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Diz Harford
Paintings 1960-2000

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Overview
Gallery
Opening Dates & Hours

Diz Harford was an Australian-born painter, etcher and sculptor who lived and worked in India, Greece and Ireland before settling in London in 1969. Her experience across these places shaped a practice attentive to movement, displacement and the emotional textures of place.

Trained in Australia, she established her career in Ireland in the late 1960s, developing her major Ulysses series — several works from which were acquired by the University of Cork — and beginning her first sustained period of studio and exhibition activity. After moving to London, she continued painting and started printing, etching and monotypes.

Harford took inspiration from literature and music, including James Joyce, Federico García Lorca, Oscar Wilde and Billie Holiday, as well as on strong ethical and political commitments, from opposition to apartheid support for Aboriginal land rights. These influences informed the figuration, sensibility and performative charge of her work, which is marked by a quiet intensity and a raw, personal edge. She exhibited in Dublin, Belfast, London and New York, and her work is held in private collections internationally.

This exhibition is the first since her death in 2016, bringing together work from across her career, from early etchings to late paintings

Gallery
Abstract figurative painting of a floating, fragmented body holding a red umbrella against a turquoise sky and yellow ground.
Expressive painting of elongated, distorted human figures in earthy browns and blues, with a sense of movement across a flat landscape.
Dark-toned interior scene showing three seated figures around a table, painted in muted greys and blues with a somber mood.
Figurative scene on a red ground showing several fragmented human forms, including one holding a dark umbrella, rendered in loose brushstrokes.
Abstract interior of a car with a reclining figure inside, painted in deep greens and reds with expressive, layered textures.
Close-up figurative painting of a person in a pale dress looking upward, rendered in soft blues and whites against a dark background.
Painting of two standing figures wrapped in patterned garments, set against a red and blue landscape with gestural marks suggesting wind or motion.
Red-toned landscape with two abstract human figures, one lying down and one upright, featuring textured paint and expressive faces.
Abstract scene of two figures in motion on a blue background, one crouched and one bent forward, painted with fluid, simplified forms.
Abstract figurative painting of a floating, fragmented body holding a red umbrella against a turquoise sky and yellow ground.
Expressive painting of elongated, distorted human figures in earthy browns and blues, with a sense of movement across a flat landscape.
Dark-toned interior scene showing three seated figures around a table, painted in muted greys and blues with a somber mood.
Figurative scene on a red ground showing several fragmented human forms, including one holding a dark umbrella, rendered in loose brushstrokes.
Abstract interior of a car with a reclining figure inside, painted in deep greens and reds with expressive, layered textures.
Close-up figurative painting of a person in a pale dress looking upward, rendered in soft blues and whites against a dark background.
Painting of two standing figures wrapped in patterned garments, set against a red and blue landscape with gestural marks suggesting wind or motion.
Red-toned landscape with two abstract human figures, one lying down and one upright, featuring textured paint and expressive faces.
Abstract scene of two figures in motion on a blue background, one crouched and one bent forward, painted with fluid, simplified forms.
Opening Dates & Hours

The Exhibition will be on display in the Lower Gallery, our airy ground floor room at the front of the House, during gallery opening times from Wednesday 11 February - Monday 9 March.

The gallery is generally open:

  • Monday - Tuesday : 12pm to 4pm
  • Wednesday : 11am to 3pm
  • Thursday - Sunday : 12pm to 4pm

Please note that the gallery hours may change or the gallery may close at short notice due to private events. To avoid disappointment, please check our most up-to-date opening hours by clicking here or calling us on 020 8348 8716 the day before your visit.