Oil painting -> List of Painters -> James Richmond Barthe

James Richmond Barthe

Early Days: Richmond Barthe was born in Bay St. Louis, Mississippi, (in January 1901). His father died at 22, when Richmond was only one month old, leaving his mother to raise him alone. Barthe spent his teen years in New Orleans, Louisiana. His fourth grade teacher and his parish priest influenced young Richmond’s aesthetic development, and he showed great promise as an artist at a young age, but as a Colored American in the South, he was barred from enrolling in any of the art schools in New Orleans, Louisiana, near his home. When Barthe was twelve, his work was shown at the county fair in Mississippi, and he continued to develop remarkably as an artist.

Career:

During his senior year he was introduced to sculpture by his anatomy teacher. He began modeling in clay to gain a better understanding of the third dimension in his painting. This transition proved to be, according to him, a turning point in his career. He exhibited two busts in the 1927 Negro in Art Week Exhibition and in the April 1928 annual exhibition of the Chicago Art League.

Following his graduation from The Art Institute of Chicago in 1928, Barthe spent several months in New York, established a studio in Harlem, and eventually moved to NYC permanently in 1930. During the next two decades, he built his reputation as a sculptor. He is associated with the Harlem Renaissance.

He won a Guggenheim fellowship twice and other awards. By 1934, his reputation was so well established that he was awarded his first solo show at the Caz Delbo Galleries in New York City. Barthe experienced success after success and was considered by writers and critics as one of the leading “moderns” of his time.