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| Stevedore, bronze, 1937 |
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| Birth of the Spirituals, bronze, 1941 |
Born in Bay St. Louis, Mississippi, Richmond Barthé (1901-1989) grew up looking to art as a means of escape from the stringent circumstances in which he was raised. Though he showed a talent for drawing at an early age, his race kept him from enrollment to art school in the South. Sponsored by a Catholic priest, Barthé was admitted to the School of the Art Institute of Chicago in 1924, where he blossomed as an artist and developed skill in his preferred medium, bronze sculpture.
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| Josephine Baker, bronze, 1950 |
In 1928, Barthé moved to New York, established a studio in Harlem and became a major name in the Harlem Renaissance. Over the next few decades he rose to greater prominence creating intensely emotive large and small scale bronze sculptures that spoke of his ethnic pride and appreciation for the beauty of the human form. As Barthé's biographer Samella Lewis describes, "Barthé dedicated his life to art, creating timeless treasures in which poise, dignity, intelligence and aesthetic sensibility are reflected." Richmond Barthé: Harlem Renaissance Sculptor takes a long overdue look at the artist's extraordinary career with over 25 of his most important sculptures.
Two recently published monographs give further insight (and appreciation) into the artist's life and work: Barthe: His Life in Art by Samella Lewis and Barthé: A Life in Sculpture by Margaret Rose Vendryes.
Organized by Landau Traveling Exhibitions, Los Angeles, CA
Exhibition Sponsors: Hyde Family Foundations, Rose M. Johnston, and Chris and Dan Richards
Location:
Dixon Gallery and Gardens
4339 Park Ave
Memphis, TN
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