b. 1922 - d. 2007

Charley Harper was an American painter, printmaker and illustrator who achieved success in the worlds of both fine art and commercial art. He is best known for his depictions of wildlife, particularly his whimsical, stylized depictions of birds, insects and animals that appeared on the cover of Ford Times magazine between 1951 and 1982. Harper is also remembered as an activist who sought to raise awareness about environmental issues.

About Charley Harper

• Name: Charles Burton Harper


• Alias: Charley Harper


• Profession: Painter, illustrator and printmaker, b. 1922 - d. 2007


• Nationality: American

Biography

Born in Frenchton, West Virginia on August 4, 1922 and raised on a farm, Charley Harper grew up close to nature and had an interest in translating its beauty into art.

After serving in World War II, he relocated to Cincinnati, Ohio to attend the Cincinnati Art Academy. There, he met Edith McKee, whom he married in 1947, and fellow wildlife artist John A. Ruthven, who went on to become his lifelong friend.

Harper’s early animal paintings are often compared to the works of John James Audubon, but over the course of his career, Harper’s work became more stylized. When describing the change, Harper said that he “felt shackled by the laws of perspective and shading and decided that the constant attempt to create the illusion of three dimensions on the two-dimensional plane of the picture was limiting me as an artist.”

Charley Harper passed away from complications related to pneumonia on June 10, 2007. In 2020, the Cincinnati Museum Center celebrated his work with an exhibition titled, “Inspired by Nature: The Art and Activism of Charley Harper.”

Related Styles

• Wildlife art


• Serigraphy


• Illustration


• Modernism

Highlights and Achievements

• Harper taught at the Cincinnati Academy of Art.


• He received a Lifetime Achievement Award from the Sharonville Fine Arts Council in 2003.


• He was posthumously awarded the John A. Ruthven Medal of Distinction in 2020.

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