Charley Harper: An Illustrated Life [Hardcover]

Charley Harper (Author), Todd Oldham (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: July 23, 2007

Charley Harper was an American original. For over six decades he painted colorful and graphic illustrations of nature, animals, insects and people alike, from his home studio in Cincinnati, Ohio until he passed away in 2007 at the age of 84. Renowned New York based designer Todd Oldham rediscovered Charley's work in 2001, and collaborated closely with him in the ensuing years; combing through his extensive archive to edit and design this stunning monograph. This coffee table tomb is a beautiful tribute to Charley Harper's singular style, which he referred to as Minimal Realism.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Todd Oldham is one of the most beloved and mediagenic designers working today. Originally a couture fashion designer with several stores in New York, and a commentator on MTV's House of Style, Todd's career has evolved to include all areas of design, from film and photography to furniture and graphic art. Todd appears frequently as a consultant on NBC's Today, as well as on MTV's enormously popular Crib Crashers, for which Todd redesigns teenagers' homes in the likeness of their favorite stars' abode. Oldham designs his own line of dorm room furnishings for Target in addition to a line of furniture for La-Z-Boy, and he is currently developing a television series based on Handmade Modern. Most recently, he has become a contributing editor to ReadyMade magazine. He lives in New York City.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 424 pages
• Publisher: AMMO Books; First Edition edition (July 23, 2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0978607651
• ISBN-13: 978-0978607654
• Product Dimensions: 19.2 x 13.2 x 2.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12.2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (34 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #349,354 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

45 of 46 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars "vintage"-looking print job but still inspiring, January 16, 2008

By 

cmyk (Cambridge, MA) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Charley Harper: An Illustrated Life (Hardcover)

As soon as I saw Harper's wonderful bird illustrations in Audubon magazine, I had to see more of his work. I was pretty taken aback by the price at first, but after previewing the entire book on the AMMO website (see Discussions below), I was more confident with my decision. It looked beautiful in the Flash slideshow and I hoped that it would look just as clear in the printed book. I had some concerns about the paper affecting print quality as the other reviewer mentioned, but I'd read other blogs & reviews from other sites and I'd heard more than enough good things about this volume.

It arrived in a lovely black & white patterned box to protect it during shipping, which is also useful for storage. As far as printing quality goes, it looks very similar to my vintage encyclopedia set from the 1960s - I have a feeling that they chose the matte paper for this reason. Yes, the colors are not as vibrant as the online preview (or the glossy pages of Audubon magazine), and yes, many of the images look like enlarged scans from previously-printed sources. You can see the blown-up halftone and a bit of a blurry edge on many illustrations. The photos of his wonderful mosaics need some color adjustment and look better online.

However, the whites are crisp and the blacks are pure black, and I'm not disappointed (I'm a picky OCD graphic designer too). My favorite aspects of this book are the creative spread layouts, the sketches & "in-progress" material, and the sheer volume & range of works contained in this book. It's an expensive book, but it's a deal when you consider the individual price of prints. In many cases, the prints will be about the same size as these pages anyways!

109 of 121 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Disappointing Printing Job, September 11, 2007

By 

G in Ohio - See all my reviews

This review is from: Charley Harper: An Illustrated Life (Hardcover)

Fans of Charley Harper will be thrilled by the breadth of this book, which produces images from his early illustration work as well as dozens and dozens of his beloved art prints. Todd Oldham did an outstanding job choosing and laying out the art work, which truly give a great overview of Charley's life and work.

HOWEVER. The book is printed on thick paper with a matte finish, and the result is disappointing for anyone who has seen the real pieces. The colors are muddy and dull, not at all like the bright colors Charley used, and the images lack the crisp lines that are the hallmark of serigraph prints. Glossy paper helps keep the colors bright and the lines sharp. This book has a hefty weight and a luxurious feel, but the images suffer substantially.

I hope that Todd Oldham and the printers will consider a second printing on glossy paper. Buy this book if you want to spend $200-$400 for a comprehensive look at Charley Harper's amazing work. But if you really want to enjoy his style, spend $50 for the smaller selection in "Beguiled by the Wild."

17 of 17 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A MONUMENTAL work for a monumental set of work, January 22, 2008

By 

D. White (Cincinnati, Ohio USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Charley Harper: An Illustrated Life (Hardcover)

Kudos to Todd Oldham and Charley on this amazing feat - I couldn't love this book much more (I've already purchased four for my family), yet there is one reason why I didn't rate it five stars: the printing. Everything is amazing, but the matte finish and somewhat reduced-quality sharpness of the images slights this book in my opinion. I understand that a higher-quality print would only make this book more expensive, but I'd be willing to pay for it. Hopefully they will release such an edition in the future. But honestly, in the mean time, this book is worth the $125+ cost.

Great highlights: the organization of Charley's work, the interview in the beginning, and the indexing of his work in the back. If you didn't know this genius or his work, please take the time to get to know him.