Gerald Harvey Jones (G. Harvey, American, born 1933)
Gerald Harvey Jones was born in the Hill Country north of San Antonio and grew up with strong western traditions. His grandfather had been a trail boss who had pushed cattle along the Texas trails to northern rail heads. His stories of those adventurous, as well as arduous, days informed the early days of the artist and helped inspire his early artistic leanings. After graduating with honors from the University of North Texas and a short tenure teaching at the University of Texas at Austin, Harvey turned his attention to painting on a full time basis.
He has established himself as one of the most successful and versatile artists in America today. His subjects range from the landscapes of his native Texas to the cattle drives and ranch life of the Old West to contemporary cityscapes. He has been honored with exhibitions at such major museums as the Gilcrease Museum in Tulsa, Oklahoma, and the Smithsonian Institution.
One of his most popular themes is the depiction of life at the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries in major American cities, such as New York, Washington, D.C., San Francisco, and Dallas. These scenes depict either early morning or evening rain slicked streets which gives Harvey ample opportunity to show his skill at depicting light, shadow, reflection, and atmosphere. A common motif is the juxtaposition of symbols of an earlier day, such as mounted cowboys wearing their rain slickers against the emerging urbanism of modern America as represented by bustling street scenes complete with such new modes of transportation as automobiles and street cars. Occasionally, he departs from a purely historical motif and presents his impression of a contemporary city.
Information courtesy of Heritage Auction Galleries, July 2009.