Completed Location #06
LOCATION
Traders Alley
ABOUT THE ARTIST
Wesleyan College President John D.
Rockefeller IV after receiving an
honorary Doctor of Humane Letters
degree, October 28, 1975.
Charley Harper (August 4, 1922 – June 10, 2007) was a Cincinnati-based American Modernist artist. He was born in Frenchton, West Virginia, and attended West Virginia Wesleyan College in Buckhannon, West Virginia. Harper’s upbringing on his family farm influenced his work to his last days, and we celebrate him as West Virginia’s most well-known native graphic artist.
During his career, Charley illustrated numerous books, notably The Golden Book of Biology, magazines such as Ford Times, as well as many prints, posters, and other works. As his subjects are mainly natural, with birds prominently featured, Charley often created works for nature-based organizations; among them are the National Park Service, Cincinnati Zoo, Cincinnati Nature Center, Hamilton County (Ohio) Park District, and Hawk Mountain Sanctuary in Pennsylvania. He also designed interpretive displays for Everglades National Park. West Virginia Wesleyan College holds a significant collection of Charley’s original artworks.
EDUCATION
| 1947 | BFA, Art Academy of Cincinnati, Cincinnati, OH Art Students League, Newyork, NY West Virginia Wesleyan College, Buckhannon, WV |
SOLO EXHIBITIONS
| 2017 | August 1–30: Naturally Connected: Charley Harper and the Department of the Interior at the U.S. Geological Survey February 13–May 8: Naturally Connected: Charley Harper and the Department of the Interior at the Interior Museum |
| 2013 | Harper Ever After, Art Academy of Cincinnati, Cincinnati, OH |
| 2012 | Design in the Desert, Trifecta Gallery, Las Vegas, NV January 12–January 16: A Birds’ Eye View, DAAP Reed Gallery, University of Cincinnati, Cincinnati, OH |
| 2011 | Charley Harper, Kunstverein Hamburg, Germany Ohlio, Country Club, Cincinnati, OH |
| 2010 | Permanents Transients, Country Club, Cincinnati, OH |
| 2009 | Charley Harper: Original Paintings and Drawings, Altman Siegel Gallery, San Francisco, CA Charley Harper, Country Club, Los Angeles, CA Puyallup Fair, Puyallup, WA Charley Harper: An Exhibition of Original Paintings & Vintage Serigraphs, The Public Trust, Dallas, TX |
| 2008 | Charley Harper: An Exhibition of Original Paintings & Vintage Serigraphs, The Public Trust, Dallas, TX Works on Paper 1961-1970, Country Club Gallery, Cincinnati, OH |
| 1997-1998 | Oct. 28, 1997 – Feb. 28, 1998: Beguiled by the Wild: The Art of Charley Harper at the Interior Museum |
| 1945 | Charley’s exhibit of watercolors, Closson’s Department Store, 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, written by Gerard Ames and Rose Wyler, Random House, Inc. |
| 1958 | Betty Crocker’s Dinner for Two, illustrated by Charley Harper, published by General Mills |