Charles Xavier Harris
'Speak', American Realist Painting, 19th Century
1885

About the Item

Artist: Charles Xavier Harris Title: Speak Medium: Oil on Wood Panel Nationality: American (1856 - 1936) Year: 1885 Dimension: 20.5 x 16.25 Framed, 8 x 4.38 In Speak, we see one of his Italian immigrant works depicting two children and their dog camped out on a street corner near an open doorway, perhaps to their home. Nearby is a basket of utensils including a coffee pot, empty wine bottles, a rope-trimmed jug and other items they have utilized while they relax on the street. The bright colors of the girl’s clothing contrasts the faded bricks of the building with more fine details on the border of the blanket. The theme of this painting highlights the cheerful glee of children regardless of their station in life. The oil on panel painting is in good condition, signed C. Harris and dated 1885 in the lower left corner in a gold gesso frame with wood filet. Artist Bio: Charles Xavier Harris (1856-1936) was an American painter, craftsperson and art restorer known for portraits, interiors, immigrant genre, history and animal painting. Born in Maine, he spent most of his childhood in Minneapolis, the hub for extensive traveling with his father throughout the United States. Like his father, he was itinerant, often living in people's homes. He spent a great deal of his in the Northeast, Connecticut, Delaware and New Jersey. In 1929, he located permanently in Richmond, Virginia where he was a consultant for exhibitions. He also wrote a series of articles in the 1920s for the New York Historical Society Quarterly about New Netherland portrait painters. He studied in Paris in 1875 at the Ecole Des Beau Arts with Alexandre Cabanel. He traveled in Spain, Sicily, and North Africa. By 1882 he returned to the USA settling in New York City. There he acquired a modest reputation for Italian immigrant genre scenes and paintings of historical Colonial Dutch subjects, an interest that likely led him to the profession of his later years, which was restoration, copying and conservation of historical paintings. In his capacity as restorer, he worked closely with the Art House Gallery in New York and the collection of Thomas B. Clarke, an art dealer and patron of artists contemporary with his lifetime. As a craftsperson, he worked in stained glass. From 1885 to 1897, several of Charles Harris’ works were included in the Academy of Design exhibitions. His alias was Charles X Dol. His oil paintings include The Moulders, depicting two sculptors at work and the goodbyes involved in a Colonial Wedding. His work can be viewed at the Memorial Hall, Philadelphia; Manor Hall, Yonkers; Mercantile Library and Lambs’ Club, New York; University of Virginia; Virginia Historical Society; Perce, Quebec and a stained glass window in Doylestown, Pennsylvania.

Creator:

Charles Xavier Harris (1856 - 1936)

Creation Year:

1885

Dimensions:

Height: 16.5 in (41.91 cm)Width: 20.5 in (52.07 cm)Depth: 3.25 in (8.26 cm)

Medium:

Oil,Wood Panel

Movement & Style:

American Realist

Period:

1880-1889