Self-Portrait+of+the+Artist+as+a+Haruspex

Date: 1990
 * [[image:https://s3.amazonaws.com/saam.media/files/styles/x_large/s3/images/1991/1991.137_1a.jpg?itok=YK_ToFiT width="253" height="307" link="@https://americanart.si.edu/artwork/self-portrait-artist-haruspex-32441"]] || Title: **Self-Portrait of the Artist as a Haruspex**

Artist: **William Harper**  Born: Bucyrus, Ohio 1944

Medium: gold, sterling silver, cloisonné enamel, opal, pearl, coral, shell, carapace Dimensions: 11 1/2 x 2 1/2 x 2 1/4 in. (29.2 x 6.4 x 5.8 cm.) Smithsonian American Art Museum  Gift of the James Renwick Alliance and museum purchase through the Smithsonian Institution Collections Acquisition Program

Accession: 1991.137 || A haruspex was a diviner or soothsayer in ancient Rome who "read" the future from the entrails of sacrificial animals. In //Self-Portrait// the shape of the inlaid coral spills out like entrails, while the features of the cloisonne face symbolize the artist's condition. The blackened left eye represents William Harper's blindness, and the protrusion from the forehead (the "carapace," or protective covering) is a metaphorical shield from his painful migraines. This is one of a series of self-portraits showing Harper as a mystic from different cultures.
 * Luce Center Label: **

Born in Bucyrus, Ohio, Harper received a B.S. degree in 1966 and the following year an M.S. in education from Case Western Reserve University. He also studied advanced enameling at the Cleveland Institute of Art.
 * About the Artist: **

 Harper began his career as an abstract painter but in the early 1960's switched to enameling to achieve more intense colors. Fascinated by the supernatural aura of ritual objects such as amulets, charms, and tribal power figures, in the early 1970s he began to produce brightly enameled necklaces and brooches in gold, silver, and gemstones, as well as non-precious and found objects that evoke a similar and mysterious power. Many of his recent pieces are mythical and ironic self-portraits that suggest intense introspection.

 Harper was awarded a National Endowment for the Arts fellowship in 1978 and NEA grants in 1979 and 1980. In 1980 and 1985 he received fellowships from the Florida Arts Council.

Kenneth R. Trapp and Howard Risatti //Skilled Work: American Craft in the Renwick Gallery// (Washington, D.C.: National Museum of American Art with the Smithsonian Institution Press, 1998)

William Harper does not like to be labeled. Although he is best known for his work in enamel and jewelry, he has, over the years, explored many media including works on paper with paint, drawing, and collage; paintings in oil and encaustic; elaborate mixed media books, and mixed media and metal sculpture. He prefers the term ARTIST because he thinks in terms of concepts not just materials.
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Although he taught at all levels for more than 20 years, he now maintains a studio in his loft in New York City, and works full time at his art.? His work is included in more that 25 museum collections worldwide and he has received five National Endowment for the Arts grants. His textbook, //Step-by Step Enameling//, published in 1970, has been printed in five languages, and has sold more than 125,000 copies worldwide. In 1999, he was made a Fellow of the American Crafts Council.? He considers his One-person Exhibition at the Renwick Gallery in 1979-1980 as one of the great moments of his career.

William Harper suffers from chronic migraine headaches, and uses his recovery period to conceptualize his pieces. Because of his condition, he chooses to focus on the idea behind a piece rather than its method of production. He tried to avoid all metalsmithing trends in contemporary terms. I do what I want to do. My work is a natural progression of conceptualization with materials. His work is inspired by found objects, magic, and ancient tribal cultures, which he approaches, in his own words, like a wizard, a sorcerer. . . and alchemist.

<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 110%;">Harper Self Portrait Information
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SAAM Collections Page Artist Biography Haruspex Wikipedia Entry
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