Charley Harper

Also during his time at the Academy, and supposedly on the first day, Charley met fellow artist Edie Mckee, whom he married shortly after graduation in 1947.

As his subjects are mainly natural, with birds prominently featured, Charley often created works for many nature-based organizations, among them the National Park Service, Cincinnati Zoo, Cincinnati Nature Center, Cornell Lab of Ornithology,[2] Hamilton County (Ohio) Park District, and Hawk Mountain Sanctuary in Pennsylvania.

[3] In a style he called "minimal realism", Charley Harper captured the essence of his subjects with the fewest possible visual elements.

I see exciting shapes, color combinations, patterns, textures, fascinating behavior, and endless possibilities for making interesting pictures.

[4] He contrasted his nature-oriented artwork with the realism of John James Audubon, drawing influence from Cubism, Minimalism, Einsteinian physics and countless other developments in Modern art and science.

"[6] Charley, on numerous examples, also went outside the medium of graphic art and included short prose poems for the artwork he made.

Be It Proclaimed: Whereas, the brilliantly rich, colorful paintings, prints, and illustrations made by artist Charley Harper have delighted Cincinnatians and art lovers around the world since the 1940s; and Whereas, Charley Harper began his illustrious 60-year career as an artist when he attended The Art Academy of Cincinnati, where he later taught and inspired younger artists; and Whereas, his bold, stylized images of natural scenes and his whimsical representations of animals have contributed to Charley Harper's vision of "protecting and preserving nature;" and Whereas, a new generation of contemporary graphic artists have been moved and inspired by Charley Harper's simplified, beautiful imagery and his visionary imagination; and Whereas, Charley Harper's friendship and mentorship of graphic artist Todd Oldham have inspired the Contemporary Arts Center to exhibit works pairing Cincinnati's mid-century modernist pioneers and contemporary peers in a 15-month exhibition entitled "Graphic Content: Contemporary and Modern/Art and Design;" and Whereas, Todd Oldham describes Charley Harper's work as "a marvel, brilliant in a way I had never seen before," possessing a "lyrically joyous style," "a remarkable and exquisite color sense" and writes that "Charley's inspired yet the accurate color sense is undeniable, and when combined with the precision he exacts on rendering only the most important details, one is always left with a sense of awe," Now, Therefore, I, Mark Mallory, Mayor of the City of Cincinnati do hereby proclaim Friday, December 8, 2006, as CHARLEY HARPER DAY in Cincinnati.