Harris, Frederick, 1932-

A painter, author, art professor, and collector of art, Frederick Harris (FH) was born in Brooklyn, New York in 1932. He attended an art high school in New York. From 1952 to 1953, FH served in the army in the Korean War. After fighting ceased, he was transferred to a base in Japan. There he met his wife Kazuko (KH) and married her in 1954. They returned to the United States, and initially lived in Indianapolis, Indiana where FH studied at the Herron Art Institute. He was then accepted to the Art Center College in Los Angeles where he earned his degree. The Art Center College asked him to remain as part of the faculty. In 1963, FH was working for a Los Angeles architecture firm that sent him to Japan to open an office. FH and KH moved to Japan permanently at that time. In the late 1960s, FH left the architecture firm to open his own interior design firm in Tokyo called The Design Studio.

While working as the president of the design firm, he continued painting. He had begun with oils and other opaque media, but felt he could not appropriately capture the Japan countryside with these paints, and switched to watercolor. Around 1977, a friend suggested he try sumi, a black Japanese ink. Sumi-e means "ink picture." Since that time, FH used both watercolors and sumi. FH has stated that the way he uses sumi is different from the traditional way of painting with it. One of the main differences is the use of shadows. FH traveled extensively for both work and pleasure, and artworks created by him and collected by him reflect this. He collected works from Japan, China, and Việt Nam, among other places.

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