Last updated 7-29-20<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Interim Years<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n 1905<\/p>\n\n\n\n When\nHarper returned to Chicago after his sojourn in Europe, he brought with him\npaintings from both his time in Cornwall, England and his time in France. He again submitted paintings to the annual Exhibition of Works by Chicago Artists<\/a>, which ran at\nthe AIC from January 31 to February 26, 1905. \nAccording to the catalogue from that Exhibition, 902 works were submitted\nfor consideration, of which 276 were selected for display. Harper had nine paintings accepted, of which\nseven were of scenes in Cornwall and two of scenes in Montigny, France. According to the Exhibition catalogue,\nHarper\u2019s paintings were as follows:<\/p>\n\n\n\n 100. \nMorning, midsummer, Cornwall, Eng. $150<\/p>\n\n\n\n 101. \nEarly afternoon, Montigny, France $150<\/p>\n\n\n\n 102. \nThe hedgerow, Cornwall, Eng. $100<\/p>\n\n\n\n 103. \nEventide, Cornwall, Eng. $50<\/p>\n\n\n\n 104. \nBanks of the Loing, Montigny, France $100<\/p>\n\n\n\n 105. \nThe potato field, Cornwall, Eng. $35<\/p>\n\n\n\n 106. \nLobbs house, Cornwall, Eng. $35<\/p>\n\n\n\n 107. \nGrey day, Cornwall, Eng. $35<\/p>\n\n\n\n 108. \nQuiet morning, Cornwall, Eng. $35<\/p>\n\n\n\n This\ntime, Harper listed his address in the catalogue as \u201cArt Institute, Chicago\u201d. Of the nine above canvasses, six sold,\nincluding \u201cEarly afternoon, Montigny, France\u201d and \u201cEventide, Cornwall, Eng.\u201d.[1]<\/a> Given his past financial straits, this must\nhave provided considerable relief to Harper.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Browne\nlikewise exhibited, and of his seven paintings at least four were scenes in\nFrance, with three containing a Montigny, France designation. Harper\u2019s and Browne\u2019s paintings of Montigny\nwere clearly the result of their spring 1904 travel in that area. Wendt exhibited five paintings, although\ntheir names as listed in the Exhibition catalogue give no clue as to whether\nthey might have been painted in Cornwall or elsewhere.[2]<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n Harper\u2019s\nwork received much acclaim, and the Chicago Municipal Art League awarded him a\nprize of $30. The Chicago Tribune\nreported that this award was for a \u201cgroup of pictures\u201d[3]<\/a>. The Inter-Ocean, however, reported that this\naward was for the painting \u201cEarly Afternoon, Montigny\u201d.[4]<\/a> Browne\nwould win the same award from the Municipal Art League for a \u201cgroup of pictures\u201d\nin 1906.[5]<\/a> The Municipal Art League was composed of\nvarious independent organizations in Chicago which worked together for the\npurpose of encouraging art in the city of Chicago.[6]<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n In\n1906, the illustrated monthly magazine The Voice of the Negro would\nrun a full page portrait of Harper in a white shirt and tie, wearing an\nartist\u2019s smock and holding a palette and paint brushes as the front piece for\nthe magazine with the title \u201cMr. William A. Harper, The Rising Negro Artist of\nthe West\u201d.[7]<\/a> In that same magazine, Florence Lewis Bentley\nwrote a lengthy article about Harper entitled \u201cWilliam A. Harper\u201d,[8]<\/a> which reproduced three of\nHarpers paintings from the 1905 Exhibition, \u201cEarly afternoon, Montigny, France\u201d [9]<\/a>, \u201cEventide, Cornwall,\nEng.\u201d, and \u201cThe Banks of the Laing[10]<\/a>, Montigny, France\u201d. Bentley wrote that Harper\u2019s painting \u201cEarly\nafternoon, Montigny, France\u201d was \u201cespecially distinguished for beauty of color\nand atmospheric qualities\u201d and richly deserving of the central position that it\nheld in the gallery. She went on to report\nthat a \u201cwell known critic\u201d had said that \u201cIt has no superior in the Exhibition,\nand will ever be a source of delight to the fortunate possessor.\u201d[11]<\/a> That \u201cfortunate possessor\u201d would turn out to\nbe Mr. T. E. Donnelley, of the firm of Donnelley & Sons, Chicago[12]<\/a>. This painting is currently in the collection\nof Howard University, in Washington, D. C.[13]<\/a> Of the painting \u201cEventide\u201d, Bentley wrote that\nit was \u201ca beautiful English landscape rich in mellow browns and greens and\nbathed in the dreamy light of ending day.\u201d[14]<\/a> Bentley went on to state that Harper\u2019s\n\u201cnoticeable group of pictures was one of the sensations of last year\u2019s exhibit\nand claimed as much attention as the work of men of international repute.\u201d Bentley clearly knew Harper, because in her\narticle she wrote:<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cIt\nhas been the privilege of the writer to see some new work, which Mr. Harper is\npreparing for the annual exhibition of Chicago artists, which will be in\nprogress about the time that this paper sees the light of print.\u201d[15]<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n Florence\nLewis Bentley was a black author and literary editor described by The Crisis,\na monthly magazine published by the National Association for the Advancement of\nColored People (\u201cNAACP\u201d), as \u201ca strong social force in the city\u201d of Chicago.[16]<\/a> She was married to Dr. Charles E. Bentley, a\nprominent dentist in Chicago, and one of the directors of the NAACP. In addition to the article on Harper, Bentley\nalso wrote in November of 1906, an article on \u201cHenry O. Tanner\u201d for Voice of\nthe Negro, Vol. 3, November 1906, p. 480. \n<\/p>\n\n\n\n Following\nthe award from the Municipal Art League in 1905, the Decatur Review, a paper in\nDecatur, Illinois, where Harper\u2019s father and brother lived, ran an article about\nHarper entitled \u201cNegro Janitor, A Prize Artist\u201d[17]<\/a> The article stated that:<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cBy awarding a prize to William A. Harper, a negro janitor\nof the Art Institute, the Chicago Municipal Art league has put itself on record\nagainst class and color distinctions when it comes to distributing honors for\nexcellent work with the brush.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n The article described Harper\u2019s ambitious\nwork schedule at the AIC as follows:<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cSeveral years ago, Harper was appointed janitor at the\ninstitute. When he was not scrubbing\nfloors and washing windows, he was studying pictures and drawing. He saved money, became a student, received a\ndiploma in 1900, went abroad and devoted every spare minute assiduously to the\ncanvas. He is night watchman now from 2\no\u2019clock til 7 in the morning. He paints\nall day, goes to sleep at 6 in the evening and rises for work at 2 in the morning.