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You are here: Home / Life in General / The Genius of Charley Harper

The Genius of Charley Harper

December 20, 2011 by Bob Borson 17 Comments

Charley Harper 'Snowy Egret'

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Charley Harper is an American Modernist artist known for his illustrations of all sorts of wildlife. He called it “minimal realism” but I call it awesome. I had seen the work of Charley Harper before but didn’t know what I was looking at. His stylized version of taking complicated forms and distilling them down to their geometric essence isn’t hard to miss. Once you know what you are looking at, you’ll recognize the genius of Charley Harper every time you see it.

If you trip through Life of an Architect with any regularity, you might recall that I have been on the hunt for some personality defining art work to adorn the mostly barren walls of my house and you’ll know that my first acquisition were two Josef Albers prints (see them here). I have since hung them in place properly (instead of using post-it notes) and they look great. Logically, you might think that the next step would involve me looking towards the highly stylized work of Mid-Century modernist pioneer Charley Harper because I actually know something about what I’m doing here.

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Charley Harper in his studio

Yeah … that would have been cool if it actually happened that way … but it didn’t.

It all started when my wife Michelle decided she wanted to try her hand at some needlepoint and wondered if there were any good modernist style patterns available. So, being the incredibly logical and linear thinker that she is, she sat down, open the computer and searched on “modern” + “needlepoint” + “patterns” and as it turns out, the work of Charley Harper is quite popular with needle-pointers AND cross-stitchers! (stitchee’s !?! Anyway, don’t believe me? just look here). There were even cross-stitch magazines dedicated to Charley Harper images!!

**head exploding**

Who knew?

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Charley Harper Needlepoint

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I have to admit that I can’t stand not knowing stuff – particularly stuff like this – cool stuff, graphic stuff, things I ought to know sort of stuff. [sigh] That’s part of the reason I continue to maintain this site … so people can share things with me and I can share things with them (but from a germ-free distance). Today, I am sharing the genius that is Charley Harper.

Just soak it in …

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Charley Harper Cardinal Ford Times

Charlie Harper illustration

Charley Harper Flicker Ford Times

Charley Harper Lady Bugs

Charley Harper Green Jay Ford Times

Charley Harper Blue Jay

Charley Harper Western Tanager Ford Times

These illustrations are graphic in composition, and demonstrate Charley’s amazing sense of color. When I was trying to research this piece, I found an interesting quote (here) that is from the Todd Oldham book Charley Harper: An Illustrated Life, where Charley addresses the simplified forms that he used when illustrating his subjects:

I don’t think there was much resistance to the way I simplified things. I think everybody understood that. Some people liked it and others didn’t care for it. There’s some who want to count all the feathers in the wings and then others who never think about counting the feathers, like me. – Charley Harper

That’s awesome.

Here is the Todd Oldham book (clicking the book will take you to Amazon):

Charley Harper: An Illustrated Life by Todd Oldham

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I also found out that the house that Charley lived in was designed by architect Rudy Hermes. The two collaborated to created some illustrations for the life style magazine Ford Times, that was published by the Ford Motor Car Company. The illustrations showcased extremely modern homes in some wild locations but always had a Ford or two parked out front … because that’s what forward thinking modernists would be driving. I found these pictures in a few places but these came from the site www.cincinnatimodern.com which makes sense since Charley Harper was based in Cincinnati, attended the Art Academy of Cincinnati, and spent his adult life living and working in Cincinnati.

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Rudy Hermes and Charley Harper Ford Ads

Rudy Hermes and Charley Harper Ford Ads

Rudy Hermes and Charley Harper Ford Ads

Rudy Hermes and Charley Harper Ford Ads

Rudy Hermes and Charley Harper Ford Ads

Rudy Hermes and Charley Harper Ford Ads

Rudy Hermes and Charley Harper Ford Ads

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Sadly, Charley isn’t with us anymore – he died in 2007 from pneumonia at 84 years old. If you would like to see more Charley Harper’s work, visit www.charleyharperprints.com where you can find just about everything Charley Harper related (including a signed limited edition print – are you listening Santa?).

Thank you for indulging me, I hope you liked looking at the work of Charley Harper

 

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Filed Under: Life in General, Observations Tagged With: art, Graphics, Things that are Cool

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The complimentary advice provided on ‘Life of an Architect’ is based on an abbreviated examination of the minimal facts given, not the typical extensive (and sometimes exhaustive) analysis I conduct when working with my clients. Therefore, anything you read on this site is not a substitute for actually working with me. Following my casual advice is at your own peril … if you want my undivided attention, I would recommend hiring me. Cheers.

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