Lawren Phillips Harris - Meet the Artists (Menu H to Z) - Canadian War Artists - Exhibitions

Born in Toronto in 1910, he was the son of Lawren Stewart Harris, a member of the Group of Seven. His father taught him the rudiments of art. He then continued his studies at the Central Technical School in Toronto and the school of the Boston Museum of Fine Arts. In February 1941, he enlisted as an officer in the Armoured Corps and served in Canada, the United Kingdom and Italy. He was an official war artist from December 1943 to June 1946. He painted portraits in oil and scenes of the battles at Ortona and the Liri Valley.

After returning from Europe, he taught at the Northern Vocational School in Toronto (1938 to 1940), and at Trinity College School in Port Hope, Ontario (1940 to 1941). In 1946, he became Director of the School of Fine and Applied Arts at Mount Allison University in Sackville, New Brunswick. He became an associate member of the Royal Canadian Academy of Arts in 1947 and a full member in 1966. He died in Ottawa in 1994.

PA-116593
Captain Lawren Phillips Harris sketching the ruins of Ortona, Italy.