Harold Parker (sculptor)

Harold Parker (27 August 1873 – 23 April 1962) was a British-born sculptor, raised in Queensland, Australia, and subsequently worked in the United Kingdom.

[2] He rented a studio near that of fellow sculptor John Tweed, and from 1903 to 1929 regularly exhibited at the Royal Academy of Arts, London, and occasionally at the Old Salon, Paris.

[3] In 1911 the newly married Harold Parker visited Brisbane and was received enthusiastically, but apart from his First Breath of Spring to the Queensland National Art Gallery, sold none of his work.

[4] In 1930, he and his wife settled in Brisbane where, overlooked for major commissions, he withdrew from public life, virtually abandoning sculpture for painting.

His image of a wren was selected for the farthing, where it remained for the rest of the coin's existence, becoming a firm and recognised favourite in Britain.

My friend Harold Parker by James Quinn , c. 1907. Oil on canvas on board, 35.5 x 31 cm., in the collection of the National Library of Australia
The First Breath of Spring , circa 1913, held by the Queensland Art Gallery
The Prosperity of Australia , Australia House , London, by Parker (1915–1918)