Bernard Harmon

Self Portrait, Expressionist Figurative Portrait by Philadelphia Artist

1960

"Modern Man" is a painting by Philadelphia born Expressionist painter Bernard Harmon. The 40" x 36" oil on canvas portrait features a young African American man posing casually and s...

"Girl Thinking" is a painting by Philadelphia born Expressionist painter Bernard Harmon. The 40" x 30" oil on board portrait of a young woman is painted in a vibrant color palette. The painting is framed in a new, black wood frame and signed "B Harmon" on verso. Figurative expressionism in the style of Alice Neel. Bernard Harmon was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania in 1935. Harmon was primarily a portrait painter and a well loved teacher in the Philadelphia area. A graduate of the Philadelphia Museum School and Temples Tyler School of Art, Harmon traveled extensively in Europe and South America. Beloved by many, Harmon taught in the Philadelphia School District for 32 of his 54 years of life. Beginning his career as an art teacher at West Philadelphia High School, in the early 1960s he became one of the district's artists in residence, traveling from school to school to demonstrate for students how an artist works. Returning to the classroom, Harmon joined the art department at Central High School where he taught for 14 years and became an innovator in art curriculum, developing a program offering advanced placement art classes to gifted students. In his final years Harmon became a supervisor, mentoring teachers and overseeing programs in the Philadelphia school systems District #1. During his short life Harmon taught collage preparatory art classes at the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, summer classes at the University of the Arts, and a Saturday program for gifted children at Drexel University. Among Harmon's portraits were commissioned by Philadelphia Jazz organist Jimmy Smith and Mayor Richardson Dilworth. Bernard Harmon was active in promoting African American Artist throughout his life time. He organized many early shows such as the "Afro American Artists 1800 - 1969" at the Museum of the Philadelphia Civic Center in 1969. He was considered a Renaissance man by friends and colleagues for his interests not only in art but music and theater as well. He was familiar and friends with many other African American artists such as Doc Thrash, Selma Burke...

"Upright Bass" is a painting by Philadelphia born Expressionist painter Bernard Harmon. The 40" x 34" oil on board group portrait of a musician is painted...

"Jazz" is a figurative painting by Philadelphia born Expressionist painter Bernard Harmon from 1968. The 34" x 40" oil on board portrait features a young African American woman playi...

"Girl with Ribbon in Hair" is a painting by Philadelphia born Expressionist painter Bernard Harmon. The 40" x 35.75" oil on board portrait is painted in a vibrant color palette and l...

"Not Speaking" is a painting by Philadelphia born Expressionist painter Bernard Harmon. The 36" x 40" oil on board portrait of a mother and her son is painted in a vibrant color pale...

The painting is an oil on canvas, measuring 48" x 36". The painting is multilayered to show skin texture, and source of light. The painting shows a young woman fixing her shawl, an a...

The painting is an oil on canvas, measuring 45" x 33". There is a lot of texture on this painting created by cigarette butts and ash mixed with oil paint, smeared on the canvas to highlight the hair. The painting shows a character inspired by Bollywood, in the market, reflecting on all the patterns and designs she sees in a South Asian jewelry...

This painting is an oil on canvas measuring 36" x 29". Portrait was stylized on artist owned images. Framing is available based on buyers preference. The image depicts a middle aged...

Painting is an oil on canvas, measuring 30" x 22". There is a lot of texture on this painting built up entirely of scraped and dried oil paint. This image is a dark one, showing a wo...

The painting is about a woman stuck still in time, statuesque and hard looking. The are many layers of strokes to build on the hardness of the figure...

"With thoughts about…" Oil Painting 39" x 31" inch by c Year: 2009 Size framed: 44" x 36" inch