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Artist
Emelie Danielson Nicholson, 1899 - 1965
Sitter
Richmond Barthé, 28 Jan 1901 - 6 Mar 1989
Date
1928
Type
Photograph
Medium
Platinum print
Dimensions
Image/Sheet: 15.2 x 19.4 cm (6 x 7 5/8")
Mount: 38.2 x 29.6 cm (15 1/16 x 11 5/8")
Topic
Artwork\Sculpture
Costume\Dress Accessory\Neckwear\Tie\Necktie
Richmond Barthé: Male
Richmond Barthé: Visual Arts\Artist\Sculptor
Portrait
Credit Line
National Portrait Gallery, Smithsonian Institution
Restrictions & Rights
Usage conditions apply
Object number
NPG.2011.100
Exhibition Label
Born Bay St. Louis, Mississippi
Richmond Barthé holds the distinction of being the only African American artist of his generation to support himself solely through the production of his art, following a trajectory characterized by hard work and unmistakable artistic talent. Growing up in the Jim Crow South, Barthé was unable to access a formal arts education until he left for the Art Institute in Chicago in 1924. While there, he focused on painting until his first attempts at sculpture, two heads modeled from clay, brought him critical attention. They were so impressive that they were chosen for Chicago’s groundbreaking 1927 “Negro in Art Week” exhibition.
Emelie Danielson Nicholson, likely working as a commercial art student in Chicago at the time, photographed Barthé with one of his first commissioned works. Barthé’s bust of Toussaint L’Ouverture represents the beginning of a prolific career sculpting figurative, subtly emotive busts and monuments ranging in subject matter from black day laborers to Broadway celebrities and politicians.
