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The Life and Work of Charley Harper

Sitting just the right side of twee, US artist Charley Harper’s images of flora, fauna and wildlife scenes straddle the tricky line between whimsical and the rigid geometries of mid-century modernism. While ‘vintage’ illustrations of ladybirds, owls, otters, underwater scenes, flowers and the like often take on more traditional approaches, including watercolour, Harper’s work across both commercial and fine art applications focused on reducing natural beings into their simplest forms.

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The Life and Work of Charley Harper
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    In Conversation With Brett Harper and Margaret Rhodes

    In Conversation With Brett Harper and Margaret Rhodes

    To see the natural world through Harper’s eyes is to revel in the purity of color, form, and balance, providing his audience with thousands of …

    Wild About Charley Harper’s Nature Art

    Wild About Charley Harper’s Nature Art

    Cuddly ladybugs and big-bellied cardinals. Who wouldn’t want to hang out with the midcentury illustrator’s work? The artist, based in Cincinnati, began his career around 1950. In an endearing style he called “minimal realism,” he caricatured and simplified flora and fauna—and sometimes humans—for …

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