Harry Fidler (1856–1935) was a British painter known for including farm animals and especially horses in his impressionistic paintings, typically using heavy impasto. He married Laura Clunas (d. 1936), who was an artist with a similar style.

Life

Fidler was born to a farming career in Wiltshire in 1856, in

Teffont Magna Teffont Magna, sometimes called Upper Teffont, is a small village and former civil parish in the Nadder valley in the south of the county of Wiltshire, England. For most of its history Teffont Magna was a chapelry of neighbouring Dinton. In 1 ...

. He did not train as an artist until his early thirties. He was the ninth of ten children with a number of artistically gifted siblings. Fidler attended Herkomer's School at Bushey which was a Hertfordshire school later well known for animal painting. Herkomer boasted of the wide variety of styles of his students who were encouraged to paint from life and ignore intellectual art theories.Harry Fidler
Walker Galleries, retrieved October 2013 His students included William Nicholson and

Lucy Kemp-Welch Lucy Elizabeth Kemp-Welch (20 June 1869 – 27 November 1958) was a British artist and teacher who specialised in painting horses. Though increasingly overlooked after the Second World War, from the late 1890s to the mid 1920s she was one o ...

Clearing the Potato Field by Harry Fidler

On a second visit to Bushey in 1898, Fidler met and married Laura Clunas. (according to another source they did not marry until 1918). Fidler had a studio in an old Methodist Chapel in

and their first home was in Salisbury. He and his wife visited the Art Society in St Ives, Fidler painted there and they may have been members. Fidler frequently included farm animals and especially working horses in his paintings with a heavy style. He frequently used poor quality canvas and inadequate ground which means that his work can require early restoration. He joined the

Royal Institute of Oil Painters The Royal Institute of Oil Painters, also known as ROI, is an association of painters in London, England, and is the only major art society which features work done only in oil. It is a member society of the Federation of British Artists. Histor ...

and the

Royal Society of British Artists The Royal Society of British Artists (RBA) is a British art body established in 1823 as the Society of British Artists, as an alternative to the Royal Academy. History The RBA commenced with twenty-seven members, and took until 1876 to reach fif ...

. He successfully exhibited several large canvases at the

Royal Academy The Royal Academy of Arts (RA) is an art institution based in Burlington House on Piccadilly in London. Founded in 1768, it has a unique position as an independent, privately funded institution led by eminent artists and architects. Its pur ...

. Fidler died at

Stoke Stoke is a common place name in the United Kingdom. Stoke may refer to: Places United Kingdom The largest city called Stoke is Stoke-on-Trent in Staffordshire. See below. Berkshire * Stoke Row, Berkshire Bristol * Stoke Bishop * Stok ...

near

Andover Andover may refer to: Places Australia * Andover, Tasmania Canada * Andover Parish, New Brunswick * Perth-Andover, New Brunswick United Kingdom * Andover, Hampshire, England ** RAF Andover, a former Royal Air Force station United States * Ando ...

in 1935. He has paintings in several public collections including Derby Museum, the

Potteries Museum & Art Gallery The Potteries Museum & Art Gallery is in Bethesda Street, Hanley, one of the six towns of Stoke-on-Trent in Staffordshire. Admission is free. One of the four local authority museums in the city, the other three being Gladstone Pottery Museum ...

, Watford Museum, the Smith Art Gallery at Brighouse and the

Grundy Art Gallery The Grundy is an art gallery located in Blackpool, Lancashire, England. Its eclectic programme consists of regional historic to recent contemporary art exhibitions. Opened in 1911, it is owned and operated by Blackpool Council. It is a Grade ...

in Blackpool. Harry and his wife Laura have paintings at Cartwright Hall, the art gallery in Bradford. Laura Fidler died in 1936 and her work has on occasion been wrongly attributed to her husband.478: LAURA CLUNAS, LATER LAURA FIDLER (ENGLISH, D.1936)
LiveAuctioneers, accessed October 2013

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Fidler, Harry 1856 births 1935 deaths People from Wiltshire 19th-century English painters English male painters 20th-century English painters 20th-century English male artists 19th-century English male artists