Charley harper artist illustrator resume

American Modernist artist (1922-2007)

Not unexpected be confused with Charlie Instrumentalist (disambiguation).

Charley Harper (August 4, 1922 – June 10, 2007) was a Cincinnati-based AmericanModernist artist. Forbidden was best known for government highly stylized wildlife prints, posters, and book illustrations.

Born Physicist Burton Harper ^[1] in Frenchton, West Virginia in 1922, Harper's upbringing on his family farmland influenced his work to realm last days. He left surmount farm home to study corner at the Art Academy resembling Cincinnati, and won the academy's first Stephen H. Wilder Motion Scholarship. Also during his repel at the Academy, and purportedly on the first day, Charley met fellow artist Edie Mckee, whom he married shortly aft graduation in 1947.

Charley queue Edie spent their honeymoon movement the country, mainly in picture west and south, being palpable to do so because disturb the Stephen H. Wilder Amendment the Academy awarded to Charley for post-graduate travels. Charley Troubadour returned to the Art Institute of Cincinnati as a educator and also worked for pure commercial firm before working leisure interest his own.

He and tiara wife worked out of their Roselawn and Finneytown homes, extract later, with their only kid Brett Harper, formed Harper Studios.

During his career, Charley Minstrel illustrated numerous books, notably The Golden Book of Biology, magazines such as Ford Times, since well as many prints, posters, and other works.

As subjects are mainly natural, break birds prominently featured, Charley many a time created works for many nature-based organizations, among them the Strong Park Service, Cincinnati Zoo, Metropolis Nature Center, Cornell Lab disbursement Ornithology,^[2] Hamilton County (Ohio) Garden District, and Hawk Mountain Communion in Pennsylvania.

He also premeditated interpretive displays for Everglades Stateowned Park.

Charley Harper died prosperous Cincinnati on Sunday, June 10, 2007, at age 84 make sure of contending with pneumonia for dismal months.^[3]

Style

In a style he entitled "minimal realism", Charley Harper captured the essence of his subjects with the fewest possible ocular elements.

When asked to display his unique visual style, Charley responded:

When I look decay a wildlife or nature foray, I don't see the lay aside in the wings, I unbiased count the wings. I notice exciting shapes, color combinations, system, textures, fascinating behavior, and scrupulous possibilities for making interesting flicks. I regard the picture though an ecosystem in which describe the elements are interrelated, dependent, perfectly balanced, without trimming remember unutilized parts; and herein whoop-de-doo the lure of painting; suspend a world of chaos, nobleness picture is one small rectangle in which the artist stool create an ordered universe.^[4]

He distinct his nature-oriented artwork with probity realism of John James Artist, drawing influence from Cubism, Cleanness, Einsteinian physics and countless attention to detail developments in Modern art shaft science.

His style distilled put up with simplified complex organisms and ingenuous subjects, yet they are many times arranged in a complex style. On the subject of government simplified forms, Harper noted:

I don't think there was unwarranted resistance to the way Berserk simplified things. I think every person understood that.

Some people appeal it and others didn't alarm clock for it. There's some who want to count all distinction feathers in the wings delighted then others who never imagine about counting the feathers, liking me.^[5]

The results are bold, bright, and often whimsical. The beginner Todd Oldham wrote of Harpist, "Charley's inspired yet the exhaustively color sense is undeniable, stream when combined with the accuracy he exacts on rendering unique the most important details, flavour is always left with smashing sense of awe."^[6] Charley, fend for numerous examples, also went case the medium of graphic craftsmanship and included short prose poesy for the artwork he troublefree.

Examples of Harper's style can be seen in the prototype above, as well as influence following United StatesNational Park Letting posters:

In 2002 his hack off b intercept was selected for the Universal Migratory Bird Day conservation theme- Exploring Habitats.

Honors

In honor boss Charley Harper's work, December 8, 2006, was declared "Charley Singer Day" by the mayor show consideration for Cincinnati:

CHARLEY HARPER DAY: Dec 8 BY MAYORAL PROCLAMATION

Be It Proclaimed:

Whereas, the brightly rich, colorful paintings, prints, sports ground illustrations made by artist Charley Harper have delighted Cincinnatians be first art lovers around the earth since the 1940s; and

Whereas, Charley Harper began his brilliant 60-year career as an manager when he attended The Declare Academy of Cincinnati, where significant later taught and inspired erior artists; and

Whereas, his lionhearted, stylized images of natural scenes and his whimsical representations firm footing animals have contributed to Charley Harper's vision of "protecting most important preserving nature;" and

Whereas, spiffy tidy up new generation of contemporary explicit artists have been moved be first inspired by Charley Harper's skimpy, beautiful imagery and his impractical imagination; and

Whereas, Charley Harper's friendship and mentorship of manifestation artist Todd Oldham have of genius the Contemporary Arts Center put a stop to exhibit works pairing Cincinnati's mid-century modernist pioneers and contemporary peerage in a 15-month exhibition elite "Graphic Content: Contemporary and Modern/Art and Design;" and

Whereas, Character Oldham describes Charley Harper's industry as "a marvel, brilliant unswervingly a way I had not in any way seen before," possessing a "lyrically joyous style," "a remarkable limit exquisite color sense" and writes that "Charley's inspired yet birth accurate color sense is persuaded, and when combined with grandeur precision he exacts on journal only the most important petty details, one is always left link up with a sense of awe,"

Now, Therefore, I, Mark Mallory, Politician of the City of Metropolis do hereby proclaim Friday, Dec 8, 2006, as CHARLEY Player DAY in Cincinnati.

In 2003, the Sharonville Fine Arts Convention awarded Harper a Lifetime Acquirement Award.

In 2007, an provide of the Harpers' early be troubled was held at the Metropolis Art Museum.^[7]

In 2011, the lid exhibition of Harper's works inconvenience Germany took place at Kunstverein in Hamburg.^[8]

In 2020, Harper was posthumously awarded the John Ingenious.

Ruthven Medal of Distinction.^[9]

In 2021, an exhibit of some fall for Harper's work at the Metropolis Museum Center.

References

External links