Artist Edie McKee Harper Gets First Retrospective Show in Cincinnati

Just after marrying in 1947, Edie McKee Harper set off on a honeymoon with her husband Charley Harper that fueled her interest in the American landscape and inspired her photography, paintings and cut-paper collage works to follow.

Although Edie had regularly exhibited modernist works while attending the Art Academy of Cincinnati, her career evolved in the years that followed her marriage. In 1960, she joined the Weavers Guild of Greater Cincinnati and began to explore fiber arts, bringing her eye for bold lines and open shapes into the realm of textiles.

For his part, Charley Harper created colorful and geometric depictions of animals that first garnered him fame as an artist and illustrator during the 1950s. Although both Edie and Charley made art, Edie’s works never gained the notoriety of her husband’s. 

“Edie McKee Harper: Modernist at Play” opens at the Taft Museum of Art on Oct. 17 and runs through Jan. 17. (A career-retrospective of Charley Harper’s art runs the same dates at the Cincinnati Art Museum.) The career-spanning exhibition is the first of its kind dedicated to Edie’s work and was curated in close coordination with the Charley Harper Art Studio, which provided access to the Charley and Edie Harper Papers.

“Jacob’s Ladder’’ by Edie McKee Harper (collection of Brett Harper, © Edie Harper

“We spent more than two years working with Brett Harper and his team to study Edie Harper’s work, interviewing people who knew her personally and professionally, and diving into local archives,” Taft Museum of Art curator Tamera Lenz Muente said in a May 6 press release. “We are thrilled to share what we’ve learned about this adventurous, curious and brilliant artist who deserves wider acclaim.”  

Storytelling is at the center of Edie’s works, with the exhibition spanning depictions of biblical stories as well as experiences from raising her son. Much like Charley, the animal world was of particular interest to Edie, especially cats, and a sense of playfulness runs throughout her works that span a range of media.   

“As Edie’s son, I feel an obligation to her to show the world that she was a brilliant artist,” Brett Harper said in the May 6 press release. “To raise me and maintain the Harper household, she sacrificed a significant amount of art that she might have produced It remains my conviction that she stood toe-to-toe with Charley as an essential artist.”

For more information, visit taftmuseum.org.

For more Ohio art inspiration, sign up for our Ohio Magazine newsletters.

Ohio Magazine is available in a beautifully designed print issue that is published 7 times a year, along with Spring-Summer and Fall-Winter editions of LongWeekends magazine. Subscribe to Ohio Magazine and stay connected to beauty, adventure and fun across our state.