Bernard Harmon was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, in 1935. He was primarily a portrait painter and a well-loved teacher in the Philadelphia area. A graduate of the Philadelphia Museum School and Temple University’s 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 its 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 system’s District #1.
During his short life Harmon taught college 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. The artist was active in promoting African American artists throughout his lifetime. He organized many early shows such as the "Afro American Artists 1800–1969" at the Museum of the Philadelphia Civic Center in 1969, and was considered a Renaissance man by friends and colleagues for his interests not only in art but music and theater as well. Harmon was familiar and friends with many other African American artists such as Doc Thrash, Selma Burke, Paul Keene Jr., Allen Freelon and Charles Searles.
Harmon's work reflects his love of his students and friends. His art has a loose expressionist style that can be related to the work of Alice Neel. A 2016 exhibition at Gratz Gallery & Conservation Studio was one of the largest offerings of Bernard Harmon’s work in many years.
Find original Bernard Harmon paintings and other art on 1stDibs.
(Biography provided by Gratz Gallery & Conservation Studio)
Green Landscape, Expressionist Painting by Philadelphia Artist
By Bernard Harmon
Located in Doylestown, PA
"Green Landscape" is a landscape painting by Philadelphia born Expressionist painter Bernard Harmon from 1955. The 18" x 24" oil on canvas features a spring or summer landscape, pain...
Oil, Canvas
$1,950
H 24.81 in W 24.81 in D 0.79 in
Jaume Terrassa Square Green Garden original acrylic canvas painting
By Jaume Terrassa
Located in CORAL GABLES - MIAMI, FL
Original work by the artist from Mallorca . Beautiful piece. Mallorcan artistic painter. He offers us a vision of the placid and calm reality, and a uniformity of tones, gives his w...
Canvas, Oil
$2,000
H 18 in W 22 in
Expressionist Oil Painting Paris Scene View Architectural Visionism Olivier Foss
By Oliver Foss
Located in Surfside, FL
Hand signed upper right Oil painting on canvas, Unframed "Street Scene" by Olivier B. Foss is an iconic artwork representational of mid-century French Expressionist painting. The ...
Canvas, Oil
$2,494
H 25.6 in W 21.26 in
Funfair - 1950's French Expressionist Mid Century Oil on Canvas Painting
By André Beaucé
Located in Sevenoaks, GB
A wonderful 1950's French expressionist oil on canvas depicting figures at a busy funfair, by Parisian artist André Beaucé. Excellent quality work painted with thick impasto brush work. Signed lower centre. Artist: André Beaucé (French, 1911-1974) Title: Funfair Medium: Oil on canvas Size: 25.5 x 21 inches (65 x 54 cm) André Beaucé was a French painter born on May 23, 1911 in Rennes and died on January 2, 1974 in Paris . A pupil of the School of Fine Arts in Rennes, a graduate of the National School of Decorative Arts where he was admitted in 1932, André Beaucé was a pupil in the workshops of André Lhote and Simon, with Yves Brayer . He won the Abd-el-Tif prize in 1946 and was a regular at the Salon d'Automne. After having lived for several years in Algeria, and in particular at Villa Abd El Tif where he was a scholarship holder from 1946 to 1948, André Beaucé returned to France in 1949 and resumed his teaching at the Schools of Paris. His painting is then powerfully expressionist, free from any system. In the 1950s, we notice vigorous, uncompromising, intense portraits, captured in an almost caricatural way. The tones, always very mounted, are opposed with force in a composition cut with vigor. After the dark years of the war, Beaucé’s art reflects a violent vision of a certain reality that is always brutal and yet magnificent. Exhibitions Paris, 1936 to 1945, Salon of the National Society of Fine Arts . Tunis, 1946, Exhibition of French Africa. Algiers, 1947, Abd-el-Tif. Paris, 1948, Letourneur gallery. Paris, from 1950 to 1960, Salon d'Automne and Salon Comparaisons . Paris, 1962, Roy's gallery. Paris, May 1963, Exhibition organized on the occasion of the Estates General on Disarmament , Cercle Volney. First Salon Biarritz - San Sebastian: School of Paris - Painting, sculpture: André Beauce, Georges-André Klein , Adrienne Jouclard , Jean Joyet , Robert Lotiron , Roland Bierge , Andrée Bordeaux-Le Pecq , Henri Hayden , Franck Innocent , Germaine Lacaze...
