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Charles Elmer Harris
'African Idol' — Mid-Century African-American artist

c. 1950s

About the Item

Charles Elmer Harris (Beni E. Kosh), Untitled (African Idol), watercolor, c. 1950s. Estate stamped verso, 'Beni E Kosh COLLECTION' and numbered '570' in ink. A fine, spontaneous watercolor rendering, on watercolor paper laid onto cardboard by the artist, the image extending to the sheet edges, in very good, original condition. Image size 14 x 9 3/4 inches. Matted to museum standards, unframed. ABOUT THE ARTIST Charles Elmer Harris (1917-1993) was born in Cleveland, Ohio. In the 1960s, he legally changed his name to Beni E. Kosh, which translates to “Son Of Ethiopia”. He was a student of Cleveland artist Paul Travis at the Cleveland Institute of Art and later connected to the Sho Nuff Art Group, a collective of African-American artists, and Karamu House, a center for artists, writers, dancers, and home of the oldest African American theater in the United States. Kosh rarely exhibited or sold his work, and it was not until after his death that his stylistically diverse oeuvre was ‘rediscovered’ to receive critical recognition. Kosh’s work is noted in the catalog Yet Still, We Rise: African American Art in Cleveland 1920–1970 and included in exhibitions at the Cleveland State University and the Butler Institute of American Art.
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