Harley Brown

Indian Princess
Pastel on Linen Paper
12 x 10 inches

Harley Brown is a Canadian painter best known for his depictions of Native Americans in traditional dress. Painting in a realistic style with loose brushwork, Brown manages to maintain a strong attention to detail with the ability to capture the likeness of his subjects with a lively and colorful palette.

  His father was an amateur artist who encouraged his young son from age seven to pursue art, and after graduation from high school, Brown began doing department store window displays for an impressive $150 a month!

   Later, he attended the Alberta College of Art in Calgary, supporting himself by playing piano and selling his drawings door to door. After studying at the Camberwell School of Art in England for two years, Brown began to make a name for himself in Western art, and in 1966, he returned to Canada. Shortly after, he met Bob Morgan, curator of the Montana State Historical Society, who put together a one-man show for Brown. It was a sell-out for all of Brown’s 70 paintings. His career made another leap forward when Brown again received a call from Lougheed to submit some of his work for the 1977 National Academy of Western Art show, where he won a gold medal for drawing.

    He was commissioned to paint Prime Minister Winston Churchill, and has painted many portraits of celebrities, including a portrait of President Ronald Reagan.

  Currently a resident of Tucson, Arizona, Brown is a member of the Northwest Rendezvous Artists, based in Helena, Montana; the National Association of Watercolor Artists; the Oil Painters of America; and the Cowboy Hall of Fame in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. In November 2005, he was made a member of the Cowboy Artists of America. His works are in the collections of the C. M. Russell Museum, the National Cowboy and Western Heritage Museum, and the Gene Autry Museum in Los Angel