Biography
Although Rolf is best known for his huge TV paintings, artwork and his on-screen cartoons, he has a serious background in fine art and has exhibited at the prestigious London Royal Academy.
In 2000 Harris received honorary membership from the Royal Society of British Artists, joining a distinguished list that includes names such as Sir Winton Churchill and James McNeil Whistler.
Before his days of TV infamy, He was formally trained in art in the UK, attending the City and Guilds Art School at Kennington in the early '50s. As he matured as an artist, Harris began to develop his own characteristic, free style, making a name for himself on his own television series when he effortlessly produced huge paintings in a short space of time.
Tackling the corrugated sheet of COLORBOND® steel was a classic for the maverick who has in the past turned sheets of tin into musical instruments.
"I had been given all the instructions for preparing the surface," says Rolf from his home in London."But I wondered how it was going to work. I kept putting it off, thinking of how I would approach it to get the most effect from the corrugations. Then having sanded it lightly and cleaned it with acetone, I found it a total delight to work on, a great experiment and quite thrilling.
"I used acrylics, TV scenic paints, which are very colourful," he says. "I won't say what I have done, just that you have to look at the finished work in a particular way to tell what it is.... It is a mysterious multiple image Australian Bush scene." As with everything he tackles his COLORBOND® steel work is a unique object from a man who creates a little magic with everything he tackles. Whether it be singer, songwriter, musician, recording artist, television personality, painter, cartoonist, author or comedian, it is always distinctly Rolf Harris.
In 1968 Harris was awarded the MBE, in 1977 the OBE, and on Australia Day in 1989 he was made a Member of the Order of Australia in recognition of his "unique talents and services to so many individuals and causes" and for "services to the community as an entertainer".
| 