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n The\nreference to a diploma in \u201c1900\u201d appears to be an error because the AIC\nCircular for 1900-1901 lists Harper as still a student in the \u201cSaturday Class \u2013\nNormal\u201d. Nevertheless, the author of the\narticle must have interviewed Harper for the article since it ends with one of\nthe few quotations that we have from Harper, and one which is particularly\ntelling:<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201c \u2018I think I can do my best work\nabroad.\u2019 He said. \u2018There the color on\none\u2019s skin is never under any circumstances taken in to consideration.\u2019 \u201c<\/p>\n\n\n\n Several other newspapers recorded\nHarper\u2019s award, including one found in the Scrapbooks of the AIC dated February\n6, 1905 entitled \u201cColored Man Wins Position. \nPaintings by W. A. Harper are admired at the Art Institute\u201d[18]<\/a>. Reporting on the AIC Exhibition, the article\nstates:<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cInch by inch Harper has fought in his\nstruggle to attain and succeed in his art until he has received the recognition\nof both the directors of the Art Institute and the management of the Municipal\nArt League. With them there is no color\nline drawn artistic ability alone being the password by which admission is\ngained to these exhibitions.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n In another review of the Exhibition, the\nChicago Journal wrote:<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cClaiming particular attention are the nine paintings of\nCornwall, and France by William A. Harper. \nAmong these have been counted certain ones said to be the best in the\nexhibition. Mr. Harper\u2019s painting shows\nmaturity in selection and poetic feeling. \nHis landscapes have a foreign air and a certainty of grasp and\nexpression.\u201d[19]<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n Following\nthe opening of the Exhibition, an amusing discussion appeared in the Inter\nOcean (Chicago, Illinois), February 9, 1905, p. 5, under the column \u201cThe Whirl\nof Society\u201d which gives telling insight into the reaction that people had to\nHarper. After rather sarcastically\nreviewing the society men and women attending the opening, the author wrote the\nfollowing:<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cI heard a Southern woman raving over the \u2018works\u2019 of\nWilliam A. Harper, the handsome youth who acts as assistant about the institute\nwhile studying his art, and whose French studies this year have won him so much\nfavorable mention from those that know.<\/p>\n\n\n\n He has studied in Paris, and his sympathies are decidedly\nFrench, which perhaps accounts for his abundance of poetry, commonly called by\nthe women of the clubs \u2018temperament\u2019.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u2018He is one of the handsomest chaps I ever saw,\u2019 said the\nwoman I happened to overhear, and her companion, a man of enlightenment, gravely\noffered to introduce the artist. She\nenthused and instinctively straightened her hat.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Harper, incidentally, is a great favorite at the Eagle\u2019s\nNest in summer, where he goes each summer as \u2018assistant\u2019 in a general work\nsense. \u2018He is so handsome and well\nmannered,\u2019 said one of the artists to me yesterday as we talked over the\nexhibit, \u2018that we scarcely have the face to ask him for service; though, for\nthat matter, he is perfect in manner, and never intrudes his admirable\npersonality. His self-effacement is a\npart of his personal charm. But it is\nhis work that has commanded our genuine admiration and respect.\u2019 \u201c<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cEagle\u2019s Nest\u201d refers to the Eagle\u2019s\nNest Art Colony in Oregon, Illinois, of which Taft and Browne where founders\nand Wendt a member. See earlier discussion\nunder \u201cEducation\u201d. While the language\nused in describing Harper seems today rather dated and is indicative of the\nrace divide with which Harper had to contend, it is clear that he was well\nliked and well respected both as an individual and as an artist.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Indeed, such was the esteem in which\nHarper was held that he was elected later that year as one of the six members\nof the Chicago Advisory Committee of Artists for the Juries of Selection for\nthe Eighteenth Annual Exhibition of Oil Paintings and Sculpture by American\nArtists, held October 19 to November 26, 1905.[20]<\/a> Included among the paintings over which the\njuries passed judgment were those by such prominent artists as Childe Hassan,\nRobert Henri, Henry Ossawa Tanner, and Edmund Tarbell. Interestingly, Harper would, according to his\nobituary, form some sort of relationship with Tanner some years later while in\nFrance on his second visit. The nature\nof that relationship remains unclear, but Harper was clearly familiar with Tanner\u2019s\nworks through this exhibition and others.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Harper\nspent the summer of 1905 in Decatur, Illinois. \nAn article published in the Decatur Review after his death states that:<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cHe\ncame to Decatur in the summer of 1905 to make his home with his father and\nbrother on the farm northwest of Decatur, and he put in the summer painting\nlandscapes, including some beautiful scenes along the Sangamon river and\nStevens creek. These he endeavored to\nsell here, but there was not so good demand for first class work then as now\nand he sent them to Seattle, Wash., to the Art League exhibit, and there had no\ntrouble disposing of five of them at good prices. Others were sold in New York and Chicago.\u201d[21]<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n A\nvery similar article was published in the Decatur, Illinois Review in May of\n1908: <\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cIn\nthe summer of ___ he came to Decatur to live with his father and brother,\nnorthwest of the town. Nearly the entire\nsummer he spent in painting landscapes on the Wade farm. However as there was so sale for them here\nand not enough opportunities for good pictures, he decided to return to Europe\nand study more.\u2026. Five of the pictures which he painted here, he sent to an art\nexhibit in Seattle, Wash. They were sold\nthere. Others were sold in New York and\nChicago.