John Wesley Hardrick (September 21, 1891 – October 18, 1968) was an American artist. He painted landscapes, still lifes and portraits. Early life and family origins Hardrick's grandfather, Shephard Hardrick, was a land-owning farmer in Kentucky who fled to Indianapolis with his family in 1871 due to activities of The Night Riders, a forerunner of the Ku Klux Klan. Hardrick's parents were Shephard Hardrick, Jr., and Georgia Etta West, who were married on October 10, 1888 and lived on South Prospect Street in Indianapolis, Indiana. He displayed at talent as a young man, learning to paint with watercolors at the age of eight without instruction. As a young teen, he studied with Otto Stark at Manual High School which is now used as offices by Eli Lilly and Company. He entered drawings at the Indiana State Fair while in high school, winning several awards. At the age of nineteen, he entered fifty-three paintings and drawings, receiving eight awards which included several first prizes. This gave Hardrick sufficient notoriety that he began to receive a formal art education after enrolling in October, 1910 in the Herron School of Art in Indianapolis, studying there with William Forsyth until 1918. In order to finance his education, Hardrick worked at the Indianapolis Stove Foundry and sold newspapers. He married Georgia Anna Howard in 1914. They had children, Rowena, Raphael, Georgia, and Rachel. Career By 1917, Hardrick's local reputation was such that he and William Edouard Scott were featured in the Tenth Annual Exhibition of Works by Indiana Artists at the Herron School of Art, both men receiving critical praise. By 1924, he and Hale Woodruff shared a studio at 542½ Indiana Avenue. Unfortunately, his financial situation was such that by 1925 he was working in the family trucking business and had started a carpet cleaning business to help support his family, but despite these time constraints he still found time to paint. Commenting on a 1927 exhibition at the Pettis Gallery in Indianapolis, one review stated that his work had seemed to grow and mature in those two years. That same year Hardrick and Woodruff were among those featured at the Art Institute of Chicago's exhibition of African-American artists. In addition, that year he received a $100 honorarium and second-place bronze medal from the Harmon Foundation. It was presented to him by mayor Ert Slack during a ceremony which honored the achievements of local