Harley Brown

Harley Brown was born in 1939 in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. Brown began education early on; his father was an amateur artist who encouraged him from a young age, around seven, to pursue art. Following his father's advice after graduating high school, Brown began doing window displays for department stores. Later on, Brown attended the Alberta College of Art in Calgary. To support himself and his education Brown would play the piano and sell his drawings door to door. For two years Brown studied at the Camberwell School of Art in England and began to create a name for himself in western art. In 1966 Brown returned to his native Canada. Following his return, Brown met Bob Morgan, the curator of the Montana State Historical Society, who put together a show for Harley which ended in a sell-out of his seventy paintings in the show. Shortly after the show, Brown took another leap forward in the art world: he received a call from Robert Lougheed to submit his work to the 1977 National Academy of Western Art Show. From this show, Brown won a gold medal for drawing. Eventually, Brown was commissioned to paint Prime Minister Winston Churchill, after which he painted a large number of other celebrities including former President Ronald Reagan. Brown is currently a resident of Tuscon, Arizona. He is a member of the Northwest Rendezvous Artists based in Helena, Montana. Brown is also a practicing member of the National Association of Watercolor Artists; the Oil Painters of America; and the Cowboy Hall of Fame in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. His works are featured in many museums.