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Examples of Charley Harper's style may be seen in the posters he created for the United States National Park Service.

Ford Motor finds cache of paintings by noted Cincinnati artist

Catherine Saunders-Watson
Catherine Saunders-Watson
Examples of Charley Harper's style may be seen in the posters he created for the United States National Park Service.
Examples of Charley Harper’s style may be seen in the posters he created for the United States National Park Service.

CINCINNATI (AP) – The Ford Motor Co. says it has found more than 100 original paintings by Cincinnati artist Charley Harper while cleaning out its vaults.

About 50 of the paintings are being prepared for an exhibit next month in suburban Montgomery.

Harper had a long career creating wildlife illustrations that appeared on calendars, dinnerware, toys and in travel articles in magazines distributed by the automaker.

Ford located the paintings in a company vault in Dearborn, Mich., while trying to downsize its art collection earlier this year.

Harper’s son, 56-year-old Brett Harper of Lebanon, Ohio, says he had never seen the paintings until a Ford art consultant told him about the find.

Charley Harper contributed close to 500 pieces to Ford Times from 1948 to 1982. The designer Todd Oldham wrote of Harper, “Charley’s inspired yet 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.”
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Information from: The Cincinnati Enquirer,
http://www.enquirer.com

Copyright 2009 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

AP-CS-06-29-09 0801EDT

ADDITIONAL CHARLEY HARPER IMAGES OF NOTE

Examples of Charley Harper's style may be seen in the posters he created for the United States National Park Service.
Examples of Charley Harper’s style may be seen in the posters he created for the United States National Park Service.