Edie McKee Harper
Edie McKee Harper (March 29, 1922 – January 10, 2010) was an American photographer, artist and wildlife conservationist. Harper made her living as an artist for 60 years, working in many mediums, including sculptures, paintings, textiles, jewelry and lithographs, etc.
Edie McKee Harper
- Name
- Edie McKee Harper
- Born
- 29 March 1922
- Birthplace
- Kansas City, USA
- Died
- 10 January 2010
- Nationality
- United States
- Occupation
- photographer
- Education
- Art Academy of Cincinnati
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Edie McKee Harper (March 29, 1922 – January 10, 2010) was an American photographer, artist and wildlife conservationist. Harper made her living as an artist for 60 years, working in many mediums, including sculptures, paintings, textiles, jewelry and lithographs, etc.
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Edie McKee Harper (1922–2010) was a photographer, of American nationality. The photographer was born in Kansas City and died in Lebanon. Edie McKee Harper was educated at Art Academy of Cincinnati.
Composed from admitted, traceable facts · 27 September 2026
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In this article
Key facts
Key facts
• Name — Edie McKee Harper • Born — 29 March 1922 • Birthplace — Kansas City, USA • Died — 10 January 2010
Early life
Early life
Edith Riley K. "Edie" Mckee Harper was born March 29, 1922, in Kansas City, Kansas. Harper was an only child and her family moved frequently in her early years. Eventually, the family settled in Cincinnati, Ohio, after her father got hired for a position with Procter & Gamble. Harper graduated from Wyoming High School in 1939.
Career
Career
Following the war, Harper continued to work in photography, but experimented in many alternate mediums, like pottery, textiles, jewelry, sculpture, painting and lithography. Her work is often over-shadowed by her famous husband, possibly because of the similar themes and graphic style. She has been called "the most under-appreciated photographer in Cincinnati," by curator David Lusenhop Jr.
List of works
List of works
Harper's artwork spans many media, from her black and white photographs from World War II to her acrylic paintings of cats and New and Old Testament readings. Some of Edie's more well-known works include: • Little Red Riding Hood- 1940s • Maestro, c. 1945 by Edie Harper, oil on board, 21.25 × 12"{ • 1947 self-portrait • Woodland Fauna, mural, 1947–1948 • Untitled (123), c. 1950 by Edie Harper. oil on canvas, 18 × 24¼" • Noazark (1975) • Third Kind • Matador • Little David • Nine Tails
Art shows
Art shows
• Solo photograph exhibition, 1961, the Contemporary Arts Center, Cincinnati. • "Cincinnati modern art & design at mid-century", 2002, at the Aronoff Center for the Arts • "Graphic Content", 2006, at Cincinnati's Contemporary Arts Center • "Minimal Realism: Charley and Edie Harper," August 2007 at the Cincinnati Art Museum • "Harper Ever After," 2013, at the Cincinnati Art Museum • "Modern Cat", June 2016, at the Cincinnati Art Museum • "E is for Edie" at The Carnegie, first solo retrospective
Places
Named by the record
Places
Only places the record itself states, plotted where the house gazetteer settles their coordinates. Nothing is inferred from a name or a nationality.
Kansas City.
Birth place
Lebanon.
Death place
World War II and school
Harper attended the Art Academy of Cincinnati for formal art training, where she took printmaking with Maybelle and Wilson Stamper and color theory with Josef Albers. She met her future husband, the artist Charley Harper in 1940 on their first day at the Art Academy of Cincinnati. When WWII came, Harper contributed to the war effort as an Army Corps of Engineers photographer, while Charley Harper was drafted into the Army. She took photographs of different structures on the home front, such as hydro dams and cement test samples. Edie processed the film in the lab for the Corps of Engineers. Photographs from her war work became highly acclaimed and were shown in an exhibition at the Cincinnati Contemporary Art Center in 1961. After the war ended, both Edie and Charley were able to continue their studies and graduate from the Art Academy of Cincinnati in 1947. They married shortly after graduation and eventually had one son, also an artist, Brett Harper. The newly-minted Harpers drove across America on a six-month honeymoon, camping and creating artworks of the places that they visited, like the Grand Canyon. This period inspired a life-long focus on wildlife for both artists for the remainder of their careers.
