Sara Richman Harris (1921-2016) was a prolific but largely-hidden midcentury artist who lived in Cleveland, Boston, New York, Chicago and, for nearly 70 years, in Albany, New York. After she passed away, her family discovered several hundred ink, pencil and charcoal drawings, pastels, watercolor and oil paintings and more than 1000 diary pages in Sara’s basement.
Sara’s landscapes, still lifes, people, buildings, and abstracts expand upon various artistic movements of the twentieth century, conveying Sara’s unique vision of the world. Her diaries give voice to her day-to-day experiences from the time she graduated from college in 1941 until after she married, had her first child, and moved to Albany. The work exhibited here dates from 1935, when Sara was 14 years old, through 1976. Her last public show was in 2008, when she was 87.
The selected works are presented chronologically and by category. They demonstrate increasingly sophisticated technique; experimentation; and intriguing use of color, shape and form. They express the tenors of the times Sara lived through— the Great Depression; World War II and its aftermath; the traditionality of the 1950s; the tumultuous 1960s and increasingly conservative 1970s. Sara’s drawings, paintings and encaustics incorporate Sara’s playfulness, insight, freedom of spirit, imagination and, especially in her later work, increasing abstraction, and forays into the fantastical. Each work embodies a particular moment and passion; combined, and amplified by Sara’s diaries, the pieces provide a vibrant, cohesive artistic memoir of a remarkable mid-century woman’s life.
As Sara told her daughter Anita M. Harris many years ago, “It is art that endures.”
Current status:
So far, the Albany Institute of History and Art, the New Hampshire Historical Society and the Art Students League of New York have expressed interest in acquiring paintings and objects from our collection. We are seeking shows and media attention with the ultimate goal of finding permanent homes for the rest of Sara’s work.
We are now cataloguing the paintings, most of which are currently stored in the Harris family home in Albany, New York. A few are in personal collections of Sara’s family in Los Angeles, California; Ft. Lauderdale, Florida; Cleveland, Ohio; Cambridge Massachusetts; Lebanon, New Hampshire, and Seattle and Tacoma, Washington.
–Anita M. Harris