richmondbarthe

 

Today (January 28) would have been Richmond Barthe’s 113th year of life. Barthe was born in 1901 in Bay St Louis, Mississippi. He was big during the Harlem Renaissance movement and was recognized for being an African American sculptor. He had begun working on art while in the fourth grade and had his first work displayed when he was 12 at a local art show.

 

He graduated from The Art Institute of Chicago in 1928 and shortly after opened a studio in Harlem. He won several awards including a Guggenheim fellowship, which he won two times. Barthe sculpted many pieces of art such as Booker T. Washington, Kid Chocolate, Haitian works and the Toussaint L’Ouvertune Monument, just to name a few.

 

He had a long life filled with honors, collections, awards and art. Barthe opened the door for other young black artist like himself.