Pro Hart is a household name in Australia, a world renowned artist and one of the most popular contemporary artists of our time. With an individualistic approach which encompasses the primitive, naïve and impressionist schools, his art reflects the character of Australia. With the vastness of the outback, its harsh landscapes and deep silence, the long white sandy beaches and city people at work, his paintings manage to capture a sense of Australia.

Kevin "Pro" Hart was born in Broken Hill, NSW, Australia in 1928. He grew up on the family sheep station "Larloona" situated near Broken Hill, and he was educated by correspondence with his brother Bob, and their Mother as tutor.  From age seven, Pro loved to sketch and paint. He began taking his gift seriously in his early twenties when he first used painting as a creative outlet to keep him sane from underground life as a miner. To develop his gift, Pro attended a few local art classes but is mainly self-taught. He was discovered in 1962 by a gallery director in Adelaide. From there his success as an artist began to flourish.

Mainly working in oils and acrylics, Pro will use any tool or method to achieve the desired outcome for his work. He draws upon techniques of layering, chiaroscuro, glazing, scumbling, scratching and Alla prima. Pro is also a sculptor working with welded steel, bronze and ceramics. His private complex, including a three-storey gallery in Broken Hill, houses one of the largest private collections in the Southern Hemisphere, featuring both Australian and European Masters.

His work has been exhibited all over the world, in Australia, London, Dusseldorf, Los Angeles, New York, Hong Kong, Tokyo, Singapore, Israel, Cairo and Manila, in the finest of galleries and venues, with many of his exhibitions being sell-outs. His paintings are represented in collections owned by the likes of Harold Mertz, Lyndon Johnson, Prince Phillip, Qantas Airways, Margaret Carnegie, the Canberra War Memorial, the University of NSW and Adelaide, the Bonython Collection, the Warsaw National Collection of Poland and Cathay Pacific Airways. 

The above  pictures are from Pro Hart's illustrations of Henry Lawson's poetry.