Harry Bates was born in Stevenage, Hertfordshire, England on 30 April 1850. From 1869 to c.1881 he served an apprenticeship as a carver with Farmer & Brindley, a firm of architectural sculptors in London. He also studied at South London Technical Art School [formerly Lambeth School of Art] from 1879 to 1881 where he was taught by Jules Dalou (1838-1942). In 1881 he was admitted to Royal Academy Schools in London. In 1883 he was awarded a Gold Medal and travelling scholarship and from 1883 to 1885 lived in Paris where he had a studio and received lessons from Auguste Rodin. Following his return to London he established a studio and embarked on a career as an architectural and monumental sculptor. Architects for whom he worked on commissions included Alfred Waterhouse, Ernest George, Thomas Verity and J.
He began exhibiting at the Royal Academy in London in 1884 and continued to do so regularly until 1899. He also exhibited at Baillie Gallery, Grosvenor Gallery and New Gallery in London; Glasgow Institute of the Fine Arts; and at the Walker Art Gallery in Liverpool.
His sculpture "Pandora" (1890) was purchased by the Chantry Bequest. Other work of note by Bates were his colossal Lord Roberts Memorial (1896) for Calcutta [now Kolkata], and the Queen Victoria Memorial (1899) for Dundee.
Bates was elected an Associate of the Royal Academy (ARA) in 1892. He was also elected a member of the Art Workers Guild in 1886 and from 1888 was a member of the Arts & Crafts Exhibition Society.
Bates's address was given as 117 rue Notre Dame des Champs, Paris in 1884; 57 Bedford Gardens, London in 1885 and 1890; and 10 Hall Road, St. John's Wood, London in 1891 and 1899. He died in London on 30 January 1899.
Text source: Art History Research net (AHR net)
