1950s Hand Painted Tile by Harris Strong

Harris Strong was born in Waukesha, Wisconsin, in 1920. His aunt owned a greeting card company, and that influenced him to become an artist. He also had a strong scientific bent, so he was meticulous about the engineering of his tiles, which featured many innovations, when competitors were creating pie plates, in his dismissive works. During World War II, Strong was a cryptographer, working directly under General Douglas MacArthur. Afterward, he studied ceramics and the chemistry of ceramic glazes at North Carolina State University. Then he worked in Brooklyn, New York, at Kelby Pottery. Later, his own business took off. Strong had showrooms in Chicago, New York and Tokyo. He created a 30' long free-standing ceramic tile mural for the Waldorf-Astoria in New York City, which remains in place. One friend says he was the first to ever show art at a home furnishings show. He loved and sang Gilbert and Sullivan, collected stamps and played bridge. In 1970, Strong relocated to Trenton, Maine, but after a fire destroyed his glazes developed over 20 years, he shifted his focus to prints, serigraphs, woodcuts, etchings, engravings, collage and paintings. Strong died in 2006.