TABLE OF CONTENTS
Scope and Contents of the Collection
Box List
Harold F. Kells fonds:
Finding Aid
Collection Summary |
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| Title: | Harold F. Kells fonds. | |
| Dates: | - 1934-1978. | |
| Quantity: | - 12 cm of textual records, 19 photographs, and 11 medals. | |
Biographical Sketch
An amateur photograph, Harold Frederick Kells (1904-1986) gained international prominence in the mid-1930s for his composite figure studies and pictorial landscapes. In the late nineteen twenties he became interested in photography and in 1931 his print Design was exhibited at the Toronto Salon of Photography. Kells was awarded prizes at salons in England, the United States, Austria, Australia, Belgium, Czechoslovakia, and Spain as well as awards for competitions sponsored by American Photography and Camera Craft. A member of the executive of the Camera Club of Ottawa during the thirties, Kells was instrumental in organizing the first Canadian International Salon of Photographic Art. In 1938, Kells was awarded the Stephen Tyng Foundation Award by the Royal Photographic Society for his print Grecian Nocturne. Kells' work was not confined to photography, many of his oil paintings were used as vignettes for bank notes, stocks and bonds by the Canadian, British, and American Bank Note Companies. Kells turned to colour photography in the mid-1960s which he pursued until ill-health forced his to curtail his activities.1
1 Joan M. Schwartz, "Harold Frederick Kells," in Private Realms of Light: Amateur photography in Canada 1839-1940, ed. Lilly Koltun (Markham, Ont.: Fitzhenry & Whiteside, 1984).
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Scope and Contents of the Collection
The fonds consists of correspondence, primarily from the 1930s, related to Kells' activities as an amateur photographer; medals and awards Kells received for his photography; scrapbooks; clippings, exhibition catalogues and invitations; photographs of Kells; photographs of Kells' oil paintings; and photographs taken by Kells including two examples of his colour photography.
Source of supplied title proper: Title based on contents of the fonds.
Immediate source of acquisition: Donated by Margaret Kells, November 1997.
Finding aids: Box list available.
Location of other materials: Other holdings at the National Gallery of Canada related to Harold M. Kells include photographs by Kells and other pictorial photographers housed in the Photography Department and a small number of books, exhibition catalogues and periodicals from Kells' collection housed in the Library.
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Index Terms |
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| Names: | ||
| Kells, Harold F., 1904-1986 | ||
| Subjects: | ||
| Kells, Harold F., 1904-1986 | ||
| Document Types: | ||
| Clippings files. | ||
| Correspondence. | ||
| Exhibition catalogues. | ||
| Invitations. | ||
| Photographs. | ||
| Scrapbooks. | ||
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Administrative Information
Preferred Citation
[Title of item], Harold F. Kells fonds, Library and Archives, National Gallery of Canada.
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Contact Information
Reference Services
Library and Archives
National Gallery of Canada
380 Sussex Drive
Ottawa, Ontario
K1N 9N4
T 613-714-6000 ext. 6323
[email protected]
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Box List
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