Heaney, Charles E.

1897 - 1981

American

painter

Charles Heaney was one of Oregon’s most accomplished regionalist painters. Although he was born in Wisconsin, he spent most of his life in Portland and became close friends with modernist painter C.S. Price (1874-1950), who was twenty-three years his senior. In the 1930s, Heaney was employed by the Oregon Federal Art Project to create artwork for the Works Progress Administration. He produced a total of sixty-four paintings and nine woodcut editions over two years. Many of these works are installed at Timberline Lodge, a WPA hotel on Mount Hood. Solitary female figures appear frequently in Heaney’s work, lending a sense of mystery and anticipation. ________________________ Charles Heaney and his family moved from Wisconsin to Oregon by railroad in 1913. In 1917, Heaney began taking classes at the Portland Museum Art School (now the Pacific Northwest College of Art), where instructor Henry Wentz (1875–1965) and fellow student Kyuzo Furuya (1888-1929) encouraged him to pursue a career as an artist. However, the most influential figure in his artistic life was his friend and mentor C.S. Price (1874-1950), whose dedication to painting impressed the younger artist. From 1929 to 1932, Heaney had a job installing highway signs for the Oregon State Motor Association, which required him to travel throughout the state. The artist documented these trips through sketches to which he later referred while painting in his studio. Clusters of modest homes and commercial businesses were a signature theme in his work. Although Portland was his permanent home, eastern Oregon remained a major source of inspiration in his artwork. - Danielle Knapp, McCosh Associate Curator

A University Collects: Oregon Pacific Northwest Heritage subject

A University Collects: Oregon Pacific Northwest Heritage subject

Northwest Paintings, 1961 featured artist

OAS: Charles Heaney subject

Charles Heaney: Retrospective subject