\u201d [22]<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n The\ndate is obscured in the 1908 article, but since the posthumous article appears\nto have been based on the 1908 article,\nthe missing date was most likely \u201c1905\u201d. \nNo information is available about the location of the \u201cWade farm\u201d, nor\nhave specific paintings been linked to that venue. Note, however, that, at least one landscape\nlocated on \u201cStevens Creek\u201d did appear in 1908 in Harper\u2019s one man exhibition at\nthe James Millikan University.[23]<\/a>. See, page __.<\/p>\n\n\n\n In\nthe fall of 1905, Harper returned to Chicago.. \nAccording to the Decatur Daily Herald of September 23, 1905 (p. 8),<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cMr.\nand Mrs. John Harper entertained a few friends at 6 o\u2019clock dinner Thursday\nevening in honor of Mr. William Harper, who will leave soon for his home in\nChicago. A four course dinner was served\nand all spent a pleasant evening.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n The \u201cJohn Harper\u201d referenced above could\nhave been either William\u2019s brother John, or his father who had the same name,\nboth of whom lived in Decatur at this time. \n<\/p>\n\n\n\n In\nDecember, Harper exhibited one painting in the Tenth Annual Exhibition of the\nSociety of Western Artists[24]<\/a> held at the AIC on\nDecember 5-25, 1905.[25]<\/a> HIs painting \u201cYoung Poplars and Willows\u201d was\nreproduced in the Bentley article referenced above: <\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cAmong\nthese excellent works, there was one small canvas which has received specially\nfavorable comment, and which easily held its own among the leaders of this\nimportant exhibition. \u2018Young Poplars and\nWillows\u2019 by William A. Harper, is a landscape full of dreamy charm and tender\nsentiment. It is a work conceived by on\nto whom Nature seems to have revealed her most intimate secrets, and it is\nexecuted with a delicacy and sureness of brush, which is the result of an almost\nperfect technique.\u201d[26]<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n According\nto Bentley, the scene depicted was from \u201cIllinois, near Mr. Harper\u2019s old\ncountry home\u201d. It is not known whether\nthis referred to a childhood home, or the home of his father (or perhaps\nbrother) in or near Decatur, Illinois.<\/p>\n\n\n\n No\nother article of the time appears to have addressed Harper in such depth, and\nfew authors appear to have met directly with Harper, so it is worth quoting at\nlength from Bentley\u2019s article:<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cIt\nhas been the privilege of the writer to see some new work, which Mr. Harper is\npreparing for the annual exhibition of Chicago artists, which will be in\nprogress about the time that this paper sees the light of print. The landscapes already finished show a\ndignity and strength, a mobility of expression which seem to indicate a growth\nbeyond even the recent \u201cYoung Poplars and Willows,\u201d a development which shows\nitself not only in improved technique, but in a broader, deeper and more mature\nconception of beautiful thoughts and ideas. \nIt is noticeable that in all of Mr. Harper\u2019s landscapes, trees play an\nimportant part. \u2018His handling of trees,\u2019\nsays Harriet Monroe, \u2018shows close and accurate study of their souls and\nbodies,\u2019 and it is very true that no one could see Mr. Harper\u2019s trees, without\nturning with renewed interest to these sentinels of Nature in their own\nplaces. In fact that seems to be the\nmost telling effect of Mr. Harper\u2019s landscapes, they inspire us with a renewed reverence\nfor Nature, which help us to see beauties around us which otherwise would\nremain hidden from untutored eyes.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Harriet Monroe (December\n23, 1860 \u2013 September 26, 1936) was an editor, scholar, literary critic, poet,\npatron of the arts, and eventual founding publisher and long-time editor of Poetry<\/a> magazine. She was also a freelance correspondent and\nart critic for the Chicago\nTribune<\/a> and a member of\nthe Eagle’s Nest Art Colony<\/a> in Ogle County,\nIllinois<\/a>, where she\nmost certainly would have met Harper.[27]<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n Bentley went on in report that Harper\nhad spent his youth on a farm in Illinois, and that:<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cIt\nis to these early days in the country that the artist owes his deep\nunderstanding of Nature\u2019s moods, and it is there where he formed the\ndetermination to follow the elusive Mistress Art; leaving all others to cleave\nonly to her. In truth and in fact, Mr.\nHarper has literally done just that, for his life has been a single-hearted\ndevotion to a fixed purpose, in spite of privation and labor which would have\ndaunted a less courageous soul.\u201d[28]<\/a> <\/p>\n\n\n\n 1906<\/p>\n\n\n\n The\nnext annual Exhibition of Works by Chicago Artists took place at the AIC from January\n30 to February 25, 1906. According to\nthe catalogue for that Exhibition, 927 works were sent in for examination by\nthe juries, from which 307 were selected. \nHarper had seven works accepted for the Exhibition listed in the\ncatalogue as follows:<\/p>\n\n\n\n 107. Early evening, Cornwall, Eng. $200<\/p>\n\n\n\n 108. Lowland pastures. $250<\/p>\n\n\n\n 109. The cabbage patch. $200<\/p>\n\n\n\n 110. The last gleam. $75<\/p>\n\n\n\n 111. The hillside $50<\/p>\n\n\n\n 112. The house in the hollow. $40<\/p>\n\n\n\n 113. Grey day. $35<\/p>\n\n\n\n Harper\u2019s\naddress is included as 224 Ontario Street, Chicago, the same address as he used\nin 1902, but without the \u201cCare Wm. Wendt\u201d prefix. His painting \u201cLowland pastures\u201d was one of\nthe twelve paintings reproduced in the catalogue, perhaps explaining why it was\nthe highest priced of his paintings. The\nInter-Oceans\u2019 review of the Exhibition considered \u201cLowland pastures\u201d the most\ninteresting of Harper\u2019s paintings, with \u201cthe silver blue pond to the left, as\nseen among the trees, possibly being the most interesting feature of the\npainting itself.