BHS Day 13: Richmond Barthe

Hi and welcome to our second Art & Fashion Spotlight! Since I featured fashion last week, I wanted to switch it up and profile an artist this week. Today's entrant was a prominent face during the Harlem Renaissance, and his legacy still lives on today through the various websites and photo galleries of his previous exhibitions. His work stands the test of time and can be seen in various prominent places today, such as the Social Security Board Building in New York, the National Palace in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, and the Kingsborough Houses in Brooklyn, just to name a few. His name, much like the others, isn't circulated as often anymore but I wanted to mention him today as one of the modern greats in art. 

Name: James Richmond Barthe, 1901-1989

Profession: Sculptor

Why is the Spotlight on him today? For his skill and accomplishments as an artist

Notables:
--was one of the first and most prominent artists to integrate both African and African-American elements into his work 
--was one of the first two Black artists to have their work selected for addition into the Metropolitan's permanent collection
--made his debut as an artist at the Negro in Art Week exhibition in Chicago, followed by the annual exhibition of the Chicago Art League a year later 
--faced racism early in his youth, when he was denied admission to an art school based on his race, not his talent
--was awarded a Julius Rosenwald Fund fellowship during the Women's City Club exhibition, which he opened his Harlem-based studio with
--has three sculptures in the Whitney Museum's permanent collection
--created the marble Arthur Brisbane Memorial bust in New York
--was honored by having the street he lived on in Pasadena named after him
--was able to create sculptures based entirely on memory, not needing live models to complete his work
--studied at the School of the Art Institute in Chicago
--was good friends with the late actor James Garner, who provided Barthe with financial help during the last few years of his life and donated most of Barthe's work to Tustin University in Mississippi after the artist died
--was a member of the National Sculpture Society
--had a 20-piece exhibition at the South Side Community art center in Chicago
--was frequently commissioned for portrait busts, including those of Henry Ossawa Tanner, Touissant Louverture, and Sir John Gielgud, to name a few
--created a 40-foot statue dedicated to Haitian leader Jean Jacques Dessalines
--held an exhibit at the Century of Progress Exposition in Chicago in the '30s
--was given a solo exhibition at the Caz Delbo Galleries
--received an Audubon Gold Medal for his work
--created a bust of Booker T. Washington for the Hall of Fame at the now Bronx Community College
--was profiled in the 1936 silent film A Study of Negro Artists, which was created by the Harmon Foundation
--won an award from the American Academy and Institute of Arts and Letters and was later elected to the latter
--designed several Haitian coins that are still in circulation today
--received honorary degrees from Xavier and St. Francis Universities

Further reading links:  1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5


Quotes of the Day: 
"Being a Negro has been a help rather than a hindrance to me. In the Chicago Art Institute, my work was always noticed because I was the one Negro in that particular section. I'm sure there were other students doing better work at the time who were not noticed."
"Man is like a light bulb. It can only get light through the little wire that connects it directly with the power plant. So it has to go within itself for light. Man, like the light bulb, is connected to the universal mind, cosmic consciousness or God— whatever you want to call it—and the only way he can get help or inspiration is by going within himself and drawing on this power. This is where artists, poets, com­posers and scientists get their ideas and inspiration. It is the source of all know­ledge. You just have to go within, relax and let it flow through you."