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A leading British painter has talked to the Harrogate Advertiser about the inspiration behind his brilliant new exhibition at the town’s Mercer Gallery.

A member of the Royal Academy, David Remfry MBE visited the publicly-owned gallery on Swan Road in Harrogate to a backdrop of a truly wonderful collection of pictures.

Dressed coolly in a black and white outfit complete with matching dapper hat, the veteran artist, who is now aged 81, talked about the impact on his art and life of living in the legendary Chelsea Hotel in New York.

A figurative painter who works almost exclusively in watercolour, the focus of his new show in Harrogate may be the relationships which develop between dogs and their owners but these are no ordinary portraits with no ordinary sitters.

Stunning exhibition - Member of the Royal Academy, David Remfry MBE visited Mercer Galley in Harrogate to unveil a truly wonderful collection of pictures. (Picture Graham Chalmers)

Stunningly sketched lines, a sparing but perfect use of colour, We Think the World of You – People and Dogs Drawn Together is a delight of unforced character.

Elected a member of the Royal Academy of Arts in 2006, the roots of Remfry’s new collection started 15 years ago in New York with a series of drawings when he began to explore the relationships between friends and their dogs through evocative pencil and watercolour portraits.

Among the sitters are well-known faces from his life in the ‘Big Apple’ including Alan Cumming and his rescue dog Honey, Susan Sarandon and her Pomeranians, and Ethan Hawke with his dog Nina.

Born in 1942, Remfry studied art and printmaking at the Hull College of Art.

Since 1973, he has been the subject of more than 50 international solo exhibitions.

Such is his success in the USA, he was made an MBE in 2001 for services to British art in America.

Having visited the Mercer Gallery last week, David Remfry will be returning in the summer for Meet the Artist: David Remfry In Conversation on Wednesday, July 17 with curator Courtney Spencer.

Tickets will be available soon.

For information, contact: [email protected]

The new exhibition is pared with an exquisite series of portraits by Eva Leigh Walker, a little-known Harrogate artist from the 1920s and 30s.

'How I sketched Ethan Hawke with his dog Nina' by veteran British artist who has a stunning new exhibition in Harrogate