Title

Harold Wright (1885–1961), print dealer, scholar, educator, collector and philanthropist.

Author

Maskill, David.

Source

Prints, printmaking and philanthropy: A symposium celebrating 50 years of The Harold Wright and The Sarah and William Holmes Scholarships. Melbourne: University of Melbourne, 30 September - 2 October 2019.

Publication date

29 September 2019

Type

Conference paper

Countries of context

Australia | New Zealand

Abstract

Harold Wright (1885–1961), print dealer, scholar, educator, collector and philanthropist. David Maskill, Victoria University, Wellington, New Zealand The Ursula Hoff Lecture 2019. Harold Wright is principally known in Australia and New Zealand as the founder of two named scholarships to enable graduates of universities in our region with a serious interest in print history to spend six months immersed in the print collections of the British Museum. This year marks the fiftieth anniversary of the award of the first scholarships in 1969. Less well known, however, is Wright’s more than fifty-year career as a print dealer in London’s Bond Street at P.&D. Colnaghi and Co. He was a tireless promoter of prints and their histories in specialist publications, public lectures and the wider media. He formed close and enduring friendships with the printmakers whose works he commissioned and sold, most notably the Australian, Sir Lionel Lindsay. He was also a major collector of both Old Master and modern prints. It was the sale of this collection at his death that provided the initial funds for the foundation of the scholarships which were supplemented by a bequest from his widow, Isobel Wright née Holmes. This lecture highlights these various facets of Wright’s career and his influence on one former recipient of the scholarships he founded. [Conference Program]