I have long had a slight obsession with Charley Harper. His art is magnificent and playful and I love how it looks simple at first glance but incredibly intricate upon further examination. It’s unfortunate for me that I live in the city where he went to art school and then later worked and raised a family. His artwork is everywhere. For obsessing over and, worse, for sale.
I am by no means an art collector. I do love modern art and attempt to have quality pieces in my home but I know I have never dropped a lot of money on anything. (Note I’m not defining “a lot” here.) I am lucky in that Wonder Boy and I have very common tastes in artwork. It makes travelling to any city where a museum is on the itinerary easier. And it makes it easier when we go shopping.
Thus far we own two Charley Harpers, both featuring raccoons: Racc an Ruin and Raccrobat. They are displayed proudly in our front room along with Told Oldham’s “Charley Harper: An Illustrated Life.” We also own Harper Harper Harper, a print that I would identify more as a poster and it is signed by Charley Harper, Edie Harper and Brett Harper. When I purchases that I was only vaguely familiar with Edie and Brett. I knew Brett had written an introduction for Oldham’s book and I had seen some of Edie’s work at the Cincinnati Art Museum.
In 2007 the Cincinnati Art Museum had a wonderful exhibit with a broad sampling of Charley’s and Edie’s works. I think they assumed that Charley would be the big draw for everyone. I know he was for me, though he certainly wasn’t my take away from the exhibit. I walked into the gallery and was dumfounded by how great Edie’s artwork was. When I started reading dates for her pieces, I realized that she was creating some of her artwork in a style I associate with Charley before he was.
A little crush was born.
And now guess what??? I own three Edie Harpers!!! Okay, both Wonder Boy and I own them, but that’s not what’s important. There will be three pieces of art created by Edie Harper hanging in my home!
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