{"id":516,"date":"2020-08-03T18:33:58","date_gmt":"2020-08-03T18:33:58","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.williamaharper.com\/?p=516"},"modified":"2021-08-22T15:44:07","modified_gmt":"2021-08-22T15:44:07","slug":"final-years-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.williamaharper.com\/final-years-2\/","title":{"rendered":"Final Years"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Final Years<\/strong> \u2013 Last updated August 3, 2020 – <\/p>\n\n\n\n

1909<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Harper spent 1909 in Cuernavaca,\nMexico.  Although he was no longer in the\nU.S., he did exhibit two paintings in the Thirteenth Annual Exhibition of the\nSociety of Western Artists held from January 5 to January 24, 1909 at the AIC:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

            54.  October in France<\/p>\n\n\n\n

            55.  The mid days of autumn<\/p>\n\n\n\n

His\naddress for the catalogue is listed as \u201cChicago, Illinois\u201d.  Echoing the description of Harper\u2019s painting\nstyle in the Decatur Heald of the previous year, The Inter Ocean described the\nsecond painting as follows:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cPerhaps\nthe most unusual handling of pigments is found in \u2018The Middays of Autumn\u2019 by\nWilliam A. Harper.  The paint in\nheaviness and roughness of application suggest the palette knife rather than\nthe brush.  This picture shows a very\neffective massing of trees to the right of a ruin of wall or monastery.\u201d[1]<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

[Discuss contrast with earlier painting\nstyle?]<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Likewise,\nHarper exhibited in the annual Exhibition of Works by Chicago Artists held at\nthe AIC held from February 2 to February 28, 1909 with three paintings:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

            127.  August in France                       $300[2]<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

            128.  Old houses, Montreuil               $100<\/p>\n\n\n\n

            129.  Late afternoon                           $250<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In March, the Decatur, Illinois Daily\nReview announced that the Decatur Public Art League would hold an exhibition at\nthe Y.M.C.A. of about 50 works \u201csecured in Chicago after the annual exhibit of\nwork by artists of Chicago and the vicinity.\u201d[3]<\/a>  A number of the contributing artists,\nincluding Charles Francis Browne, were listed, with a separate paragraph\ndedicated to Harper entitled \u201cHarper to Send Work\u201d as follows:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWilliam A. Harper, the colored artist\nwho spent some time in Decatur last summer, will send some of his works.  His pictures are well thought of in Chicago\nand occupied good positions at the exhibit.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The review in the same paper after the\nexhibition opening noted that Harper\u2019s \u201cAutumn in France\u201d was \u201cremarkable in\none respect for its \u2018thick\u2019 painting\u2019.[4]<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Despite his ill health, Harper was\nclearly quite actively painting while convalescing in Cuernavaca.  Two, and probably all three, of the paintings\nthat he exhibited in the Twenty-Second Annual Exhibition of Oil Paintings and\nSculpture by American Artists held from October 19 to November 28, 1909, at the\nAIC were scenes of Mexico:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

            122.  Pueblo Indians<\/p>\n\n\n\n

            123.  The steps \u2013 Mexican scene<\/p>\n\n\n\n

            124.  Among the hills.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The American Art News reported in\nDecember that thirteen paintings were sold from this exhibition, including \u201cThe\nsteps \u2013 Mexican scene\u201d.[5]<\/a>  Unfortunately, no information is given as to\nthe purchaser or the price paid.  Until\nthis time, none of Harper\u2019s paintings appear to have featured people.  They were strictly landscape works.  The titles of the paintings \u201cPueblo Indians\u201d\nfrom the 1909 exhibition, and \u201cThe morning chat\u201d from the 1910 exhibition\ndiscussed below suggests that when he was in Mexico he began to incorporate\npeople into his paintings.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Harper also succeeded in selling\npaintings in Cuernavaca.  According to an\narticle following his death, several of Harper\u2019s paintings were sold on\ncommission at a \u201ccurio store\u201d owned by a Mr. Wood of Mexico City.[6]<\/a>  Nothing further is known about these\npaintings. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