\u201d [29]<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n Not\nmuch is known about Harper\u2019s friends, although he clearly had a good\nrelationship with his mentors Wendt and Brown and was well thought of by the\nother AIC students who were with him in Paris. \nAn intriguing item is found in the catalogue of Exhibition of Paintings\nby Charles Edward Hallberg of Chicago, held at the AIC March 1 to March 21,\n1906, which notes that painting No. 36 in that Exhibition entitled \u201cNear the\nshore\u201d was \u201cLent by Mr. Wm. A. Harper\u201d. Another painting was lent for the Exhibition\nby Browne. Pursuant to the biographical\npreliminary to the catalogue, Hallberg was born in Gothenburg, Sweden in 1855,\nand was a sailor from 1873 to 1890. He\nsettled in Chicago in 1880, and became a painter, first exhibiting at the AIC\nin 1890. He was also a fellow\njanitor. According to an article in The\nInter Ocean in 1902 entitled \u201cPictures by Janitor Artist\u201d, Hallberg had by that\ntime been working for eight years as a janitor in a local bank.[30]<\/a> Like Harper, in 1902 Hallberg had for the\nfirst time three paintings accepted in the annual juried\nExhibition of Works by Chicago Artists<\/a> held at the AIC. With this striking commonality between the\ntwo artists, it would not be surprising for the two to have been acquainted. Harper never appears to have had much money,\nso owing a painting by Hallberg does suggest a certain level of friendship – whether\nHarper acquired the painting by purchase, gift, or even trade. <\/p>\n\n\n\n It\nis worth noting that the 1908 article \u201cHome\nfrom Paris; Studied Art There\u201d in The Decatur Review, May 6, 1908, p. 7, also\nstates that sometime after his return from his first trip to Europe Harper was\n\u201cgiven the commission to paint the decorations on the walls of the Chicago\nNormal school in Englewood\u201d[31]<\/a>. No further information has been found\nregarding this commission and this is the only suggestion that Harper may have\never painted a mural. Unfortunately, the\nbuilding that housed that school no longer exists. Coincidently, however, in 1906 Browne and\nanother instructor at the AIC oversaw the completion of ten murals at the\nInstitute depicting sports. The\nfollowing year, mural decoration was added to the curriculum of the AIC, with\nBrowne as one of the two instructors.[32]<\/a> Under the direction of Browne and the other\ninstructor, the first mural class painted three large murals for the auditorium\nof the Elm Place Grammar School.[33]<\/a> Given the timing, it is interesting to\nspeculate as to whether Browne assisted with or advised Harper on his mural\nproject \u2013 assuming that one was ever undertaken.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The\nsame 1908 article goes on to state that in 1906 Harper returned to Europe. The return trip to Europe notwithstanding, at\nthe end of 1906 Harper exhibited in the Nineteenth Annual Exhibition of Oil\nPaintings and Sculptures by American Artists at the AIC held from October 16 to\nNovember 29. This was the first time\nthat Harper participated as a contributor in this particular exhibition,\nalthough he served on one of the Juries of Selection for the Eighteenth Annual\nExhibition in 1905. The catalogue notes\nthat Harper was a member of the Chicago Society of Artists, and indicates that\nHarper exhibited two paintings:<\/p>\n\n\n\n 151. A bit of Lincoln Park.<\/p>\n\n\n\n 152. On a day.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Tanner\nalso exhibited a painting entitled \u201cThe Two Disciples at the Tomb\u201d, which was\nawarded the hefty prize of $500 for the best picture of the show and\nsubsequently purchased by the AIC.[34]<\/a> <\/p>\n\n\n\n In\n1906 Harper also began to appear for the first time in the Catalogues of the Annual Exhibitions of the Society of Western Artists<\/a> as\nan Associate Member for Chicago.[35]<\/a> <\/p>\n\n\n\n 1907<\/p>\n\n\n\n Harper\nwas again represented in the annual Exhibition of Works by Chicago Artists held\nat the AIC from January 29 to February 24, 1907, with five paintings:<\/p>\n\n\n\n 113. Gray day. $40<\/p>\n\n\n\n 114. The road. $40<\/p>\n\n\n\n 115. Dusk $200<\/p>\n\n\n\n 116. Half leafless and dry. $150<\/p>\n\n\n\n 117. \nCornish hills. $150<\/p>\n\n\n\n Out of 818 works submitted to the jury\nfor consideration, 284 were selected for the Exhibition. Harper listed his address in the catalogue as\n\u201cSecretary\u2019s Office, Art Institute, Chicago\u201d. \nThe Secretary for the AIC was Newton H. Carpenter. A letter written by Wm. M. R. French, the\nDirector of the AIC following Harper\u2019s death in 1910 advised that Carpenter\nmanaged Harpers \u201cbusiness\u201d.[36]<\/a> Presumably he would have coordinated the\nsubmission of Harper\u2019s paintings for the various exhibitions and handled any\nrelated finances, including the sale of paintings, when Harper was not in\nChicago. The two appear to have been\nfriends for many years with one early article suggesting that it was Carpenter\nwho was responsible for Harper actually attending the AIC.[37]<\/a> See earlier discussion under \u201cEducation\u201d, p.\n___. <\/p>\n\n\n\n The painting \u201cHalf leafless and dry\u201d was\none of twelve paintings reproduced in the exhibition catalogue. It was likewise reproduced in an article\nentitled \u201cExhibition of the Artists of Chicago\u201d in the Brush and Pencil.[38]<\/a> The same painting also appears in an article\nentitled \u201cThe Artist Out of Doors\u201d by James Spencer Dickerson in The World\nTo-Day, but with the name \u201cin Sere and Yellow Leaf\u201d.[39]<\/a> It is not known whether this was an error by Dickerson,\nor whether Harper actually renamed the painting. This painting eventually made its way into the\nEvans-Tibbs Collection of Thurlow Evans Tibbs, Jr., and is currently owned by\nthe National Gallery in Washington, D.C.<\/p>\n\n\n\n As to another of Harper\u2019s paintings from\nthe Exhibition, Dickerson wrote that it:<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cis from the brush of the young negro artist whose work is\nsteadily growing in interest and worth. \nIt, with several other recent canvases, hung in the recent exhibit of\nthe Chicago Society of Artists. The only\npainting bought by the Union League Club, of Chicago, of those shown at this\nexhibition, was one of Mr. Harper\u2019s.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n A review of the Catalogue of\nPaintings, Etchings, Engravings and Sculpture of the Union League Club of\nChicago in 1907[40]<\/a>\nshows that the painting purchased by the Union League was \u201cDusk\u201d. The Catalogue describes the painting as\nfollows:<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cBelow a hilltop crowned with large trees, the country\nslopes to the farming lands beyond. This\npicture enters the sphere of decorative painting, depending upon a rich,\nlow-toned color scheme, and an arrangement of composition for its\nattractiveness, rather than upon the pictorial quality of a descriptive work of\nlandscape painting. It is one of those\ncreations of the painter that win a way into the imagination and gain interest\non acquaintance.