Harley Brown, an iconic Canadian artist known for Western and Indigenous portraits, was honored with a lifetime achievement award at the Plein Air Convention & Expo last week in Reno, Nevada. Watch the presentation video here, and help us congratulation him in the Comments section below.
Harley Brown, Canadian Artist Honored
Born in Edmonton, Alberta, in 1939, Harley Brown spent his formative years in Moose Jaw, Saskatchewan with his father Harley Sr., his mother Gertrude, his sister Julie, and his brother Raymond. Harley’s artistic destiny was set in motion at the tender age of seven when his father, an artist himself, showed him a portrait he had drawn of Ronald Colman. Then, Harley knew he’d become a professional artist, thinking, “This is what I want to do for the rest of my life.” His teachers recognized this as well, encouraging him to focus on art over other subjects.
After graduating, his father lovingly gave him five minutes to decide to either get a job and pay rent at home or go to art school. Harley says it took three seconds for him to choose art school and in 1958, he began his studies at the Alberta College of Fine Art in Calgary, where he began to draw and paint the Old West.
Once out of school, he got a peddler’s license and sketched portraits door to door for up to $5 each at a time when the cost of bread was 20 cents a loaf. When a man agreed to a portrait for fifty dollars, Harley offered him ten dollars for every friend who also commissioned a portrait, and soon, his phone was ringing off the hook.
He also played the honky-tonk piano in an eccentric nightclub and often joked that if he hadn’t become an artist, he’d be playing piano in New Orleans. Later, his workshops often included a piano for Harley to entertain his students.
Among his most celebrated subjects are Canada’s Indigenous communities. Harley formed deep relationships in the 1950s, attending PowWows and capturing narratives etched into their faces. To support Indigenous artists, Harley established the Harley Brown Scholarship at the Alberta University of the Arts. This initiative is further supported by the Calgary Stampede Art Auction, where Harley served as Grand Marshal of the parade the same year Prince William and Princess Kate attended.
In the early 1960s Harley moved to England to continue his studies. While still knocking on doors for work, someone selected his iconic portrait “Hawaiian Girl.” With that, he received his first royalty check for $700, marking a major milestone in his career.
Shortly after, Harley’s alter ego came out as an abstract artist known only as Balinofski. Harley describes him as an impulsive artist who loved only two things: painting and his true love, Fleur, who refused to be second to art.
Returning to Calgary in 1966, he sold and showed his art any way he could, from fairgrounds to janitor’s offices and still door-to-door. To take his art to the next level, he needed to commit fully. In a life-altering decision, he gave up drinking, smoking, and partying, dedicating himself entirely to his art, his wife, and his growing family.
Since then, Harley has achieved membership in prestigious organizations such as the National Academy of Western Art, the National Association of Watercolor Artists, the Oil Painters of America, and the Cowboy Hall of Fame. He says, “I learn from every painting I do.”
Harley is a founding member of the Northwest Corridor Rendezvous Artists and one of the original members of the acclaimed Tucson 7 artist group. Harley even had his hands and footprints cemented in Canada’s Walk of Fame. He considers his membership in the Cowboy Artists of America a pivotal moment in his career, and has fond memories of creating cover illustrations for Filmfax magazine and others.
Earlier this year, he was surrounded by family with the passing of his wife Carol, his muse and partner in all things art and life – the balance in Harley’s world. Today, Harley continues to inspire through his art and mentorship.
Often referred to as “Canada’s gift to all artists,” Harley embodies the values of collaboration, inclusion, and generosity.
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