1910<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Harper was still in Cuernavaca at the\nstart of 1910.  Once again, he exhibited\nat the annual Exhibition of Works by Chicago Artists held at the AIC held from January\n4 to January 30, 1910, with the majority of his paintings clearly being scenes\nin Mexico:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

              106.  A Mexican kitchen<\/p>\n\n\n\n

              107.  Morning in the market<\/p>\n\n\n\n

              108.  A Mexican landscape<\/p>\n\n\n\n

              109.  The morning chat<\/p>\n\n\n\n

              110.  The patio<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Likewise,\nhe exhibited at the Fourteenth, Annual Exhibition of the Society of Western\nArtists held from February 8 to February 27, 1910 at the AIC with two\npaintings:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

            50. \nAutumn, French landscape<\/p>\n\n\n\n

            51. \nMexican scene<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Note\nthe change in Harper\u2019s approach to painting. \nHe still seemed to favor landscapes, but in Mexico he started to paint\nmore domestic scenes, and more importantly, people.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Unfortunately,\nHarper\u2019s trip to Mexico did not result in the health improvement that he had\nsought.  Around the second week of March\nin 1910, he was taken to the American hospital in Mexico City.  It was to that address that Wm. M.R. French\nsent the following letter to Harper dated March 28, 1910:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI am very sorry to hear that you are sick and in the\nhospital.  I write to let you know that\nthe sympathy and good wishes of your many friends here are with you.,  I have had so little sickness that I do not\nknow much about it, but I can form some idea of how hard it must be to be laid\naside with so many things you might do.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I heartily hope we may get news that you are better.  Meanwhile, if there is anything we can do for\nyou, do not fail to let me know.\u201d[7]<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Harper\nnever received that letter.  He died the\nnight before, on Sunday, March 27, 1910. \n<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A\nrough translation of the Spanish hand written death record from the \u201cFederal District, Mexico, Civil Registration Deaths,\n1861-1987\u201d, p. 306-7[8]<\/a>, states\nthat:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In\nthe City of Mexico at 4:15 in the afternoon, on March 28, 1910, before me,\nRicardo Guerrero Garnica, an auxilary for the civil registry, appeared the\ncitizen named Melisio Munive from Mexico, 48 years old, single, employed, and\nresiding on San Diego St. #6, and declared that last night at 11:28 in the\nAmerican Hospital, William A. Harper died of tuberculosis according to the\ncertificate completed by Dr. R Canedo which is archived under the notations of\nthe law.  The appearing party also added\nthat the deceased was from Decatur, Illinois, from the United States, he was of\nNorth American nationality, 37 years old, single, artist, parents names are not\nknown.  He was given a ticket for the\nSociety of the Pante\u00f3n Americano. Other witnesses by the name of Joaquin\nGonzales and Hilario Cunacho, both from Mexico and of 33 and 40 years old\nrespectively, both single, employed, they live in house #8 on the first street\nof) <\/em>Florida; and the 2nd house on the\nLa Mariscala St. number 3. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The\nPante\u00f3n Americano is the American cemetery in Mexico City where Harper was\nburied, and is located in Cuauht\u00e9moc Borough, Distrito Federal, Mexico..<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Although\nthe death registry notes the cause of death as tuberculosis, one later article\nraises a question as to his utimate cause of death is conflicting.  An article in the Decatur Daily Review, which\ncarried numerous articles about Harper\u2019s death and whose author clearly\ninterviewed his brother, states that:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWilliam Harper did not die of\ntuberculosis but of dysentery.  He went\nthere [Mexico] on account of lung trouble and the climate was so beneficial to\nhim that in his last letter home he stated that he expected to return to the\nstates in May.  But he was attacked by\ndysentery nearly a year ago and has been growing weaker since that time.\u201d[9]<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The\nDecatur, Illinois papers carried numerous articles about Harper\u2019s death.  On Tuesday, March 29, 1910, the Decatur Daily\nReview published an article entitled \u201cColored Artist Dead in Mexico\u201d:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWilliam\nHarper, perhaps the foremost colored painter in America, is dead in the City of\nMexico.  At 5:40 Monday afternoon his\nfather, John Harper, received a telegram stating that Willliam Harper had died\nat 11:28 Sunday night in the American hospital there.\u201d[10]<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The\nnewspaper carried almost a full column obituary, and a photograph of Harper\nshowing a distinguished looking man with a mustache and goatee.  A similar article appeared in the Decatur\nHerald[11]<\/a>.  The day after receiving notice of Harper\u2019s\ndeath, his brother John Harper left on the Illinois Central train for Mexico to\nbring back Harper\u2019s body.[12]<\/a>   According to the Daily Review, which wrote a\nlengthy article about John\u2019s trip entitled \u201cHow Work of Months Was Done In Few\nDays\u201d:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cHe\ntraveled nearly 5,000 miles, going twenty-four hours out of his way each way\nbecause of his eagerness to get started, losing a day in San Antonio on account\nof missing train connections, and another twelve hours in Mattoon on his way\nback.\u201d[13]<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Unfortunately,\nby the time that John arrived in Mexico City, Harper had already been buried.[14]<\/a>  Laws in Mexico required that the body of any\nperson dying of tuberculosis be buried within 24 hours after death.[15]<\/a>  In a later interview with the Decatur Herald:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cMr.\nHarper [John] said it was his intentions to bring the body to this city for\nburial, but as he did not have the necessary papers it was impossible to do\nso.  The expense would have been about\n$2000 to get the body out of Mexico. \nEach government officer who handles the papers charges $125 for affixing\nhis seal, and a fee of $125 is charged for every state the body passes\nthrough.\u201d[16]<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

