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Harry Widman, 1929-2014

Harry in his studio, around 1991

Harry Widman was a nationally recognized painter and art educator who lived in Cedar Mill from 1987 until his death last fall from complications of Alzheimers.

He was born in New Jersey, and received a BFA from Syracuse University in 1951. He joined the army and was sent to Germany. In an archaeological museum in Bremerhaven, he was “taken away” by African art and artifacts. Paleontology, archaeology, classical mythology, and non-Western cultures became sources of inspiration and recurrent themes in his work.

In 1954, Widman enrolled in the University of Oregon to do graduate work in art. At the time, the “Willamette Valley style” was prominent in the department. It was an approach based on color theory and the work of Cezanne, which Widman explored in still-life and landscape subjects.

After living and teaching for a time in central Oregon, a show of his work at Reed College led to a temporary teaching position at the Portland Art Museum School. The following year, the job became permanent; he moved to Portland in the fall of 1961. He served as acting dean from 1978 to 1981, a period of contention and uncertainty in the relationship between the school and the Museum Board that eventually led to the school’s independence from the museum. Widman retired from teaching in 1996.

The Navigator, one of a series of Widman's abstract images that represent identities and express purpose and emotions

Active in the establishment of the Oregon Arts Commission, Widman was a member of the original City of Portland Art Commission from 1968 through 1971, serving as chair from 1970 to 1971. He frequently lectured at Portland State University and wrote reviews for the Oregonian.

In 1987, he married Mardy, also an artist, who worked as the student services coordinator at Oregon College of Art and Craft. She says, “People joked that our marriage was the merger of our two schools.” She had purchased her Cedar Mill home as a single mother. The property included a large second building that became Harry’s studio.

After his diagnosis in 2005, Mardy was able to adjust their lives to Harry’s situation, understanding that time did not exist for him in the way most of us understand it. Oregonian art critic David Stabler wrote a couple of very good articles about his art and the consequences of his illness, find them online by searching for “Harry Widman.”

In addition to Mardy, Harry is survived by his children Matthew, Michael, and Gabrielle Widman, his step-children Malia and Jens Jensen, his five grandchildren and his two daughters-in-law. A memorial service was held in December. Memorial gifts may be sent to the Hallie Ford Museum of Art, 700 State Street, Salem, OR 97301.

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