Richmond Barthé

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Richmond Barthé
RichmondBarthe.jpg
Capture taken from the silent movie A Study of Negro Artists, filmed by Jules V.D.
Bucher in 1935[1]
Born January 28, 1901
Bay St. Louis, Mississippi
Died March 5, 1989 (aged 88)
Pasadena, California
Nationality American
Education Art Institute of Chicago
Known for Sculpture
Movement Harlem Renaissance
James Richmond Barthé, also known as Richmond Barthé (January 28, 1901 – March 5,
1989) was an African-American sculptor associated with the Harlem Renaissance.
Barthé is best known for his portrayal of black subjects. The focus of his artistic
work was portraying the diversity and spirituality of man. Barthé once said: "All
my life I have been interested in trying to capture the spiritual quality I see and
feel in people, and I feel that the human figure as God made it, is the best means
of expressing this spirit in man."[2]

Contents
1 Early life
2 Chicago
3 New York City
4 Later life
5 Public works
5.1 Haitian works
6 Exhibitions
7 Collections
8 Recognition
9 Personal life
9.1 Sexuality
9.2 Religious beliefs
10 References
11 Bibliography
12 External links
Early life
James Richmond Barthé was born in Bay St. Louis, Mississippi. His father's name is
Richmond Barthé and mother's name is Marie Clementine Robateau. Barthé's father
died at age 22, when he was only a few months old, leaving his mother to raise him
alone. She worked as a dressmaker and before Barthé began elementary school she
remarried to William Franklin, with whom she eventually had five additional
children.[3]

Barthé showed a passion and skill for drawing from an early age. His mother was, in
many ways, instrumental in his decision to pursue art as a vocation. Barthé once
said: "When I was crawling on the floor, my mother gave me paper and pencil to play
with. It kept me quiet while she did her errands. At six years old I started
painting. A lady my mother sewed for gave me a set of watercolors. By that time, I
could draw very well."[4]

Barthé continued making drawings throughout his childhood and adolescence, under
the encouragement of his teachers. His fourth grade teacher, Inez Labat, from the
Bay St. Louis Public School, influenced his aesthetic development by encouraging
his artistic growth. When he was only twelve years old, Barthé exhibited his work
at the Bay St. Louis Country Fair.[5]

However, young Barthé was beset with health problems, and after an attack of
typhoid fever at age 14, he withdrew from school.[6] Following this, he worked as a
houseboy and handyman, but still spent his free time drawing. A wealthy family, the
Ponds, who spent summers at Bay St. Louis, invited Barthé to work for them as a
houseboy in New Orleans, Louisiana. Through his employment with the Ponds, Barthé
broadened his cultural horizons and knowledge of art, and was introduced to Lyle
Saxon, a local writer for the Times Picayune. Saxon was fighting against the racist
system of school segregation, and tried unsuccessfully to get Barthé registered in
an art school in New Orleans.[7]

In 1924, Barthé donated his first oil painting to a local Catholic church to be
auctioned at a fundraiser. Impressed by his talent, Reverend Harry F. Kane
encouraged Barthé to pursue his artistic career and raised money for him to
undertake studies in fine art. At age 23, with less than a high school education
and no formal training in art, Barthé applied to the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine
Arts and the Art Institute of Chicago, and was accepted by the latter.[8]

Chicago
During the next four years Barthé followed a curriculum structured for majors in
painting. During this time he boarded with his aunt Rose and made a living working
different jobs.[9] His work caught the attention of Dr. Charles Maceo Thompson, a
patron of the arts and supporter of many talented young black artists. Barthé was a
flattering portrait painter, and Dr. Thompson helped him to secure many lucrative
commissions from the city's affluent black citizens.[8]

At the Art Institute of Chicago, Barthé's formal artistic instruction in sculpture

took place in anatomy class with professor of anatomy and German artist Charles
Schroeder. Students practiced modeling in clay to gain a better understanding of
the three-dimensional form. This experience proved to be, according to Barthé, a
turning point in his career, shifting his attention away from painting and toward
sculpture.[10]

Barthé had his debut as a professional sculptor at The Negro in Art Week exhibition
in 1927 while still a student of painting at the Art Institute of Chicago. He also
exhibited in the April 1928 annual exhibition of the Chicago Art League. The
critical acclaim allowed Barthé to enjoy numerous important commissions such as the
busts of Henry O. Tanner (1928) and Toussaint L’Ouverture (1928). Although he was
still in his late 20s, within a short time he won recognition, primarily through
his sculptures, for making significant contributions to modern African American
art. By 1929, the essentials of his artistic education complete, Barthé decided to
leave Chicago and head for New York City.[11]