The following biography was submitted by his daughter, Charlene Handford Barlow in March of 2006:

Charles R. Handford was a self-taught artist who painted landscapes in a realist style.  Though his father and grandfather were wealthy and prominent business leaders in Batesville, Arkansas, the family money dwindled during his early childhood.  As a result, his later childhood was one of poverty.  He developed an interest in art and taught himself to paint by finding rough (showing 500 of 2725 characters).