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Harold Thornton
Harold Leslie Thornton (1915 – 7 April 2005), also known as "Harold The Kangaroo Thornton", was an Australian artist. He is known for his eccentric personality and for his portrait of environmentalist Bob Brown, titled Dr Brown and Green Old Time Waltz, which was a finalist in the 1983 Archibald Prize. Four other paintings were finalists in the prize, but he did not gain widespread recognition during his lifetime. He spent several years in Amsterdam in the 1970s, where his mural outside the first Bulldog coffeeshop is still a tourist attraction.
Harold Leslie Thornton was born in 1915 in the Sydney suburb of Enfield. His mother treated him harshly. He suffered from dyslexia and was bullied at school.
Thornton undertook a number of jobs before deciding to become an artist. He attended both Desiderius Orban's art school and the Julian Ashton Art School in Sydney.
Thornton was a prolific painter, and his art career spanned more than 60 years, from traditional portraits and landscapes, to surrealist-type art. He painted in psychedelic style, with bright colours, and some art commentators classify his later works as Naïve art. He was an early Australian proponent of using bold, bright colours.
Thornton became well known in Amsterdam in the early 1970s. In 1975 he painted a mural on The Bulldog, a cannabis coffee shop, which remains a tourist attraction. It has been called "The Bulldog No.90 mural" because of its address at Number 90 Oudezijds Voorburgwal. It is also a heritage site protected by the Netherlands National Trust.
His friend, Pienke WH Kal, published a monograph titled The colourful life of Harold Leslie Thornton alias the Kangaroo, 1915-2004 (2015), which was compiled and edited by Willem Campschreur. He also spent some years in London, where he painted cartoons, before returning to Amsterdam.
Thornton's most productive years were during the 1980s in Sydney. His psychedelic-style portrait of environmentalist Bob Brown, titled Dr Brown and Green Old Time Waltz, was an Archibald Prize finalist in 1983. Other subjects of his portraits included actor Roy Rene (1948) and politician Al Grassby (1982).
He painted a picture of his father on his deathbed, which he continued to finish after his father had died.
Harold Thornton
Harold Leslie Thornton (1915 – 7 April 2005), also known as "Harold The Kangaroo Thornton", was an Australian artist. He is known for his eccentric personality and for his portrait of environmentalist Bob Brown, titled Dr Brown and Green Old Time Waltz, which was a finalist in the 1983 Archibald Prize. Four other paintings were finalists in the prize, but he did not gain widespread recognition during his lifetime. He spent several years in Amsterdam in the 1970s, where his mural outside the first Bulldog coffeeshop is still a tourist attraction.
Harold Leslie Thornton was born in 1915 in the Sydney suburb of Enfield. His mother treated him harshly. He suffered from dyslexia and was bullied at school.
Thornton undertook a number of jobs before deciding to become an artist. He attended both Desiderius Orban's art school and the Julian Ashton Art School in Sydney.
Thornton was a prolific painter, and his art career spanned more than 60 years, from traditional portraits and landscapes, to surrealist-type art. He painted in psychedelic style, with bright colours, and some art commentators classify his later works as Naïve art. He was an early Australian proponent of using bold, bright colours.
Thornton became well known in Amsterdam in the early 1970s. In 1975 he painted a mural on The Bulldog, a cannabis coffee shop, which remains a tourist attraction. It has been called "The Bulldog No.90 mural" because of its address at Number 90 Oudezijds Voorburgwal. It is also a heritage site protected by the Netherlands National Trust.
His friend, Pienke WH Kal, published a monograph titled The colourful life of Harold Leslie Thornton alias the Kangaroo, 1915-2004 (2015), which was compiled and edited by Willem Campschreur. He also spent some years in London, where he painted cartoons, before returning to Amsterdam.
Thornton's most productive years were during the 1980s in Sydney. His psychedelic-style portrait of environmentalist Bob Brown, titled Dr Brown and Green Old Time Waltz, was an Archibald Prize finalist in 1983. Other subjects of his portraits included actor Roy Rene (1948) and politician Al Grassby (1982).
He painted a picture of his father on his deathbed, which he continued to finish after his father had died.
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