BRITISH COLUMBIA ARTISTS  

Henry (Harry) Meadows Cowper

October 21 1887 - December 14 1975

Vancouver Sketch Club


Harry Cowper was born in New Westminster in 1887. He exhibited with the Island Arts and Crafts Society from 1912 to 1914. He later showed work with the Vancouver Sketch Club in 1923 and 1924, in exhibitions held at the club rooms at 342 West Pender Street.

He married Pearl Ethel Mable in Victoria on October 30, 1910. He died in Victoria on December 14, 1975 at the age of 87. He is most unusual for an early artist in B.C., in that all three vital statistics (birth, marriage, death) are registered with B.C. Vital Statistics.


GROUP EXHIBITIONS
DATE EXHIBITION ARTWORK
1923 December Sketch Club    Semi-Annual Exhibition (3 seascapes)
1924 February 2 Sketch Club    Monthly Exhibition (night scene on water with steamer)
1924 July Sketch Club    Midsummer Exhibition The Clipper
1924 September Sketch Club    September Exhibition (sailing ship)

References

ISLAND ARTS & CRAFTS CLUB 5th ANNUAL EXHIBITION (refer to IACS14)

ISLAND ARTS AND CRAFTS SOCIETY - List of Exhibitors

B.C. VITAL STATISTICS ON-LINE birth, marriage, death (refer to BCVS)

Clippings

"The art of Harry Cowper, the sailor-artist, was exemplified by three seascapes, one, a picture of a tall sailing ship weathering a storm, we are informed was started on board ship on the Atlantic, and finished at the club rooms here in Vancouver. His wonderful paintings of sky and sea betray him as one who has lived on and studied old ocean in all its moods."
      From "Sketch Club Semi-Annual Art Exhibition"
      B.C. Ladies' Mirror, December 15 1923

"The night scene on the water is Mr. Cowper's work. The moon showing through black clouds, dark waves crested with silver, the twinkling lights of the steamer, all seem to tell of the crystal poetry of night."
      From "Impressions of the Sketch Club" by Alice M. Winlow
      British Columbia Monthly, March 1924

"Mr. Cowper has contributed an oil painting full of life, called "The Clipper." It is a fine study of windy cloud, choppy sea, and a clever effect of light upon the sails."
      From "The Midsummer Exhibit of the Vancouver Sketch Club" by Bertha Lewis
      British Columbia Monthly, July 1924

"Water of indigo, purple, blue, green. Darkened here with shadow, and filled there with a ghostly light. Crested with foam. The romance of a sailing ship. Mr. Cowper's Marine Views are always an attraction in the exhibit."
      From "September Exhibition of the Vancouver Sketch Club" by Alice M. Winlow
      British Columbia Monthly, September 1924

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