Sam Hyde Harris (1889-1977)

Landscape painter. Born in Brentford, Middlesex, England on Feb. 2, 1889. Harris immigrated to the U.S. with his family in 1904 and settled in Los Angeles. As a teenager he attended evening classes at the local Artists’ Student League and Cannon Art School under Hanson Puthuff, Will Foster, Lawrence Murphy, F. Tolles Chamberlin and Stanton MacDonald-Wright. He worked in commercial art throughout his career and taught at Chouinard Art School for many years. In 1950 Harris brought Jack Wilkinson Smith’s old studio in Alhambra and lived there for the rest of his life. The harbor at San Pedro was one of his favorite painting spots. His early paintings (1920-40) show the influence of his teacher and sketching partner Hanson Puthuff and are bathed in light and atmospheric effects. His late paintings are mostly desert scenes done on sketching trips with Swinnerton and are bolder, with a palette of reds, yellows, and greens. Harris won over 100 awards in Southern California exhibitions from 1936 until his death on May 30, 1977.

Member: American Institute of Fine Art; Artists of the South West: California Art Club; Painters & Sculptors of Los Angeles; San Fernando Art Association; San Gabriel Artisits’ Guild; San Gabriel Fine Art Association; Whittier Art Association, Laguna Beach Art Association; Pasadena Society of Artists.

Works Held: Los Angeles County Museum of Art; Laguna Beach Museum, The Irvine Museum.