Charley Harper: An Illustrated Life Hardcover – October 1, 2011

Who doesn't love the whimsical drawing of birds by Charley Harper. If you have a bird lover in your family this is a great book to share. It's a great table decoration and wonderful way to share shapes with children. Makes them see things differently and simplistically.

This book is amazing! Great graphics and pages upon pages of his work. I discovered a lot about Charley Harper that I had never known! This book encompasses a lot of his work, over his whole career, and is absolutely wonderful. It is great to see how he started out and how he progressed, from project to project. I love the interview with Charley at the beginning. It is a huge book, and pretty heavy. But that has not discouraged me from reading the whole thing in one sitting! If you order this book, you will not be disappointed.

It was a gift but I have one. Beautiful book

The perfect collection of the work of an amazing multi-talented artist of our time. A constant joy for me

Todd Oldham has done a great job of paying tribute to an overlooked legend in the business. Many grew up with his illustrations as a child, and there is something simple/childlike about his illustration and complex at the same time.This is a huge hardback book with no dust cover. The boards are thicker than normal, probably due to the dimensions of the book. The book is 425 pages and the artwork is lavishly reproduced with no printing issues that I notice. Some images are full bleed and it's just a joy to look through.The book is divided into the following chapters:ForewordConversation with Charley HarperBetty Crocker's Dinner for Two Cook BookThe Giant Golden Book of BiologyThe Animal KingdomFord Times MagazineBirds & WordsAdvertising & PromotionsMosaic MuralsPaintingsPostersIt's great this was published in his lifetime and this is a wonderful tribute. Highly recommended.

This is a pricey book, however, it is the ultimate compilation of the work of an amazing but underappreciated artist. The volume is massive, and browsing through these highly stylized images, one is transported into the artist's world, courtesy of Todd Oldham, who wisely chose a supersized horizontal format to showcase the art. Oldham has created a beautifully packaged and produced homage to Harper that will leave you breathless. Harper's shapes and color sense are magnificent and surprisingly subtle, his economy of line the epitome of modernism, yet there is a human appeal.This is a treasure trove of inspiration for any visual artist.

Finding Charlie Harper was the first delight. Who is this greatunknown artist? He is from the midwest, and well loved by thosewho have had the early pleasure of meeting him. This completeworks of Charlie Harper reveals a keen aesthetic sharpened bya lifetime of working a reduced design aesthetic with fascinatingoverlapping rotations. They employ the observations of a biologistselecting from the beauty of the natural world, then lovingly exploitingit for design.The book includes EVERYTHING he did, which is perhaps a flaw, but givenhis importance, it is also a joy. The amazing works one wishes to removeand set into their own collection, or frame and live with thinking alongwith Harper how he got there.

The illustrations are full pages and in color. Definitely a must have for any golden books fans, art lovers, illustrators, artists, you name it. I love vintage myself, and it has a wonderful showcase of Charley Harper's earliest retro pieces and magazine work as well. Love the book and am still in awe that it's such a low price. It's a very thick heavy book. Great as a coffee table book or just as part of your book collection.