John spent three days in Mexico City,\nand another two in Cuernevaca.  The Daily\nReview was high in its praise of John. \nAccording to its article,  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWithout\nknowing a word of Spanish or having the faintest knowledge of the laws or\ncustoms of Mexico, and also without letters of administration or other\nauthority, he settled up his brother\u2019s affairs\u2026.\u201d[17]<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

John was apparently well treated Mexico,\nthe Daily Review saying that he: <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cfell\namong angels in Mexico and few people had suspected that there were any.  When he reached Mexico City he went to the\nAmerican hospital, where he ascertained further facts as to his death and that\nhe had been recently buried in the American cemetery.\u201d[18]<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

In Mexico City John also went to see the\nAmerican consul,<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cand\npresented letters from Judge Johns, Judge Smith, Senator Hanson and\nothers.  These were convincing to the\nconsul as identifying the Bearer, but they did not qualify Harper to settle up\nthe estate of an American in Mexico.\u201d[19]<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

It\nis impressive that John could have acquired these letters in Decatur in such\nshort order following Harper\u2019s death and his almost immediate departure for\nMexico.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Lack\nof letters of administration notwithstanding, John proceeded to Cuernavaca,\nseventy-five miles south of Mexico City where Harper had leased an apartment\nand painted for eighteen months.  In\nCuernavaca, he met with a Mr. Woods, a resident of Mexico City, who owned a\ncurio store in Cuernavaca where he had sold several paintings for Harper on\ncommission.  At the time, Woods still had\neleven other Harper paintings in his possession.  According to the Daily Review article, Woods\nscrupulously accounted for everything, including some pictures which had been\nsold but not paid for.  Because he did\nnot have the necessary legal paperwork to take all of the remaining paintings\nback to the U.S., John sold the remaining paintings to Woods based on prices\nthat Harper had marked on the paintings, less a discount of 1\/3 for Woods as\nthe dealer.  John then settled his\nbrothers bills and other outstanding matters in Cuernavaca.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Although\nhe could not take back to Decatur the finished paintings, John did take back an\nunfinished painting described as a \u201csketch of a house with a lot of burros in\nthe foreground\u201d, with no customs interference. \nSubsequent to his return to Decatur, John received a letter from the\nwoman in whose house Harper had lived advising that a number of additional\nsketches had been found.  The Decatur\nReview speculated that the sketches would be sent to Decatur, but their\ndisposition is unknown.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

