Painter, illustrator and teacher. Born at Denton, Lancashire, he was encouraged by his father, William, hatter and keen amateur artist. While still at school Harry attended Hyde School of Art on Saturdays, then after leaving school joined evening classes at Manchester School of Art, supervised by Adolphe Valette, who taught the older L S Lowry. In 1925 joined Walter Sickert’s art class in Manchester, in St Mary’s Parsonage, taking over the class in 1926 when Sickert gave it up. Rutherford remained a disciple of Sickert, adopting the slogan “Thou shalt be interesting.” In the late 1920s, having been head artist at the F John Roe Advertising Agency, and having begun to draw for the Manchester Evening News, Rutherford moved to Cornwall to work with Ernest and Dod Procter in Newlyn, supervising their classes for a period.
Text source: 'Artists in Britain Since 1945' by David Buckman (Art Dictionaries Ltd, part of Sansom & Company)
