portrait of Leanne Creighton, Louise Sweeney and Anne-Marie Watkinson''. Both portraits feature outgoing sabbatical officers from the Student Union at the university and were commissioned as part of the celebrations marking the University’s centenary year. Harris's most recent commission features Frank Brake, joint-founder of the wholesale food company

Brake Bros Ltd Brakes (previously known as ‘Brake Bros Ltd’) is a food and distribution company supplying food, drink and other products mainly to the catering industry in the UK through more than 20 distribution centres. It provides delivered wholesale ...

References

External links

Artist's Home Page

Leeds Metropolitan University

National Portrait Gallery - Charlotte Harris

{{DEFAULTSORT:Harris, Charlotte 1981 births Living people People from Ashford, Kent Alumni of Leeds Beckett University BP Portrait Award winners English women painters English portrait painters 21st-century British women artists 21st-century English women 21st-century English people