John\u2019s\ntrip to Mexico was certainly wearing, both emotionally and physically.  The article in the Daily Review concluded\nwith the following:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cAs\na physical undertaking the trip would have worn out most men, and there are few\nwho could have settled the business more promptly and satisfactorily.  When he reached Mattoon on his return trip,\nthere was no train to Decatur and he had to stay there til morning.  \u2018You don\u2019t know how I wanted to get home\u2019, he\nsays, \u2018and if it had been only ten miles or even twenty miles I certainly would\nhave walked.\u201d[20]<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Upon his return, John was appointed administrator\nof Harper\u2019s estate, with the bond set at $1,000.[21]<\/a>  The Petition for Letters of Administration\nand inventory obtained from the Macon County Probate Court state that Harper\ndied intestate, that is, without a will. \nHarper\u2019s survivors are listed as his brother John W. Harper, and his\nfather John Harper.  There is no mention\nof either his sister Frances or brother George. \nHis estate as described in the Petition as consisting of \u201cone life\ninsurance policy in Metripolitan [sic?] Life for the face value of Five Hundred\nDollars, and some person effects.\u201d  Those\npersonal effects would have been any remaining cash brought back from Mexico\nfrom the sale of is paintings, and additional paintings in Chicago and possibly\nDecatur.  The probate documents were\nsigned by O. Smith, the County Judge, who was one of the Judges whose letters\nin support of John were presented to the American consul in Mexico City.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

John\nalso contacted the AIC regarding Harper\u2019s paintings.  A letter to John[22]<\/a> from Wm. M. R. French, the\nDirector, dated April 18, 1910[23]<\/a>, reads as follows:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI\nhave received your letter of April 15.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Mr.\nN. H. Carpenter, my associate, who is the Secretary of the Art Institute, has\nmanaged Mr. William Harper\u2019s business, and he is the proper man for you to see\nand to communicate with.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

We\nwere all very friendly to your brother and are sorry for is death.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The\nAntioch Baptist Church in Decatur held a memorial service on the afternoon of\nSunday, May 29, 1910, presided over by Rev. J. A. Crockett of the church and\nRev. J. T. Morrow of St Peter\u2019s African Methodist Church.  Both brother and father were in attendance,\nand \u201cA large number was present.\u201d[24]<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Bulletin of the AIC ran an obituary\nfor Harper in July of 1910, noting that:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cHe\nwas a man of the highest principles, of exceptional professional skill, and of\ngreat industry; and he united with these qualities good sense, good temper and\nself control, which were necessary in his difficult circumstances.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The reference to \u201cdifficult\ncircumstance\u201d is an interesting recognition of the undoubted difficulties of\nbeing both poor and black in an almost wholly white profession.  The Bulletin reported that a second memorial\nservice was held for Harper in May at the Bethesda Baptist Church of Chicago\nwhere Harper was a member.  There is a\nreference in the obituary to Harper\u2019s father and brother who lived in Decatur,\nbut no mention of any other sibling.  It\nis an indication of the esteem in which Harper was held at the AIC and in the Chicago\nart community that both Lorado Taft, the sculptor, and Wm. M.R. French, the AIC\nDirector spoke at his funeral.[25]<\/a>  It is perhaps a further indication of the\nesteem in which Harper was held that this obituary appears to the only obituary published in the\nBulletin since its inception in 1907. \nThe Bulletin went on to advise that a memorial exhibition of Harper\u2019s\npaintings would be held at the AIC, opening July 26.
<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n\n\n\n

[1]<\/a>\n\u201cWork of Western Artists is Highly Praised at Midwinter Exhibit\u201d, The Inter\nOcean (Chicago, Illinois), January 17, \n1909, p. 30.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

[2]<\/a> \u201cAugust\nin France\u201d was later reproduced in an article in the Chicago Sunday Record-Herald\npublished on August 6,\n1910 reviewing Harper\u2019s Memorial Exhibition. [Check date; article almost\nillegible.]<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

[3]<\/a>  \u201cArt League Exhibit Best in Illinois\u201d, The\nDaily Review (Decatur, Illinois), p. 8.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