Canvas, Oil
$1,307
H 15.75 in W 21.26 in D 1.38 in
Expressionist Seascape, Bord de la Mer, Cassis, South of France
By Achille-Émile Othon Friesz
Located in Cotignac, FR
Mid Century Expressionist oil on canvas seascape of the Mediterranean coastline at Cassis in the South of France. The painting is signed bottom left but as yet undeciphered. Title to the rear stretcher. Presented in a fine gilt and patinated custom wood frame. This stunning seascape captures the raw, untamed beauty of a rocky coastline with impeccable detail. The painting uses a rich palette of blues and earthy browns to depict the tumultuous waves crashing against rugged cliffs. The artist's skilful use of texture and brushwork brings the scene to life, with the churning sea appearing almost animated in its movement. The contrast between the cool, turbulent water and the warm, solid rocks creates a dynamic tension, drawing the viewer's eye along the coast. Unique to this piece is the artist’s ability to convey the mood of nature’s relentless power while also highlighting the serene beauty of the ocean. The careful layering of colours and precise composition make this artwork a captivating interpretation of nature’s untamed forces. Some of the composition and use of colours is reminiscent of the works of Achille-Émile Othon Friesz...
Canvas, Oil
$2,750
H 35.75 in W 40.75 in D 1.5 in
Mid-century “Half Dome” in Yosemite National Park, California
By Robert Elsocht
Located in San Francisco, CA
This stunning Mid-Century work is an original oil landscape titled "Half Dome" by the listed Belgian-American artist Robert L. Elsocht (1908–1999). Born in Belgium, Elsocht immigrate...
Canvas, Oil
Landscape With River Abstract Expressionist
By Jacques Kupfermann
Located in Lake Worth Beach, FL
Expressionist Landscape With River Signed lower left. Jacques Herbert Kupfermann (1926–1987) was an American Expressionist painter who was born in Vienna, Austria. His work, both ab...
Canvas, Oil
$850
H 16.15 in W 13 in D 0.79 in
Raventos CADAQUES Small Vertical original expressionist acrylic canvas
By Maria Asuncion Raventos
Located in CORAL GABLES - MIAMI, FL
RAVENTÓS Mª Assumpció – (San Sadurní d’Anoia, Barcelona 1930). Raventos trained at the elite Sant Jordi School of Fine Arts in Barcelona. Raventós expanded her studies in etching and...
Canvas, Oil
Venetians Gondolas 2
Located in Zofingen, AG
In creating this artwork, I poured my reverence for the rhythmic dance of Venetian gondolas. The vibrant blue hues and expressive strokes embody the fluidity and reflective beauty of...
Canvas, Oil, Acrylic
$2,550
H 18.12 in W 21.66 in D 0.79 in
Codorniu 11.18.2 Majorca Expressionist Acrylic Painting on Canvas, 21st C.
By Daniel Codorniu
Located in CORAL GABLES - MIAMI, FL
original expressionist acrylic painting. frame Painter and draftsman born in Ciutat de Mallorca in 1943. In 1959 moved his address to Barcelona. He was a student of the School of A...
Canvas, Oil
$311
H 13.39 in W 15.75 in D 1.19 in
Cows in the Cotswolds, Autumn, Original painting, Landscape, Nature, Tree
Located in Deddington, GB
Oil painting painted en plein air on an Autumn day in the Cotswolds. The painting shows a view of cows grazing in a field in front of bright autumn trees. The painting is displayed i...
Canvas, Oil
$2,900
H 21.26 in W 25.6 in D 0.79 in
Codorniu Majorca Expressionist Acrylic Painting on Canvas, 21st C.
By Daniel Codorniu
Located in CORAL GABLES - MIAMI, FL
original expressionist acrylic painting. frame Painter and draftsman born in Ciutat de Mallorca in 1943. In 1959 moved his address to Barcelona. He was a student of the School of A...
Canvas, Oil
$2,250
H 17.88 in W 14.88 in D 1.5 in
'Century Old Adobe, ' by James Cobb, Oil on Panel Painting
By Jim Cobb
Located in Oklahoma City, OK
This oil on panel painting by James Cobb depicts an adobe house in the backdrop of the New Mexican landscape. The adobe home is shaded in the reds and oran...
Canvas, Oil