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Harper’s iconic depictions of animals have long enjoyed robust appreciation among nature lovers and aficionados of mid-century modern furnishings, which they exquisitely complement.
A longtime resident of Cincinnati, Harper developed his “minimal realism,” as he referred to his style, in the 1940s and 50s, stripping down nature to its essential characteristics in elegant, engaging, vividly coloured designs that breathe life and personality. Harper was an indefatigable worker who transformed an array of drawings, collages, and paintings into his beloved screen prints, book illustrations, and posters.
An ardent advocate of wildlife conservation and climate activism, Harper has been the favorite artist of nature organizations across the United States, including the National Park Service and the Audubon Society for whom he designed eye-catching illustrations and posters.
Accompanies an exhibition of the same name at Cincinnati Art Museum.
Works in the book are from Collection of Brett Harper; Cincinnati Art Museum, OH; Springfield Museum of Art, OH; Mass Audubon Collection; National Park Service, Everglades National Park; National Park Service, Harpers Ferry Center; and private collections.
Front cover: Charley Harper; Scary Scenario, 2006; color screen print on paper; image 25 × 22 in. (63.5 × 55.9 cm); sheet 29 × 26 in. (73.7 × 66 cm); Collection of Brett Harper. © Charley Harper, all rights reserved
Julie Aronson is curator of American Paintings, Sculpture, and Drawings at the Cincinnati Art Museum. Dr Aronson’s professional experience includes a position as the assistant curator of American art at the Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art in Kansas City, Missouri, and research posts at the National Gallery of Art and the Smithsonian American Art Museum. She has published and lectured on topics ranging from New England folk portraiture to painters and sculptors of the Cincinnati region.
Sarah Archer is a leading expert on design and material culture. A native New Yorker now based in Philadelphia, she is an author, curator, editor, reviewer, lecturer, and broadcaster. Her books include The Midcentury Kitchen, and Midcentury Christmas. She has written for The New York Times, Material Intelligence, American Craft, The New Yorker, T Magazine and Hyperallergic. Previously, she was senior curator at the Philadelphia Art Alliance and the director of Greenwich House Pottery; more recently, she has appeared as a regular guest on the podcast You’re Wrong About and in the CNN documentary The Many Lives of Martha Stewart. sarah-archer.com.
Michael Bierut is a leading graphic designer, teacher and writer, a partner in the New York office of the international design consultancy Pentagram, a founder of the website Design Observer, and a teacher at the Yale School of Art and the Yale School of Management. He is co-editor of the five-volume series Looking Closer: Critical Writings on Graphic Design and co-founded Design Observer, an online site for design and cultural criticism. His books include 79 Short Essays on Design and Now You See It and Other Essays on Design (2017). Bierut resides in Tarrytown, New York.
Brett Harper is the artist’s son and president of the Charley Harper Art Studio. charleyharperartstudio.com.
Julie Zickefoose is a writer, artist, and naturalist. She is the author of numerous books including Saving Jemima: Life and Love with a Hard-Luck Jay (2019). She lives in Whipple, Ohio. juliezickefoose.com; juliezickefoose.blogspot.com.
The Hidden Charley Harper: Drawings, Watercolors, Collages, and Paintings—Julie Aronson
Unicorn: The Mid-Century- Modern Wildlife Art of Charley Harper—Julie Zickefoose
Chronology—Bree Lehman