New art exhibition showcases ‘The Dean of Utah Artists,’ James Taylor Harwood

SALT LAKE CITY —  An exhibition will showcase more than 60 works from private and public collections by artist, James Taylor Harwood (1860-1940) at Anthony’s Fine Art in Salt Lake City.

Harwood was an internationally known artist born to Mormon pioneers in Lehi, Utah. He was the first Utah artist ever accepted to the École des Beaux Arts in Paris, then the world’s most
prestigious art school, where he worked alongside Henry Ossawa Tanner, William Bouguereau and Jean-Léon Gérôme.

Harwood painted scenes of Italy, France, California and Utah. According to a release from the exhibition states his paintings “now hang in public institutions; but, some of his most important works are only found in private homes, unseen for nearly 100 years.”

Harwood exhibited his works at the highly competitive Salon des Artistes Francais — where less than one percent of submissions were accepted— for several years. He often sent works painted from his home located near Liberty Park.

Harwood taught art, first in a private studio in Salt Lake, then at Salt Lake High (now West High School), and finally at the University of Utah where he was appointed President of the Art Institute and earned the informal title, “Dean of Utah Artists.”

According to a release about Harwood it states, “His students dominated the region through paintings and as the leaders of institutions. His students include Alice Merrill Horne (Founding Director of the Utah Division of Arts & Museums), Florence Ware (University Professor and President of the Association of Utah Artists), the “Mormon Art Missionaries” ( John Hafen, JB Fairbanks, Herman Haag, Edwin Evans, and Lorus Pratt, who founded the Springville Museum of Art and painted the interior of the Salt Lake Temple), Mahonri Young (Internationally- renowned sculptor and painter; maker of the This Is the Place Monument.), to name only a few of Harwood’s artistic progeny.”

The exhibition will be held April 20 – June 16, at Anthony’s Fine Art 401 East 200 South, Salt Lake City, Utah. The gallery is open Monday – Saturday, 10 a.m. – 5 p.m. For more information visit their website.