Harry Breen was born in Chicago in 1930. He completed his undergraduate study in art at School of the Art Institute of Chicago and his graduate study at the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign. From 1959-1985 he was a member of the faculty at School of Art and Design at the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign. He retired from the faculty as emeritus professor of art in 1985.
Breen has participated in many competitive and invitational exhibitions in the United States and abroad and received multiple awards. Since 1971 he has declined entering competitive exhibitions because of the danger of damage to his work from careless handling and shipping. In 1993, Harry Breen and his wife Diane were awarded Pro Ecclesia et Pontifice medals by Pope John Paul II. Several years later, Breen presented His Holiness with his painting Agony in the Garden on behalf of the congregation from Church of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross. Breen has had 28 solo exhibits including Harry Breen Retrospective XXV at Lakeview Museum of Arts and Sciences, Peoria, IL in 1978.
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The Butler Institute of American Art | Youngstown, OH
Illinois State Museum | Springfield, IL
Lakeview Museum of Arts and Sciences (now called Peoria Riverfront Museum) | Peoria, IL
The President of the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign‘s Residence | Urbana-Champaign, IL
Krannert Center for the Performing Arts | Urbana, IL
The Union League Club of Chicago | Chicago, IL
Blue Cross and Blue Shield
Meyer-Capel Law Offices | Champaign, IL
Busey Bank | Urbana, IL
Presence Medical Center | Urbana, IL
Krannert Art Museum | Champaign, IL
Cathedral of St. Mary of Immaculate Conception | Peoria, IL
Chapel of the Immaculate Conception | St. Mary of the Woods, IN
Co-Cathedral of St. Joseph | St. Joseph, MO
Church of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross | Champaign, IL
Church of St. Philomena | Monticello, IL
Church of St. Matthew | Champaign, IL
Listed in Who’s Who in American Art