Aside from his wildlife pieces, he illustrated nearly every subject imaginable for a travel-focused magazine. Lougee, whom Charley credits as being as close to a mentor as he ever had, gave Charley an extremely wide range of assignments, perhaps wider than any other Ford Times artist.
White article “Feeding Station Birds.” In what would become something of an annual tradition, Charley would write, illustrate, and offer prints for a major bird article in the November issue.
In 1954 Lougee gave Charley the assignment of illustrating the November 1954 E.B.
#Cardinal ford series#
Grand Canyon, Ford Times cover, July 1952Ī second series of prints, depicting national landmarks, was offered in June 1953 at the conclusion of a series of articles titled “Horseless Carriage Adventures.”Īnd then came the birds. The silkscreen prints (or serigraphs, if you want to be fancy) were entirely hand produced by the Harpers in their basement, with Charley cutting the stencils and Edie mixing the inks. It was apparently Lougee who suggested offering the screen prints through the magazine after numerous reader requests. In the March 1952 issue Charley illustrated his first major wildlife article, “Eight Familiar Fish.” The article was accompanied by an offer for a series of “hand-screened” prints (available for five USD each). Arthur Lougee, the Ford Times art director, was sufficiently impressed and over the next several years Harper was given a number of commissions for feature articles and cover illustrations.Ĭlockwise from top left: Muskellunge, Catfish, King Salmon, Large-Mouth Bass, 1952 Harpers’ new style first appeared in the December 1948 issue of the Ford Times – in the recipe section. The idea was “.to push simplification as far as possible without losing identification.” He would eventually call it minimal realism. He began to experiment with a new style where perspective was replaced with hard-edged two-dimensional shapes reduced to only straight lines and curves and where shading and depth was replaced by overlapping color. He was frustrated drawing the “happy housewife” and, at the same time, he began to tire of realism altogether, stating that it “revealed nothing new about the subject, never challenged viewers to expand their awareness, (and) denied me the freedom of editorializing.” 2,3Ĭommercial ad work proved difficult for Harper. Returning to Cincinnati, he accepted a teaching position at the Art Academy as well as a job with the commercial studio C.H. It was this trip that solidified his interest in painting nature and one that inspired him throughout his career. Wilder Traveling Scholarship.Ĭharley and his new bride, Edie, used the scholarship to travel the West and South for six months. New York City didn’t agree with the country boy and he was soon back at the Art Academy, where he graduated in 1947 and was awarded the Stephen H.
1 After a three year stint in Army Intelligence during WWII he returned to his studies, enrolling at the Art Students League. Rather early on he decided to become an artist and eventually ended up at the Cincinnati Art Academy. Vanishing Birds Collection – Cotton poplinĬardinal, Cardinal with Berries, or Cardinal Cuisine, 1954Ĭharley Harper as Illustrator: the 1950s, part IĬharles Harper was born in Frenchton, West Virginia on and grew up on the family farm.Best of Charley Harper Collection (vol3).Best of Charley Harper Collection (vol2).
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