Artist Information
Artist
Henry (Harry) Hood (1876-1956)Role
PainterDate made
circa 1930Time Period
20th CenturyNotes
ARTIST BIOGRAPHY
Born in Cupar, Scotland, Henry (Harry) Hood was a Canadian painter who studied drawing and design at the South Kensington School (Royal College of Art) in London, England. He came to Vancouver about 1915 and took a first job as a piano tuner. He was considered to be a major contributor to the early and ongoing art scene in Vancouver, moreso after taking ownership of “The Art Emporium”* in 1926, where he ran a framing and art supply business, and also an art gallery until ca. 1950 that became a favourite hangout for B.C.’s avant-garde artists. Hood's work at this point showed the influence of French Impressionism. He is known for his Modernist-leaning landscapes, and interior figures and still lifes, working in both watercolour and oil.
Hood exhibited widely and often: the 1917 Annual Exhibition of the B.C. Society of Fine Arts; the B.C. Society of Fine Arts annual exhibitions from 1917 to 1967 (the later exhibitions after his death); the Peace Exhibition, Tokyo, Japan in 1921; the Vancouver Annual Exhibition in 1924, 1925 and 1932; the Island Arts and Crafts Society from 1927 to 1930; the Art Institute of Seattle in 1930; the B.C. Artists at the Vancouver Art Gallery from their beginning in 1932 to 1952; and the National Gallery of Canada Traveling Exhibition in 1936. He also exhibited in eastern Canada with the Royal Canadian Academy Spring Exhibitions of the Art Association of Montreal from 1935 to 1940. Hood was also a member of the Federation of Canadian Artists.
* The Art Emporium gallery, started by early Vancouver's top photographer, Philip Timms RPS (1874-1973) in 1897, was one of the earliest art and framing stores in the city, opening on Georgia Street and is certainly the oldest, still operating (as of 2024) on South Granville St. at W. 13th Ave. See Web Links below.