Wednesday, 22 April 2026

Harry Epworth Allen - part 1

Harry Epworth Allen (1894–1958) was a painter, notably in tempera, especially of Derbyshire. Born in Sheffield, Allen attended King Edward VII School for boys, then became a clerk in the steel works of Arthur Balfour, in his spare time attending Sheffield Technical School of Art. Served in the Army in World War I, gaining the Military Medal for conspicuous gallantry. Although badly injured and having an artificial leg Allen continued to paint and became Balfour’s confidential secretary until the slump made Allen redundant in 1931. He now painted full-time and joined the new Yorkshire Group of Artists. Began exhibiting RA. Also showed with RSBA and PS. Although Allen’s early work is conventionally realistic he soon developed his distinctive style of simplified landscape and figure studies, which eventually were shown abroad in Canada and America.

In the early 1940s Allen published a series of articles in The Artist on landscape painting in which he expounded his approach. His work is in a number of provincial galleries, notably Sheffield, Wakefield, Newcastle upon Tyne, and Newport, as well as in Australia and New Zealand. Memorial show at Graves Art Gallery, Sheffield, in 1959, which in 1986 held an exhibition of his decorative works, and tour. He lived in Ecclesall, Sheffield.

This is part 1 of a 2-part post on the works of Harry Epworth Allen:

1930s Sheepdog Trials
tempera on canvas 47 x 61 cm
Buxton Museum & Art Gallery, Derbyshire

c1933-34 A Derbyshire Farmstead
tempera on paper 36.5 x 50 cm
The Potteries Museum & Art Gallery, Stoke-on-Trent

1934 The Wall of Death
pencil & tempera on paper 35.6 x 51.1 cm

by 1934 The Caravan
tempera on board 36.5 x 50 cm
Homerton College, University of Cambridge

by 1934 Derbyshire Hills
watercolour 27 x 37 cm

c1936 Eyam, Derbyshire
pencil & tempera on paper 35.2 x 51.2 cm
Laing Art Gallery, Laing Art Gallery, Newcastle Upon Tyne

1936 The Wall of Death
gouache & watercolour over pencil 21.5 x 16.5 cm

1936 Portrait of a Lady
tempera on panel 51 x 40.8 cm
The Hepworth Wakefield

by 1937 An Archill Landscape
colour lithograph, after a tempera painting by Allen
41.2 x 53.3 cm

1940 Summer
tempera on canvas 50.4 x60.8 cm
Glynn Vivian Art Gallery, Swansea, Wales

1945 Valle Crucis Abbey, Llangollan, Wales
gouache 29 x 38 cm

by 1945 The Road to the Hills
tempera on board 45.7 x 61 cm
Derby Museum and Art Gallery

1947 Evening Achill Island, Ireland
tempera on pulpboard 45.5 x 53 cm

1949 The Derelict Farm
tempera on board 48.3 x 59.7 cm
Harris Museum & Art Gallery, Preston

c1950 A Derbyshire Landscape
tempera on board 50 x 61 cm

by 1954 Burning Limestone
tempera on paper 46.5 x 58.3 cm
Newport Museum and Art Gallery, Newport

by 1955 Derbyshire Walls
tempera on canvas 47.5 x 58 cm
Sheffield Museums

c1959 Industrial Landscape, Hope Valley, Derbyshire
tempera on paper 63.1 x 76.7 cm
Buxton Museum & Art Gallery, Derbyshire

Note: Dates were not found for the remainder of works in this series.

A Welsh Bridge
tempera on board 35 x 47 cm

A Rural Landscape
mixed media 19 x 27 cm

A Lane near Clifden
watercolour 20.3 x 30.4 cm

A Farmstead
bodycolour 31.7 x 38.6 cm

A Connemara Cottage with Figures
pastel 26 x 37 cm

Ashopton Packhorse Bridge
tempera 47 x 59 cm

Ballindooly, County Galway
tempera on card 22 x 26 cm

Barn Interior in Derbyshire
coloured chalks 35 x 49 cm

Burning Limestone
woodcut 17.7 x 25.4 cm

Cart shed with Farm Buildings
pencil and watercolour 24 x 33 cm

Carpenter's Cottage, Cordwell Valley
woodcut 17.7 x 25.4 cm

Clouds over Achill
tempera and gesso on panel 35 x 50 cm

Connemara Village
pencil on paper with watercolour wash 20.2 x 25.5 cm

Connemara Landscape
pastel 27 x 37 cm

Connemara Cottages
tempera 24 x 37 cm

Connemara Cottages
pastel 26 x 37 cm

Conisborough Castle
oil on board 41.9 x 57.2 cm

Coverack
watercolour 16 x 20 cm

Cottages in Keel, Achill Isand
tempera on board 36 x 51 cm


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