Harrison was born on 18 March 1940 to Jeanette and William Harrison in
Athlone and he always showed a talent for art. At the age of eight he was on his father's shoulders when the crowd he was in received a baton charge from the local police who objected to their politics. He joined
Alexander Sinton Secondary School in [Athlone ] of Cape Town in 1954 where he was taught painting. In 1962, during
South Africa's apartheid era, his most famous work,
Black Christ, was unveiled at St Luke's Church in the
Cape Town suburb of
Salt River. It depicted
African National Congress leader
Chief Albert Luthuli as
Christ crucified, flanked by two Roman centurions, then
National Party prime minister
Hendrik Verwoerd and justice minister
John Vorster. As a result, he was arrested and tortured by the security police for seven days. The painting was smuggled to the
United Kingdom after it was banned in South Africa.
Black Christ toured Europe to raise funds for the International Defence and Aid Fund. A fund established in 1956 by John Collins, a priest from London, covered the legal expenses of those accused of treason by the apartheid regime. The painting was returned in 1997.
Black Christ is currently stored at the
South African National Gallery and a replica is on display at the offices of the
Nelson Mandela Foundation. Harrison had been treated for cancer in 2010 and had recovered. He died of a heart attack on 28 June 2011 at his niece's house in
Mitchell's Plain. The church service was held in St Luke's Church in Salt River, Cape Town, where
Black Christ was first exhibited. == References ==