Apart from one brief period abroad, Harold Harvey was one of the few Newlyn artists to spend his entire life in Cornwall. A descendant of considerable Cornish lineage, Harvey was the son of a bank manager and grew up in Penzance during the 1870s and 80s when Newlyn was fast becoming an artist colony.
After studying under Norman Garstin and showing promise, Harvey went to Paris in the late 1890s where he studied at the Atelier Julien, working there under Constant and Laurens. Once his studies were completed Harvey returned to Cornwall, where he met and married Gertrude Bodinar, a local girl and a painter of some considerable talent in her own right.
Harvey's early work was strongly influenced by the Newlyn School and in particular by the painter, Stanhope Forbes. However, Harvey soon moved away from using these early muted colours and began to use a brighter palette. His paintings became very clear as if painted in bright sunshine.
From 1915 Harvey's style matured as he moved away from his earlier subject matter, painting sophisticated interiors featuring his wife and fellow artists as models. These were painted in a flatter, decorative style reflecting the influence of Dod Procter and in sharp contrast to his earlier work.
Despite his talent and huge output, Harold Harvey never fully received the recognition he deserved. His first of many exhibits at the Royal Academy was in 1898 and he exhibited there continuously from 1907 until his death in 1941. Throughout his professional life he regularly exhibited at the Newlyn Art Gallery as well as one-man shows held at the Leicester Galleries in 1918, 1920 and 1926, the Medoza Galleries and Barbizon House, often sharing his London shows with Gertrude.