Sam Harris, an international artist, was born in Los Angeles, California in 1919. His father was a renowned plein-air artist in California.Harris started his vocation at an early age, studying portraiture and life painting at the Otis Art Institute, in Los Angeles on scholarship. During World War II he served in the U.S. Air Force in India and China. While he was there he had time to study Chinese painting in Kunming under a Chinese professor of the arts. In India he painted several murals for the U.S. Special Services. After the war, Harris studied at the Carmel Art Institute, where he lived and built a home in neighboring Monterey. Most of Harris's career was spent in Europe, where he traveled and painted extensively. He moved to Europe in 1964, settling in Paris for five years where his art flourished . Later he resided in Rome for many years. He has been the recipient of numerous prizes and his works have been acquired by collectors in Europe and the United States. His artistic expression included portraiture, murals and landscapes in oil and watercolor.