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n The\nUnion League Club sold \u201cDusk\u201d in a silent auction in May of 1984.[41]<\/a> No further information on this painting is\navailable.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The same Catalogue also shows that the\nUnion League Club in 1907 owned two other paintings by Harper. One, \u201cIn France\u201d is described in the\nCatalogue as \u201ca travel note of France during the artist\u2019s sojourn abroad\u201d. According to an inquiry made of the Union\nLeague Club in 2015 by the author, this was a 5 x\n7.5 inch oil painting acquired in 1904. The\nother, \u201cOver the Hills\u201d is described as one of a group of sketches of\nlandscape made by Harper on his foreign travels. Neither painting appears to have been\nexhibited at the AIC. As of 2015, the\nUnion Club no longer owned either of these paintings, and their dispositions\nare unknown. <\/p>\n\n\n\n One further exhibition took place in\n1907 at which Harper\u2019s works were displayed, but not at the AIC. In an advertisement on page 4 of the Chicago\nTribune on May 27, 1907, Marshall Field & Company announced the beginning\nof an \u201cinteresting exhibit\u201d of oil paintings in its Picture Galleries from the\nbest known works of a number of artists including Charles Francis Browne,\nCharles E. Hallberg, William A. Harper, Albert H. Krehbiel, and William\nWendt. No further specifics are\navailable regarding that exhibit, but one can assume that those paintings were\navailable for sale.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Although Harper exhibited actively in\nChicago in 1907, he was for part or all of 1907 in France. Unfortunately, we have no primary material\ndetailing Harper\u2019s second sojourn in Paris or otherwise in France. The titles of a number of Harper\u2019s paintings\nin subsequent exhibitions in Chicago indicate that they were clearly scenes in\nFrance, with a few specifically referencing \u201cMontreuil, France\u201d. But other than those titles, Harper\u2019s second\nvisit to France is somewhat of a mystery. \nHis obituary states that while he was in France in 1907 and 1908 he\n\u201cformed relations\u201d with Henry Ossawa Tanner.[42]<\/a> Some secondary sources even describe him as\nstudying informally with Tanner \u2013 notably without citing supporting\ndocumentation.[43]<\/a> Biographies of Tanner indicate that Tanner\ntook an interest in assisting and mentoring young black American artists,\nincluding Harper, in Paris, but again without supporting documentation.[44]<\/a> Tanner had an apartment in Paris, and, as of\nearly 1908, a villa in Tr\u00e9pied where he painted and welcomed visitors.[45]<\/a> Tr\u00e9pied is within walking distance of the\nfishing village of \u00c9tapes<\/a> which housed a popular\nartist colony. We know from the Krehbiel\nletters that Harper was familiar with \u00c9tapes, but have no direct evidence that\nhe ever visited or painted there. In any\nevent, Harper was familiar with Tanner\u2019s work, and it would have been logical\nfor him to have connected with Tanner in some fashion when he made his second\ntrip to France.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Some secondary sources suggest that\nHarper also worked with Wendt and Browne on this second trip. Browne apparently did make a trip to France\nin 1908, but since he taught at the AIC during the 1907-1908 school year,[46]<\/a> he must have left at the\nearliest after the conclusion of the school year in May or June. Since Harper was back in Decatur, Illinois by\nthe end of April 1908 (see below), overlapping time in Europe does not seem\nlikely. Likewise, Wendt does not appear\nto have been in France during Harper\u2019s second trip either. The \u201cChronology of the Live of William\nWendt\u201d, by Janet Blake of the Laguna Art Museum, shows that Wendt was in Los\nAngeles, Chicago, and the Grand Canyon in 1907 and 1908. There is no reference to a trip to Europe\nduring that period, and Wendt was newly married at the end of 1906. See also the comprehensive essay by Will\nSouth from the catalogue for the exhibition \u201cIn Nature\u2019s Temple: The Life and Art of William Wendt\u201d, at the\nLaguna Art Museum, November 9,1908 – February 8, 2009.<\/p>\n\n\n\n 1908<\/p>\n\n\n\n As was his habit, Harper exhibited in\nthe annual Exhibition of Works by Chicago Artists held\nat the AIC in 1908,<\/a> even though he was out of the country. The Exhibition ran from February 4, 1908 to\nMarch 1, 1908. The works submitted for\nconsideration by the juries numbered 986, of which 330 were selected, including\ntwo paintings by Harper:<\/p>\n\n\n\n 113. Autumn sunshine $200<\/p>\n\n\n\n 114. Old house and vines $150<\/p>\n\n\n\n Harper\u2019s painting \u201cOld house and vines\u201d,\na French scene near Boulogne[47]<\/a>, won a prestigious prize of\n$100 awarded annually by The Young Fortnightly Club.[48]<\/a> Wendt had received this prize some years\nearlier in 1897[49]<\/a>,\nand Browne in 1906.[50]<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n Harper\u2019s painting style, which was\noriginally heavily influenced by the Barbizon school of painting, had evolved\nover time. By the conclusion of his\nsecond trip to France, his work had begun to take on a looser, brighter, more\nimpressionistic style, and included a heaver use of impasto. A 1908 reviewer would describe his technique\nas follows: <\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201dAt the risk of trespassing on the\nsculptor\u2019s field, he uses his daubing knife almost as much as his brush, and\nwhen he has completed a tree or a house, it stands out as though chiseled from\na rock of variegated [sic] colors.\u201d[51]<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n See full text of article below.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Ship passenger records show that Harper\nreturned to the U.S. on the S.S. Noordam (Holland-America Line), sailing from Boulogne-sur-mer,\na coastal city in the north of France, on March 28, 1908, arriving in New York\non April 8, 1908.[52]<\/a> He is listed on the form as a United States\nCitizen travelling in the \u201cSecond cabin\u201d. \nSince Harper\u2019s return from his first trip took place in steerage, it is\na happy assumption that Harper\u2019s financial condition must have improved from\nhis earlier days. [attach]<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n By the end of April, Harper was visiting\nhis brother and father in Decatur, Illinois. \nThe Decatur Daily Review published an article on May 6 entitled \u201cHome\nfrom Paris; Studied Art There\u201d[53]<\/a>. The article began:<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cWilliam\nHarper, a colored artist, is in Decatur visiting his brother John Harper,\nseveral miles northwest of the city, and also his father John Harper, Sr.,\nliving on East Jefferson street. Harper\nis one of the few colored artists in the country. He has spent years in Europe and the United\nStates studying under well known artists\u2026.