Harold Hope Read (1881 – 1959)

Harold Hope Read was born into a family of Greenwich Quakers, and his father was an Independent Minister. Little is known of Read’s life, but by 1901 he was an art student, and during that decade he lived in various parts of London. By 1910 he had moved to Kemptown, Brighton, and in 1933 settled in his Victorian basement flat at 33a Queens Road, Tunbridge Wells where he lived with his housekeeper and mistress Hilda. She, along with a ‘trademark’ small dog, and the grandly Edwardian local department store Hoopers, may often be found in Read’s work. Considered by his family as the Black Sheep, Read seems to have struggled to earn his living from illustration, applying for help with his rent from his wealthier brothers. Nevertheless, Read had the support of his patron, Charles Rutheston, and his many commissions included Punch and the Folio Society, while his work was widely exhibited, including at the Royal Academy. Read may justifiably be considered the Edward Ardizzone of his day, and his affectionately evocative work is now highly collectable.