James T. Harwood: Mormon Artist
James Taylor Harwood was a Utah artist and member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
He was born in April 1860 in Lehi, Utah. He studied painting with Utah artists George Ottinger, Danquart Weggeland, and Alfred Lambourne. He was one of the talented LDS painters who went to Europe to study painting—the three who were called as art missionaries in 1890 included John Hafen, Lorus Pratt, and John B. Fairbanks; Harwood preceded them. Harwood studied at Académie Julian and at the Ecole des Beaux-Arts. In 1892 he became the first LDS artist and Utahn to exhibit paintings in the prestigious Paris Salon. He married Harriet Richards in 1891; she died in 1921.
Harwood continued to paint and study, spending time in both Salt Lake City and Paris. He taught art in Salt Lake City high schools and painted. His style changed from Realism to tonalism and then Impressionism. He became head of the University of Utah’s art department in 1923 where he stayed until 1931. He married Ione Godwin in 1927. After he retired at the age of 70, he moved back to Paris and pursued Neo-Impressionism. His work became almost pointillist in style. He was also a gifted etcher, printmaker, and watercolorist. He returned to Utah in 1939 due to World War II and died in October 1940.
