Charley Harper Editions

BORN
1922–2007, Frenchtown, WV/Cincinnati, OH

EDUCATION
Art Academy of Cincinnati, Cincinnati, OH
Art Students League, NY
West Virginia Wesleyan, WV

Charley Harper (1922-2007) was raised on a farm in rural West Virginia where he was first inspired to create. Harper, not keen on taking over the family farm, left to study art, first at West Virginia Wesleyan and then at the Art Academy of Cincinnati where he met his wife, artist Edie Harper. After two years at the Art Academy, Charley was drafted into the Army during World War II and served nearly three years. When the war ended, Charley used the GI Bill to go to school in New York at the Art Students League but left New York after a month and returned to the Art Academy where he finished his studies. After graduation, he received the Stephen H. Wilder Traveling Scholarship from the Art Academy. Charley and Edie wed, and then spent the next six months honeymooning and touring the country—drawing, painting and taking in nature. This trip proved to be one that provided life -long creative inspiration for both Charley and Edie.

Charley’s impressive 60-year career as a prolific graphic designer, painter and illustrator brought his unique, modernist style to a wide range of publications. Harper is best known for his unique style combining straight and curved lines and flat areas of carefully selected colors. Through his work for classic books such as The Golden Book of Biology (1961, Golden Press) and The Animal Kingdom (1968, Golden Press), Betty Crocker’s Dinner for Two (1958), Charles Harper’s Birds and Words (1974, Frame House Gallery, 2008, AMMO books) and Ford Times and Sohioan publications, illustrated ads for Morten Salt, Libby’s Pineapple and Proctor & Gamble, together with his work for the U.S. National Park Service, Harper brought an entirely new perspective to the chosen subject matter of birds and wildlife, a genre dominated by naturalism and realism. Harper referred to his approach as “minimal realism.” Recent publications and exhibitions have introduced Harper’s modernist vision of nature to an entirely new generation of artists and critics. Harper’s exceptional skill and creativity elevated any book, advertisement or brochure to a true work of art and his work resonates as fresh and contemporary as any painter’s of his generation.

SOLO EXHIBITIONS
2009

• Charley Harper, Country Club, Los Angeles, CA
• Charley Harper, Altman Siegel Gallery, San Francisco, CA
• Charley Harper, Puyallup Fair, Puyallup, WA
• "Charley Harper: An Exhibition of Original Paintings & Vintage Serigraphs", The Public Trust, Dallas, TX

2008

• Charley Harper Works On Paper 1961—1970", Country Club, Cincinnati, OH

Selected Group Exhibitions
2007

• "Minimal Realism: Charley and Edie Harper, 1940–1960", Cincinnati Art Museum, Cincinnati, OH

2006

• "Graphic Content: Contemporary and Modern / Art and Design", Contemporary Arts Center, Cincinnati, OH

Selected Bibliography
2008

• Charles Harper’s Birds and Words by Charles Harper, republished by AMMO books, Los Angeles, CA

2007

• Charley Harper An Illustrated Life, edited by Todd Oldham, AMMO books, Los Angeles, CA

1994

• Beguiled by the Wild: The Art of Charley Harper, Flower Valley Press

1974

• Charles Harper’s Birds and Words by Charles Harper, Frame House Gallery, Louisville, KY

1968

• The Animal Kingdom, illustrated by Charley Harper, written by George S. Fichter, Random House, Inc.

1961

• The Giant Golden Book of Biology, illustrated by Charley Harper, by written Gerard Ames and Rose Wyler, Random House, Inc.

1958

• Betty Crocker’s Dinner for Two, illustrated by Charley Harper, published by General Mills

1948-1985

• Ford Times Magazine, Art Director Arthur T. Lougee, Ford Motor Company, Dearborn, IL

1950

• Children's Nursery Rhymes Series, illustrations by Charley Harper

PUBLIC COMMISSIONS
1986

• "Web of Life", mosaic mural, Pearson Hall, Miami University, Oxford, OH

1970

• "Space Walk", mosaic mural, Convention Center, Cincinnati, OH

1964

• "Space for all Species", mosaic mural, John Weld Peck Federal Building, Cincinnati, OH

1951

• "Model T Mural", installation at reception area of the Ford Rotunda Building, Dearborn, MI

ADVERTISING, PROMOTIONS & ILLUSTRATIONS
1950-1975

• Rotunda Brochure, Ford Motor Company, Dearborn, MI
• The Sohioan Magazine, Standard oil Company, OH
• The Crosley Group Broadcasting Corporation, Cincinnati, OH
• Abbot Laboratories Chicago, IL
• Moonbeams by Procter & Gamble, Cincinnati, OH
• Farm Quarterly
• Morton Salt Company, Industrial Division, Chicago, IL
• Libby's Pineapple, Libby, McNeil and Libby, Chicago, IL
• Ford Motor Company, Dearborn, MI
• Hallmark Cards Associated American Artists
• Emery Industries
• Ford Motor Company, Lincoln- Mercury Division, Dearborn, MI
• Associated American Artists, NY
• Brazil Airlines
• Ranger Rick Magazine

GRAPHICS COMMISSIONS

• New Jersey Audubon Society [2006]
• Cornell Lab of Ornithology [2005]
• The Entomology Foundation [2005]
• Friends of the Desert [2002]
• The Monteverde Cloud Forest School Foundation [1999]
• Hamilton County Ohio Park District, Hamilton, OH [1998]
• Ohio Historical Society [1998]
• Society For Ecological Restoration [1996]
• Cincinnati Nature Center [1996]
• The Ownevs [1994]
• The Nature Center [1991]
• Florida Conservancy, Naples [1987]
• U.S. National Park Service [1977, 1979, 1980, 1985, 1986, 1988, 1990]