Harry Bunce

Harry was born in an idyllic Hampshire village. His family were builders and each Summer he worked as a labourer, but (as something of a shock to the Bunce family) Harry showed great promise as an artist. He moved west to the city of Bristol to study Fashion and Textile design but was inexorably drawn to return to his rural roots, and to his first love – making pictures.

Having decamped to Somerset he set about painting characters he remembered from childhood, drawing from folk, artisan ‘low’ art rather than urban, intellectual ‘high’ art, his work instantly connected with the British public. By reclaiming and reinventing them, Harry breathed new life into these old friends. Cute? Maybe, but they’re seldom completely cuddly.

His work with screen printing gurus Screen One (Banksy, Nick Walker etc.), has been described as ‘Bucolic Street Art’, where as his current Happy Year series has been compared to the work of Beatrix Potter. Always the outsider, Harry is hard to pigeonhole, he lets his characters do the talking.

Harry often raises environmental concerns and is a fierce defender of the countryside. He has contributed to projects with Greenpeace (2014) and Keep Britain Tidy (2020).

He now works from rural Somerset. His 2020 solo show Harry Bunce / On Hold was a sell-out, and Harry has recently shown at the Saatchi Gallery, London.

O% Finance available on all Harry Bunce original works – ask for details