William Harper – One of the Great American Jewelers of the 20th Century
He is an American artist who began as an abstract painter in the early 1960s but turned to enameling to achieve a more vibrant color palette in his work. He studied advanced enameling techniques at the Cleveland Institute of Art in his home state of Ohio.
Harper has long been interested in magic and ancient cultures, including the wearing of talismans, amulets, and power figures worn by tribal leaders. In the 1970s, he began producing jewelry based on these images.
Harper’s work has been featured in many museum exhibitions and is in many collections, including the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City and the Smithsonian American Art Museum in Washington, D.C.
Harper has been awarded numerous grants and fellowships. In the 1970s, he received a fellowship from the National Endowment for the Arts and two from the Florida Arts Council in the 1980s.
Until the early 1990s, Harper inspired many others as an artist and teacher at the University of Florida.
