(Herbert) Barry Hart
Born 6 March 1894
Died 21 January 1954
Active: 1911 - 1952
Country of birth and death: England
Sculptor, stone carver, teacher
Born in Fulham, London. Herbert, usually known as Barry, was the son of George Hart (born c.1852 in Roydon, Norfolk), stonemason. Several of Barry's brothers were also stonemasons, including George (born c.1885), William (born c.1889) and John (born c.1896). Over the course of his career, Barry worked as a teacher, sculptor and carver. Whilst working at the Royal College of Art in the 1920s, Hart taught Henry Moore and the two artists became close friends. When Moore married Irina Radetsky in 1929, Hart was his best man. During the war, he served as a Major in the Corps of Royal Engineers and was awarded the bronze star medal.
His commissions included: the memorial in the entrance hall of Broadcasting House (1948); the memorial to the Royal Victorian Order at the King's Chapel, Savoy, London (1949); and the carving for the war memorial in Brasenose College chapel designed by Edward Maufe (1951). Hart died at his home at 2 Walton Road, East Molesey.
Includes private information from Hart's family.
Wealth at death: £1,740 1s. 6d.
Probate date: 22 July 1954
Locations
Address 39 Star Road Fulham London | View on map
1901 (Circa) - 1911 (Circa)
Address 34 Oxford Road Putney London SW15 | View on map
1925 (Presumed) - 1928
Address Peyton Hall Boxford | View on map
1928 - 1934 (Presumed)
Address Warden House Kew Green London | View on map
1946 (Circa)
Address Studio, 1 Challoner Street London W14 | View on map
1947 (Circa) - 1948 (Circa)
Address Olde Holme, 2 Walton Road London | View on map
1950 (Circa) - 1954
Exhibitions, Meetings, Awards and other Events
Exhibited at The Exhibition of the Royal Academy of Arts (Summer Exhibition), 1768-
1946 - 1952
Exhibited 5 times, 5 works in all
Institutional and Business Connections
Member of Art Workers Guild
6 February 1925 - 1935
Resigned in 1935.
Teacher of stone carving Royal College of Art (including National Art Training School)
1921 (Circa) - 1952
According to Henry Moore, Hart was teaching at the Royal College in 1921. He is listed as teacher of stone carving in the School of Sculpture, in the first available school prospectus from 1926-1927. Still listed as a tutor in the 'School of Sculpture' in the 1951-1952 prospectus.
Traded as George Hart & Sons
Traded as Hart Bros Sculptors
1933 - 1949
Personal and Professional Connections
Assisted Eric Henri Kennington
1928 (Circa)
According to an article in 'The Times' of 10 July 1928 Hart assisted Kennington with the carving of the Soissons Memorial, Aisne, France, unveiled 22 July 1928
Daughter/son/child of George Hart
Teacher to Henry Spencer Moore
1921 (Circa) - 1924
According to Henry Moore, Barry Hart was: 'appointed to teach the art of carving purely and simply because his family were professional stone carvers. They were not sculptors, but they could, by using pointing machines, copy sculpture. The Royal Academicians would send them the plaster cast of a highly finished realistic portrait bust which had first been modelled in clay...He [Hart] believed that it was impossible to produce and absolutely correct copy of an existing model for sculpture without using a pointing machine, and since an identical copy was what he wanted, we were only taught to carve in that way. We were given classical sculptures to copy and no original carving was permitted. I believed I could copy faithfully without the pointing machine and I persuaded Barry Hart to let me try to carve my piece freely. Although he himself could handle a hammer and chisel remarkably well, he still didn't believe it was possible and I had to make false points in pencil on the marble so that, when Derwent Wood came round, he would think I was using the pointing machine.' ('Henry Moore: writings and conversations' 2002, pp. 47-8 originally published in John Hedgecoe, 'Henry Spencer Moore', 1968, p. 33)
Teacher to (Arthur) John Bridgeman
1930 (Circa)
Descriptions of Practice
Occupation given in Census Returns of England and Wales, 1911
'Clerk, House Agent' worker, his father George and brother William were both 'Stonemason' (the former an employer working at home and the latter a worker), and his brother, John was a 'Stonemason Apprentice'
Sources
Art Workers Guild Annual Reports, 1913-1933
1925, p.10 and all annual lists of members' addresses 1925-1933.
Census Returns of England and Wales, 1901
2005
RG13 piece 62 folio 91 page 35
Census Returns of England and Wales, 1911
2011
RG14PN316 RG78PN10 RD3 SD4 ED13 SN270
England & Wales, Death Index: 1916-2007
2007
Name: Herbert B Hart
Death Registration Month/Year: 1954
Age at death (estimated): 60
Registration district: Surrey Northern
Inferred County: Surrey
Volume: 5g
Page: 470
England & Wales, FreeBMD Birth Index, 1837-1915
2006
Name: Herbert Hart
Year of Registration: 1894
Quarter of Registration: Apr-May-Jun
District: Fulham
County: Greater London, London, Middlesex
Volume: 1a
Page: 253
England & Wales, National Probate Calendar (Index of Wills and Administrations), 1858-1966
2010
Name: Herbert Barry Hart
Probate Date: 22 Jul 1954
Death Date: 21 Jan 1954
Death Place: Surrey, England
Registry: London, England
Henry Moore: writings and conversations
2002
pp. 47-8
London, England, Births and Baptisms, 1813-1906
2010
Name: Herbert Hart
Record Type: Baptism
Estimated Birth Date: abt 1894
Baptism Date: 11 Apr 1894
Father's Name: George Hart
Mother's Name: Elizabeth Hart
Parish or Poor Law Union: West Kensington St Andrew
Borough: Hammersmith and Fulham
Prospectus of the Royal College of Art, 1926-1927 Royal College of Art
1926
Unpaged staff list.
Royal College of Art Calendar, 1951-1952 Royal College of Art
1951
p. 8.
The Art of Carved Sculpture: Western Europe, America and Japan
1931
p. 113
The fifty-first annual report of the committee of the Art-Workers' Guild, 1935
1935
p.35.
The fifty-second annual report of the committee of the Art-Workers' Guild, 1936
1936
p.17.
The London Gazette
Issue 37909, 18 March 1947, p. 1312
The Times Digital Archive 1785-1985
2008
The Times, Tuesday, Jul 10, 1928; pg. 15; Issue 44941; col D
British Memorial To Missing. Aisne-Marne Battles Of 1918. (FROM A CORRESPONDENT.).
Category: News
The Times Digital Archive 1785-1985
2008
The Times, Friday, Nov 19, 1948; pg. 6; Issue 51233; col B
Deaths AND
The Times, Friday, Oct 28, 1949; pg. 4; Issue 51524; col G
Royal Victorian Order Memorial Unveiled By The King
Category: News AND
The Times, Friday, Dec 21, 1951; pg. 8; Issue 52190; col C
News in Brief
Citing this record
'(Herbert) Barry Hart', Mapping the Practice and Profession of Sculpture in Britain and Ireland 1851-1951, University of Glasgow History of Art and HATII, online database 2011 [http://sculpture.gla.ac.uk/view/person.php?id=msib2_1218817207, accessed 09 Jun 2023]