<\/p>\n\n\n\n He went to Europe in 1906 and returned\nabout a week ago\u2026.<\/p>\n\n\n\n After visiting here for a few weeks\nHarper will leave for Canada, where he expects to find great opportunities for\nlandscape painting. If successful he\nwill return to Chicago in the winter and exhibit his own paintings.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n There is no further discussion about the\ntrip to Canada, or whether it included a visit to Harper\u2019s home in the\nCanfield\/Cayuga area. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Harper had apparently requested, and had\nbeen hoping for, an individual exhibition at the AIC. He must have been disappointed to receive the\nletter dated October 8, 1908[54]<\/a> from William M. R.\nFrench, the Director of the AIC, which read as follows:<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cMy dear Harper: –<\/p>\n\n\n\n I am publishing the programme of the\nexhibitions of the season and I have been unable to put your name in. We can make very few individual\nexhibitions. It is possible that we\nmight at some time let you have room 31, but perhaps you no longer want to make\nan exhibition. As you know, we are very\nfriendly to you.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Yours very truly,<\/p>\n\n\n\n Wm. M. R. French\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Although Harper did not have an\nindividual exhibition at the AIC during this time period, he did have an\nindividual exhibition in Decatur at the James Millikin University. The Decatur Herald published a glowing review\nof the exhibition on September 8, 1908[55]<\/a> which not only addressed\nthe exhibition, but discussed in considerable detail Harper\u2019s painting style\nand local connection. The author clearly\ninterviewed Harper, and since this is the most comprehensive article from this\ntime period, it is worth reproducing in its entirety:<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cDecatur Landscape Prominent in Illinois\nArtist\u2019s Exhibition<\/p>\n\n\n\n William A. Harper\u2019s Excellent Work on\nDisplay At University Well Worth Study By Local Art Lovers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Decatur art lovers will be well repaid\nfor attending the exhibition of paintings which William A. Harper, the young\nChicago artist, is holding in the liberal arts hall of the James Millikin\nuniversity. The display is not large,\nbut every picture is a finished work, and the fact that a number of them are\nlocal lanscapes [sic] and are at once recognized as such adds a special\ninterest to the collection. Mr. Harper\nhas been spending the Summer as the guest of his brother near the city, and\nwhile the monotony of prairie country offers little to the landscape [sic]\npainter, Mr. Harper has found some charming spots, the beauty of which the\nartist has faithfully reproduced.<\/p>\n\n\n\n At first glance one would consider the\nbuilder of the Harper pictures less a painter than a modeler in oils. Mr. Harper frankly says that he cannot stand\na thin picture. At the risk of\ntrespassing on the sculptor\u2019s field, he uses his daubing knife almost as much\nas his brush, and when he has completed a tree or a house, it stands out as\nthough chiseled from a rock of variegated [sic] colors. But in Mr. Harper\u2019s work there is nothing\nsuggesting coldness; his pictures are finished; indeed they are veritable\nportraits, but with \u201clift\u201d enough to raise them from the plane of photographs,\nand behind and over all are color and light. \nMr. Harper loves soft blue skies, (and he thinks Illinois skies pretty\nnear perfection) and while his earlier pictures were dark, he now leans toward\nlight backgrounds. A winding road\nthrough October woods, done in England, is a fine example of a typical Harper\nlandscape. Tall trees, nearly bare, but\nwith here and there a patch of leaves beautiful in death, stand out against a\ndelicate autumn sky, which lights up the whole scene.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The place of honor is given to a large\noil, a landscape near Stevens creek. Mr.\nHarper searched a long time before he found a hill side with trees between\nwhich he could look out across water to hills beyond. He exercised his painter\u2019s license in taking\nout a few troublesome bushes which shut off the view to the distant hills. Mr. Harper believes with Whistler that\nnature\u2019s settings are so seldom right that it is safe enough to say that they\nare never right, but the great tree in the foreground he did not attempt to\nchange. One could study that tree. Mr. Harper transferred it to his canvass with\nthe same care that he would use in painting a portrait. You can almost see the flutter of the leaves\nand the sway of the giant limbs. There\nare several other pictures painted in the vicinity of the large one. Mr. Harper is not particular that Nature\nshall be in her brightest and freshest dress when he paints her. That Summer was already waning when he\nsecured the Stevens creek landscape is evidenced by the brown tint in the\ngreen. But despite his fondness for\nlight colors Mr. Harper hopes to transfer to a larger canvass a little picture\nof a wood scene that is all verdure, the rich green verdure of early Spring.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u2018An Old House With Vines\u2019 with which Mr.\nHarper won a prize in a Chicago exhibit last Winter is a French scene near\nBoulogne where Mr. Harper spent some time painting the quaint old houses and\nwalls. It is just what the name suggests,\nand there is every where color and warmth. \nAnother Boulogne picture is a Summer view across a pleasant landscape in\nwhich tall poplar trees, trimmed well up the trunk are prominent in the\nforeground.