Harold Joseph Thomas

ATTENDED PULTENEY GRAMMAR SCHOOL 1963 - 1964

Harold Thomas was born in Alice Springs on 10 March 1947. At age 11 he was fostered by the family of Reverend Wallace. In 1963 Rev. Wallace moved to St John’s, Halifax Street and Harold was educated at Pulteney Grammar School.

An active and successful footballer while at school, he played in the 1st XVIII in 1963 and 1964. While at school he participated in Frank Greet’s watercolour painting group.

After completing his Leaving Certificate in 1964 he was awarded a scholarship at SA School of Art and went on to complete Visual Art studies, graduating in 1969.

In 1971, while working at the SA Museum, Harold designed the Aboriginal Flag.

It was flown for the first time in Victoria Square (Tarntanyangga) at a landrights rally held on National Aborigines’ Day 12 July 1971, and subsequently the design was used at the National Tent Embassy outside Parliament House, Canberra in 1972. Harold’s design was a flag divided into two equal halves of black and red with a yellow centre. The black symbolises Aboriginal people; the red or ochre symbolises the mother Earth and the yellow sun, the constant giver and renewer of life. For more than 40 years Harold has lived and painted in the Northern Territory using watercolours and oils. His art encapsulates academic draftsmanship and plein air impressionism, with an overlay of contemporary nuances. In more recent works the rendition of natural light is central.

Light creates the drama of time and space. Where the mysteries of the light with air, clouds, dust, flora and fauna interacts and act as players on the stage of colour. The pursuit of capturing the moment is a spiritual experience as one confronts nature in all its forms.

Harold has embraced his Aboriginal background of Luritja and Wombia and now lives and paints near Darwin. He has exhibited regularly from the 1980s in the Northern Territory but has also exhibited in Fremantle, Adelaide and Sydney.