Publications
• Edie Harper Coloring Book • Edie was the illustrator for the children's book, My Nose Is Running, by Louise Bonnett-Rampersaud.
Notes from the source article
Cited by Wikipedia
Notes from the source article
These works are cited by the source article, in its own numbering. They are recorded as its citations, not as sources VALÉORINE has verified.
- 1.Caswell-Pearce, Sara. Harper Ever After: The Early Work of Charley and Edie Harper. Pomegranate Communications. 144. March 1, 2015. 9780764971464.
- 2.Children's Publishing Blogs – 1960s blog posts. www.jacketflap.com.
- 3.Petit, Zachary. "Love Bugs." A Line Magazine. 2011 Feb;1(10): 18–21
- 4.99, Codex. "Charley and Edie". www.codex99.com. Retrieved 2017-03-11.
- 5.Bauer, Marilyn. Cincinnati Modernists Reunited. The Cincinnati Enquirer. August 4, 2002.
- 6.Villarreal, Ignacio. "Discover the Art of Cincinnati's Own Charley and Edie Harper at the Cincinnati Art Museum". artdaily.com. Retrieved 2017-03-11.
- 7."Visionary Artists at the Carnegie Arts Center :: AEQAI". aeqai.com. Retrieved 2017-03-11
- 8.Dobush, Grace. "Edie Harper, 1922–2010." The Artist's Magazine, May 2010, p. 16. General OneFile, libraries.state.ma.us/login?gwurl=http://go.galegroup.com/ps/i.do?p=ITOF&sw=w&u=2.1&it=r&id=GALE%7CA255179408&asid=1e78290250cc36b07dc733afc7735b3c . Accessed March 10, 2017.
- 9.Horstman, Barry. “Edie Harper, artist, had whimsical, abstract style.” Cincinnati Enquirer. January 25, 2010
- 10.Petit, Zachary. Love Bugs. A-Line Magazine. January 30, 2012.
- 11.Discover the Art of Cincinnati's Own Charley and Edie Harper at the Cincinnati Art Museum. artdaily.com.
- 12."Cincinnati modernists reunited". enquirer.com. Retrieved 2017-03-11.
- 13.Horstman, Barry M. Edie Harper, artist, Had Whimsical, Abstract Style. Cincinnati Enquirer. January 26, 2010.
- 14.Little Red Riding Hood. HarperOriginals.com.
- 15.Maestro. HarperOriginals.com.
- 16."The Carnegie showcases a massive survey of stripped-down style from Edie Harper and Tony Dotson". CityBeat Cincinnati. Retrieved 2017-03-11.
- 17."Detail of mural by Edith Harper, Woodland Fauna (1947–1948)". Flickr. Retrieved 2017-04-21.
- 18.Villarreal, Ignacio. "Discover the Art of Cincinnati's Own Charley and Edie Harper at the Cincinnati Art Museum". artdaily.com. Retrieved 2017-03-11.
- 19.Visionary Artists at the Carnegie Arts Center:: AEQAI. aeqai.com.
- 20."Cincinnati modern art & design at mid-century / curated by David Lusenhop, Jr | Collections Search Center, Smithsonian Institution". collections.si.edu. Retrieved 2017-03-11.
- 21.Graphic Content – Contemporary Arts Center. www.contemporaryartscenter.org.
- 22."Charley Harper Store | Edie Harper – Artwork | World's Largest Harper Dealer". charleyharper.com. Retrieved 2017-03-10
- 23.Durrell, Jane. Art: Harper Ever After at the Art Academy of Cincinnati. Cincinnati CityBeat. October 22, 2013.
- 24."Cincinnati Art Museum: Modern Cat | Cincinnati Art Museum". Cincinnati Art Museum. Retrieved 2017-03-11.
- 25."E is for Edie ". Mark Neeley. Retrieved 2017-03-11.
- 26.Edie Harper. 2013. Pomegranate.
Bibliography printed in the source article · 2
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The Encyclopedia exists whether or not anything is for sale. Corrections are recorded rather than overwritten, and every version of this record is kept. Published 18 August 2026.
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