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Mr. Harper has a few water colors that\nare well worth studying. Too much color\nwould be the off hand verdict of the critic. \nAnd then Mr. Harper will ask how you are going to paint old French\nhouses with their stone, their brick, and their tiling without using nearly\nevery color. And inspection convinces one\nthat Mr. Harper had not misused his colors. \nEverything is natural, and you would not have it changed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Mr. Harper is meeting with the\ndifficulties that nearly all American artists encounter. He is competing with French artists or\nAmerican artists in France, whose work is inferior to his, but who have the\nadvantage of being located in the great art salesrooms of the world. Sometime American millionaires will discover\nthat it is not necessary to go to France to buy fine pictures. There is some humor in the thought that the\nStevens Creek landscape would be snapped up by a rich and somewhat homesick\nAmerican in Paris, while the same man would pass it by with hardly a glance\nwere it exhibited in Chicago. \nFortunately art connoisseurs are awaking to the fact that American\nartists are doing creditable work, and all exhibitions made up of the work of\nAmerican artists alone, such as now are being held in may cities, deserve\nencouragement. Especially are such\nexhibitions as Mr. Harper is giving to be encouraged. Decatur, without an art gallery of its own,\nbut with an art sense developed in may of its people should be grateful for any\nopportunity to see good paintings.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Mr. Harper\u2019s exhibit will be open from 3\nto 6 this afternoon and Wednesday afternoon. \nMembers of the Art League will receive, and Mr. Harper will be present.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Interestingly, this article contains the\nonly reference to Harper having painted in watercolor. The catalogues of the Annual Exhibitions of\nWater-Colors, Pastels and Miniatures by American Artists for the years\n1900-1910 held at the AIC do not list any watercolors by Harper. Either he did not enter any, or they were not\naccepted. <\/p>\n\n\n\n At the end of 1908, Harper had the honor\nof again being elected to the Committee of Artists for Chicago on the Juries of\nSelection for the Twenty-First Annual Exhibition of Oil Paintings and Sculpture\nby American Artists held from October 20 to November 29, 1908. He also exhibited two paintings:<\/p>\n\n\n\n 121. Illinois landscape<\/p>\n\n\n\n 122 Hotel de France<\/p>\n\n\n\n Harper\u2019s address for the catalogue was\n\u201cCare Art Institute, Chicago, Ills\u201d. The\nChicago Tribune reported on the opening reception in its \u201cNews of the Society\nWorld\u201d column, describing the gowns worn by the society matrons, and noting\nthat among the artists present was William A. Harper.[56]<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n The painting \u201cIllinois landscape\u201d was\nreproduced in The Inter Ocean, on November 8, 1908, p. 33, in an article\nentitled \u201cChicago\u2019s Annual Art Exhibition\u201d. \nThe article described his other painting, \u201cHotel de France\u201d, as being\n\u201can old world theme, executed with taste and skill.\u201d It went on to state that Harper \u201chas recently\nreturned from abroad, and is one of the artists in whose progress and success\nthe people of Chicago are greatly interested.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Harper was by this time in poor health\nsuffering from lung problems, probably tuberculosis (also known as consumption). Sometime after the exhibition opening in\nOctober of 1908, Harper departed for Cuernevaca, Mexico in the hope that the\nchange of climate would enable him to regain his health.[57]<\/a> [1]<\/a> \u201cWilliam A. Harper\u201d by Florence Lewis\nBentley, The Voice of the Negro, February 1906, Vol. 3, p. 117.<\/p>\n\n\n\n [2]<\/a> In\nMarch, Wendt held a one-man exhibition of paintings at the AIC, at which at\nleast two were scenes in Cornwall. See,\nCatalogue of Exhibition of Paintings by William Wendt, the Art Institute of\nChicago, March 2 to March 22, MDCCCCV.<\/p>\n\n\n\n [3]<\/a> Chicago\nTribune, February 1, 1905, p. 5; Brush and Pencil, Vol. 15, No. 3 (March 1905),\np. 50.<\/p>\n\n\n\n [4]<\/a>\n\u201cExhibition of Works by Chicago Artists Opens\u201d, The Inter-Ocean, February 1,\n1905, p. 5.<\/p>\n\n\n\n [5]<\/a> Exhibition of Works by Chicago Artists, January 31 to\nFebruary 26, 1911, p. 39.<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n [6]<\/a> Exhibition\nof Works by Chicago Artists, January 31 to February 26, 1905, p. 34.<\/p>\n\n\n\n [7]<\/a> The\nVoice of the Negro, February 1906, Vol. 3,<\/p>\n\n\n\n [8]<\/a> \u201cWilliam A. Harper\u201d by Florence Lewis Bentley, The Voice\nof the Negro, February 1906, Vol. 3, p. 117.<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n [9]<\/a>\nBentley mis-labeled the painting in her article as \u201cAn Afternoon, Montigny\u201d. The name in the Exhibition catalogue was\n\u201cEarly afternoon, Montigny, France\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n [10]<\/a>\nThis river was spelled \u201cLoing\u201d in the Exhibition catalogue.<\/p>\n\n\n\n [11]<\/a> \u201cWilliam\nA. Harper\u201d by Florence Lewis Bentley, The Voice of the Negro, February\n1906, Vol. 3, p. 117.<\/p>\n\n\n\n [12]<\/a> T.E.\nDonnelley (spelled \u201cDonnelly\u201d in the article) was the son of the founder of R.R. Donnelley & Sons Company which produced books\nand periodicals, and mass printed commercial and reference materials. See: https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/RR_Donnelley<\/a>\n<\/p>\n\n\n\n [13]<\/a> https:\/\/myweb.uiowa.edu\/fsboos\/galleries\/afampainting.htm<\/a>. For some\nreason, this image does not currently appear on the Howard University website <\/p>\n\n\n\n [14]<\/a> Bentley, op.\ncit.<\/p>\n\n\n\n [15]<\/a> Bentley, op.\ncit.<\/p>\n\n\n\n [16]<\/a> The\nCrisis, September 1915, p. 242.<\/p>\n\n\n\n [17]<\/a> The\nDecatur Review, February 3, 1905, p. 3<\/p>\n\n\n\n [18]<\/a> A\nhandwritten notation indicates that this article is from the Chicago News.<\/p>\n\n\n\n [19]<\/a>\nChicago Journal, February 9, 1905, from AIC Scrapbooks. See additionally, American Art News, Vol. 3,\nNo. 68 (February 25, 1905), p 6.<\/p>\n\n\n\n [20]<\/a>\nHarper would again serve on the Chicago Advisory Committee of Artists for the Juries\nof Selection for the Twenty-First Annual Exhibition of Oil Paintings and\nSculpture by American Artists, held October 20 to November 29, 1908.<\/p>\n\n\n\n [21]<\/a> \u201cColored Artist Dead in Mexico\u201d, The Daily Review (Decatur,\nIllinois), March 29, 1910, p. 7.<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n [22]<\/a> \u201cHome from Paris; Studied Art There\u201d, The Decatur Review,\nMay 6, 1908, p. 7. <\/a>. <\/p>\n\n\n\n [23]<\/a>\nSee, \u201cDecatur Landscape Prominent in Illinois Artist\u2019s Exhibit\u201d, The Decatur\nHerald (June 8, 1908, p. 4.<\/p>\n\n\n\n [24]<\/a>\nHarper was an Associate Member of the Society of Western Artists beginning in\n1906.