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William Laurel Harris
American painter / From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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William Laurel Harris (February 18, 1870 – September 24, 1924) was an American muralist, educator, editor, and arts organizer.
William Laurel Harris | |
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![]() Will Harris, portrait probably in New York City around 1912 at the time of the feature article on the artist's work at the Paulist Father's Church in Architectural Record | |
Born | (1870-02-18)February 18, 1870 |
Died | July 3, 1924(1924-07-03) (aged 54) |
Nationality | American |
Education | Art Students League, New York, École des Beaux-Arts, Paris, T. W. Dewing, Jean-Léon Gérôme |
Known for | Muralist |
Notable work | Paulist Fathers Church, New York |
Movement | Pre-Raphaelite, City Beautiful, Beaux-Arts |
Harris was a member of the Municipal Art Society (of which he was president in 1912), the Architectural League of New York (of which he was vice president), The National Mural Painters Society, and The Fine Arts Federation; he also founded the Art Centre with Katherine Dreier. He painted murals, designed the decorative elements, and continued the work of John LaFarge at the Church of Saint Paul the Apostle (also known as the Paulist Fathers Church) on 59th Street and 9th Avenue, New York City. The church was called "an experiment in democracy in American art" by the order's founder, Isaac Thomas Hecker.[citation needed] Other contributors to its decoration include Augustus Saint-Gaudens, Stanford White, Frederick William MacMonnies, and Bela Pratt.
Harris labored on this project for 15 years, from 1898 to 1913 until fired by the Paulists in what appears to have been a personal dispute. A disastrous "cleaning" in 1958 removed fourteen of Harris's Saints on side chapel walls, much of Harris's unique ornamentation, and his color treatment. A renovation in the 1990s did not restore any of Harris's decorative painting, but did preserve many of his most important works, including a nativity scene, the Virgin Mary Enthroned, St. Patrick's and St. Catherine's altars, "The Precious Blood", a carved and painted frieze featuring lambs, a memorial to deceased Paulists, and a 60-foot-wide (18 m) crucifixion.