Old Paris by James Taylor Harwood

James Taylor Harwood (American, 1860–1940)Old Paris, 1929Oil on canvas23 × 29½ in. James T. Harwood, one of Utah’s earliest professionally trained artists, studied at the Académie Julian in Paris under Gustave Boulanger and Jules-Joseph Lefebvre. He became the first Utahn to exhibit at the Paris Salon (1891) and went on to play a central role in shaping Utah’s art community as a teacher and director of the Utah Art Institute. Harwood’s career bridged European academic traditions with American regional art, blending precise draftsmanship with impressionist-influenced color and light. Painted during his later years, Old Paris reflects Harwood’s enduring affection for the city where his artistic voice was formed. The work depicts a quiet cobblestone street, rustic stone buildings, and a lone woman at a well beneath an autumnal tree. Harwood’s textured brushwork and warm tonalities transform an ordinary neighborhood corner into a scene of poetic calm. A small sign on a wall warns “Chien Mé