<\/p>\n\n\n\n [25]<\/a>\n\u201cTenth Annual Exhibition of the Society of Western Artists\u201d, by E.E. Talbot, Brush\nand Pencil, Vol. 17, No. 1 (January 1906), pp. 25.<\/p>\n\n\n\n [26]<\/a>\n\u201cWilliam A. Harper\u201d by Florence Lewis Bentley, Voice of the Negro,\nFebruary 1906, Vol. 3, p. 117.<\/p>\n\n\n\n [27]<\/a>\nWikipedia: https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Harriet_Monroe<\/a>. <\/p>\n\n\n\n [28]<\/a> Ibid,\np. 121.<\/p>\n\n\n\n [29]<\/a>\n\u201cFeatures of the Chicago Artists\u2019 Exhibit\u201d, The Inter-Ocean, February 4, 1906,\np. 37.<\/p>\n\n\n\n [30]<\/a>\n\u201cPictures by Janitor Artist\u201d, The Inter-Ocean, October 25, 1902, p. 3.<\/p>\n\n\n\n [31]<\/a> Ibid.<\/p>\n\n\n\n [32]<\/a> Bulletin\nof the Art Institute of Chicago, Vol. 1, No. 1 (October, 1907, p. 14.<\/p>\n\n\n\n [33]<\/a>\nEssay on Charles Francis Browne by Melissa Wolfe and Joel S. Dryer, Illinois\nHistorical Art Project: https:\/\/www.illinoisart.org\/charles-francis-browne<\/a>. <\/p>\n\n\n\n [34]<\/a> \u201cHenry\nO. Tanner\u201d by Florence Lewis Bentley, Voice of the Negro, November 1906,\nVol. 3, p. 480.<\/p>\n\n\n\n [35]<\/a> Eleventh\nAnnual Exhibition of the Society of Western Artists held at the AIC December 6\nto December 26, 1906.<\/p>\n\n\n\n [36]<\/a>\nLetter from Wm. M. R. French, Director of AIC, to John W. Harper, dated April\n18, 1910, AIC archives.<\/p>\n\n\n\n [37]<\/a> Chicago News, \u201cColored Man Wins Position\u201d,\nFebruary 6, 1905. The name \u201cGeorge B.\nCarper\u201d was probably an error, the correct name of the Secretary of the AIC at\nthat time being Newton H. Carpenter.<\/p>\n\n\n\n [38]<\/a>\n\u201cExhibition of the Artists of Chicago\u201d, by A.G. Randolph, Brush and Pencil,\nVol. 19, No. 2 (February 1907)<\/p>\n\n\n\n [39]<\/a>\n\u201cThe Artist Out of Doors\u201d, James Spencer Dickenson, The World Today,\nVolume XII, 1907, p. 512.<\/p>\n\n\n\n [40]<\/a> Catalogue\nof Paintings, Etchings, Engravings and Sculpture of the Union League Club\nof Chicago, 1907, compiled by L. M. McCauley for the Art Committee of the Union\nLeague Club, p. 14..<\/p>\n\n\n\n [41]<\/a> A.\nHistory of the Art Collection of the Union League Club of Chicago, by Joan\nG. Wagner (Chicago: Art Committee of the\nUnion League Club of Chicago, 2000)<\/p>\n\n\n\n [42]<\/a>\n\u201cWilliam A. Harper\u201d Obituary, Bulletin of the Art Institute of Chicago, Vol. 4,\nNo. 1, July 1910, p. 11.<\/p>\n\n\n\n [43]<\/a> See,\ne.g.Alain Locke, The Negro in Art, Associates in Negro Folk Education,\nWashington, D.C., 1940.<\/p>\n\n\n\n [44]<\/a> Henry\nOssawa Tanner, American Artist, by Marcia M. Mathews, The University of\nChicago Press, 1969, p. 132-33.<\/p>\n\n\n\n [45]<\/a> Henry\nOssawa Tanner, Modern Spirit, edited by Anna O. Marley, University of\nCalifornia Press, 2012, p. 89.<\/p>\n\n\n\n [46]<\/a> [Need course catalogue from AIC\nto verify]<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n [47]<\/a> \u201cDecatur\nLandscape Prominent in Illinois Artist\u2019s Exhibition; William A. Harper\u2019s\nExcellent Work on Display At University Well Worth Study By Local Art Lovers\u201d;\nThe Decatur Herald, September 8, 1908, p. 4.<\/p>\n\n\n\n [48]<\/a> \u201cPrize\nWinners in Exhibit by Artists of Chicago and Vicinity\u201d; Chicago Daily Tribune,\nFebruary 4, 1908, p. 3; \u201cRecent Exhibition of Chicago Artists\u201d, Bulletin of the\nArt Institute of Chicago, Vol. 1, No. 3 (Apr., 1908, p. 36.<\/p>\n\n\n\n [49]<\/a>\n\u201cExhibition of Works by Chicago Artists\u201d, Art Institute of Chicago, February 1-27,\n1898, p. 31.<\/p>\n\n\n\n [50]<\/a> Brush\nand Pencil, Volume XVII, January to June 1906, p. 35.<\/p>\n\n\n\n [51]<\/a> Decatur\nLandscape Prominent in Illinois Artist\u2019s Exhibition; William A. Harper\u2019s\nExcellent Work on Display At University Well Worth Study By Local Art Lovers;\nThe Decatur Herald, September 8, 1908, p. 4.<\/p>\n\n\n\n [52]<\/a>\nFrom the ancestry.com records: https:\/\/www.ancestry.com\/interactive\/7488\/NYT715_1089-1357?pid=4032491925&backurl=https:\/\/search.ancestry.com\/cgi-bin\/sse.dll?indiv%3Dtry%26db%3Dnypl%26h%3D4032491925&treeid=&personid=&hintid=&usePUB=true&usePUBJs=true&_ga=2.211829268.1007922885.1592430352-1376552555.1571343165<\/a>\n<\/p>\n\n\n\n [53]<\/a> It should\nbe pointed out that there are errors in the article, the most significant being\nthe statement that Harper was born in Petersburg, Illinois. <\/p>\n\n\n\n [54]<\/a> Letter in\nthe AIC archives from William M. R. French, the Director of the AIC, to Harper\nin Decatur, Illinois, dated October 8, 1908.<\/p>\n\n\n\n [55]<\/a>\n\u201cDecatur Landscape Prominent in Illinois\nArtist\u2019s Exhibition; William A. Harper\u2019s Excellent Work on Display At\nUniversity Well Worth Study By Local Art Lovers\u201d, The Decatur Herald, September\n8, 1908, p. 4.<\/p>\n\n\n\n [56]<\/a>\n\u201cNews of the Society World\u201d, Chicago Tribune, October 21, 1908, p. 9.<\/p>\n\n\n\n [57]<\/a> \u201cWilliam A. Harper\u201d obituary, Bulletin of the Art\nInstitute of Chicago, Vol. 4, No. 1 (July 1910), p. 11.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Last updated 7-29-20 Interim Years 1905 When Harper returned to Chicago after his sojourn in Europe, he brought with him paintings from both his time in Cornwall, England and his time in France. He again submitted paintings to the annual Exhibition of Works by Chicago Artists, which ran at the AIC from January 31 to … Continue reading “Interim Years”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","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":"https:\/\/www.williamaharper.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/506"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.williamaharper.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.williamaharper.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.williamaharper.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.williamaharper.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=506"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.williamaharper.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/506\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":507,"href":"https:\/\/www.williamaharper.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/506\/revisions\/507"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.williamaharper.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=506"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.williamaharper.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=506"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.williamaharper.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=506"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
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