[4]<\/a>\n\u201cArt League Exhibit Best Offered Here\u201d, The Daily Review (Decatur, Illinois),\np. 8.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

[5]<\/a>\n\u201cChicago\u201d, American Art News, Vol. 8, No. 8 (December 4, 1909), p. 1-8.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

[6]<\/a>\n\u201cHow Work of Months Was Done In Few Days\u201d, The Daily Review (Decatur,\nIllinois), April 17, 1990, p. 15.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

[7]<\/a>\nLetter from Wm. M. R. French, President of AIC, to William A. Harper, dated\nMarch 28, 1910, AIC archives.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

[8]<\/a>\nFrom Ancestry.com:  https:\/\/www.ancestry.com\/interactive\/60426\/004976610_01391\/5552589?backurl=https:\/\/www.ancestry.com\/family-tree\/person\/tree\/162479921\/person\/172118536720\/facts\/citation\/642169176701\/edit\/record<\/a>\n<\/p>\n\n\n\n

[9]<\/a>\n\u201cHow Work of Months Was Done In Few Days\u201d, The Daily Review (Decatur,\nIllinois), April 17, 1910, p. 15.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

[10]<\/a>\n\u201cColored Artist Dead in Mexico\u201d, The Daily Review (Decatur, Illinois), March\n29, 1910, p. 7.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

[11]<\/a> A\nsimilar article appeared in the Decatur Herald: \n\u201cColored Artist Dies in Mexico\u201d, The Decatur Herald (Decatur, Illinois),\nMarch 30, 1910, p. 12.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

[12]<\/a>\nBrief note in The Daily Review (Decatur, Illinois), March 29, 1910, p. 15.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

[13]<\/a>\nThe Daily Review (Decatur, Illinois), April 17, 1910, p. 4;<\/p>\n\n\n\n

[14]<\/a>\n\u201cHarper\u2019s Body is Buried in Mexico\u201d The Daily Review (Decatur, Illinois), April\n12, 1910, p. 4; \u201cArrived too Late\u201d, The Decatur Herald\n(Decatur, Illinois), April 12, 1910, p. 12<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

[15]<\/a> The\nDecatur Herald (Decatur, Illinois), April 15, 1910, p. 3.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

[16]<\/a> Ibid.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

[17]<\/a>\n\u201cHow Work of Months Was Done In Few Days\u201d, The Daily Review (Decatur,\nIllinois), April 17, 1910, p. 15.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

[18]<\/a> Ibid.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

[19]<\/a> Ibid.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

[20]<\/a>\nIbid.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

[21]<\/a>\nNote in The Daily Review, April 14, 1910, p. 14.  See also Macon County Probate Court records\nfor William A. Harper.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

[22]<\/a>\nJohn\u2019s address is listed as [805 Zora] Avenue, Decatur, Illinois.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

[23]<\/a>\nAIC Archives, letter from Wm. M.\nR. French to John W. Harper dated April 18, 1910<\/p>\n\n\n\n

[24]<\/a>\n\u201cAntioch Baptist\u201d, The Decatur Herald (Decatur, Illinois), May 30, 1910, p. 4.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

[25]<\/a>\n\u201cWilliam A. Harper\u201d, Bulletin of the Art Institute of Chicago, Vol. 4, No. 1\n(Jul., 1910), p. 11.  \n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nt<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Final Years \u2013 Last updated August 3, 2020 – 1909 Harper spent 1909 in Cuernavaca, Mexico.  Although he was no longer in the U.S., he did exhibit two paintings in the Thirteenth Annual Exhibition of the Society of Western Artists held from January 5 to January 24, 1909 at the AIC:             54.  October in … Continue reading “Final Years”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.williamaharper.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/516"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.williamaharper.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.williamaharper.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.williamaharper.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.williamaharper.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=516"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"http:\/\/www.williamaharper.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/516\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":542,"href":"http:\/\/www.williamaharper.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/516\/revisions\/542"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.williamaharper.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=516"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.williamaharper.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=516"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.williamaharper.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=516"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}