Sunday reading – Charley Harper

One of my other diversions, on which I spend too much money, are large Art and Design books. One of my current favourites which I picked up on our last visit to Italy, was a large format copy of the late Charley Harpers, An Illustrated life. Charley Harper was a Modernist Illustrator and Artist, born in West Virginia in 1922, famous for his natural history prints, posters and mural work. I don’t really like the term coffee table book, but it is perfect for this. I have it on open view and turn a page every week or so. There is so much humour, drama and pathos in his work, at once formal and expressive. And if you spent any of your life growing up at any time up until the seventies, or early eighties, you will probably find his images oddly familiar. This is because he not only illustrated many children’s books such as the Random House “The Giant Golden Book of Biology” but because he pretty much invented the style of illustration he now epitomizes…sublime…

Tags: book review, Charley Harper, An Illustrated Life, Todd Oldham, modernist artist,