Harvey Tristan Cropper

Cropper was born on August 4, 1931, in Sugar Hill, Harlem, New York City,^[2][3] to West Indian parents who had migrated there from St. Vincent.^[1] His father was a pharmacist and his mother was an embroiderer in Harlem.^[4] Cropper started creating art at the age of four, and was inspired by the many colors of his mother's silk threads.^[3] He studied at the Art Students League of New York, and spent time in private study in Japan.^[5] In the early 1950s, while living at 4 Barrow Street in New York's Greenwich Village with the jazz musician Charlie Parker,^[6] Cropper taught Parker how to paint in exchange for music lessons.^[7][8][9][4]

In 1954, Cropper exhibited his work at the Galerie Moderne.^[10] In 1964, his work was part of the 10 American Negro Artists Living and Working in Europe exhibition at Den Frie Udstilling in Copenhagen, Denmark.^[11]

During the Vietnam War, Cropper began to focus on political paintings. His piece "Faces of Apartheid" was used by the United Nations.^[3][12]

In the 1970s, Cropper's artistic style began to focus more on meditative creation and still life. In a conversation with Swedish artist and friend Bengt O. Björklund, he explained: "Light, texture and symbolism are important to me. I have become more meditative and once again approached the Japanese tradition and the values Zen stands for."^[4]

In 1981, Cropper moved to Stockholm, Sweden, where he spent the rest of his life working in an open studio with other artists.^[1][4] He died in Stockholm from cancer in 2012, aged 81.^[1]

• Thomison, Dennis (1991). The Black Artist in America: An Index to Reproductions. Metuchen, N.J.: Scarecrow Press. ISBN 978-0-8108-2503-1. OCLC 810452159.
• The Art of Harvey Tristan Cropper. 2015. Styx förlag. ISBN 978-91-85747-35-1, OCLC 942288033
• Harvey Tristan Cropper Some Comments on the 5 Senses. Nilsson & Bergholm. 1987. OCLC 30584797