| By :
Martin Hofschroer
Australian entrepreneur Rolf Harris continues to enjoy great success in his art career due to the commercial nature of his paintings. Rolf Harris prints are becoming increasingly popular with art enthusiasts and collectors as they often depict scenes which are pleasing to the eye and the antipodean has also painted famous sporting and music icons. The octogenarian painted 'Wimbledon Champions' in which he pays tribute to ten of his favourite tournament winners including Bjorn Borg, Steffi Graf, Billie-Jean King, Rod Laver, John McEnroe, Pete Sampras and Roger Federer. Rolf unveiled the piece just days before last year's tournament and its popularity with championship-goers is a testament to his versatility, which was also demonstrated by his painting of rock and roll legend Elvis Presley. The entertainer was moved to paint 'Blue Elvis' in 2007 to commemorate the thirtieth anniversary of Elvis' death after speaking to a friend who is a huge fan of the king of rock and roll. He said: "I found out, to my amazement, that it would soon be thirty years since Elvis passed away and I thought that this remarkable man, on stage, in his trademark white jumpsuit, would make a wonderful painting." Blue Elvis was on display in Liverpool as Rolf's national tour 'A Life in Art' rolled into Merseyside during July. The Liverpool Echo praised the painter for producing prints that had broad appeal including bright and bold images of his native land and impressionistic depictions of Venice and London. "Two candid pastel sketches of fellow members of a sketch club hark back to the direct simplicity in art which first beguiled TV audiences 57 years ago, and made Harris all things to all wallabies. "For when it comes to commercialism, there is no school of art which can offer a masterclass to this man," said the newspaper. Rolf Harris prints were also the talk of the town in London as one was recently auctioned off in aid of the young person's charity Fairbridge at the Devonshire Terrace bar near Liverpool Street. The charity auction went onto raise £6,000 with a £430 contribution coming from the winner of a signed Rolf Harris print. Rolf Harris was showcasing one of his other talents during July as he played the Womad world music festival and is also set to perform at Bestival on the Isle of Wight in August. The Beatles famously sang backing vocals on Tie Me Kangaroo Down, Sport in the first edition of the From Us to You BBC radio show.
|
![[Valid RSS feed]](http://www.articlesbacklink.com/images/icon_Rss.png "XML Feed For RSS"){kind=icon}
Category Rss Feed
Print This Article
Add To Favorites
