Richmond Barthé (1901-1989)

Barthé was born in Bay St Louis, Mississippi. He left in 1924, headed for Chicago to study at the Art Institute. It wasn’t until Richmond Barthé’s senior year there that he was introduced to sculpting--in an effort to improve his skill at fleshing out three dimensional forms on canvas. A bust completed in his introductory class was included in the Art Institute’s juried exhibition, The Negro in Art, in 1927. This led to commissions for busts of Henry O. Tanner and Toussaint L’Ouverture. He had been awarded two Rosenwald Fellowships in 1929 and 1930, and so after graduation, he moved to New York, focused on establishing himself as a sculptor, set up a studio in Harlem, and continued studying at the Art Student’s League. 

Both the Whitney Museum of American Art and the Metropolitan Museum of Art purchased sculptures for their permanent collections. Throughout his career he created intimate portrait busts, large scale public commissions, and studies of the human figure. His work may be found in the public collections of Fisk University, the Smithsonian American Art Museum, and the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston. 

In a review of his first solo exhibition, Edward Alden Jewell, art critic for the New York Times commented, 

Richmond Barthé penetrates far beneath the surface, honestly seeking essentials, and never after finding these essentials, stooping to polish off an interpretation with superficial allure. There is no cleverness, no slickness in this sculpture. Some of the readings deserve, indeed, to be called profound.

Head of a Dancer (Harald Kreutzberg), 1937

cast bronze with brown patina

12-1/4 inches high (without base)

signed and numbered 26 

Provenance: Purchased by consignor from Adolphus Ealey, Director of the Barnett-Aden Gallery in 1979. 

Literature: Barnett-Aden Collection, Smithsonian Institution Press, 1940; p. 40 (a plaster cast)

Walter O. Evans Collection of African American Art, Beach Institute/King-Tindell Museum, Savannah, GA, 1991; p. 50. (bronze version;dated 1937)

Harald Kreutzberg was an important figure in German expressionist modern dance and an acquaintance of the artist. Other bronze casts of this head are in the collections of the National Portrait Gallery, the David C. Driskell Collection, the Walter O. Evans Collection of African American Art, the Bernard and Shirley Kinsey Collection and the Savannah College of Art and Design Museum. 

Birth of Spirituals, conceived in 1941, cast in 1986, bronze, 13-1/2 x 12 x 6 inches.

The following works by Richmond Barthé come from the collection of Jerry Manpearl and Jan Goodman, Los Angeles. Mr. Manpearl is a real estate, civil rights, and civil litigation lawyer in the state of California. He received his B.A. from UC Berkeley and then his law degree at UCLA, where he met artists Samella Lewis, Ruth Waddy, and E.J. Montgomery. Samella Lewis first arrived in Southern California in 1966 and took a position teaching at Cal State Long Beach. Two years later, she began working for the Los Angeles County Museum of Art as a coordinator of education, but she became disenfranchised with the institution and set out on her own, planning a combination of ambitious projects that would help change the landscape of African American art in the region. 

First, she and Ruth Waddy published two books, Black Artists on Art (2 volumes, in 1969 and 1971). These books help connect working black artists across the country as well as familiarize the public with their work. Secondly, she formed the Museum of African American Art, now located at 4005 Crenshaw Blvd, in the Macy’s Building, Los Angeles, CA. Lewis opened a place called The Gallery on Redondo Blvd, and with the moral and financial support of her sister Millie, and a small group of friends, they opened the museum. The group was operating on a shoestring, and leaned on their friend, Jerry Manpearl, to act as their lawyer to help with these projects. 

The year was 1976, the same year Richmond Barthé arrived in Pasadena, with the entirety of his personal belongings: a television and a modeling table. Charles White and his wife had found him a small apartment. Barthé was an acquaintance of the actor/director Ivan Dixon, and Dixon introduced his friend to Samella Lewis shortly after his [Barthé’s] arrival in L.A. Two years later (1978), Dixon introduced Barthé to a co-worker, Nanette Turner, who decided to interview him and submit an article to the Inner City Cultural Center, who published a multicultural magazine of the arts. Dixon was directing an episode of the television show, The Rockford Files, and upon hearing the story of Barthé and reading the article, actor James Garner (the star of the show), requested a meeting with the artist.

Barthé was involved in an issue of possible copyright infringement, as a collector wanted to reproduce two of his images—seemingly without permission. Within the circle of acquaintances, Jerry Manpearl was contacted to help the artist. Manpearl aided Barthé in properly copyrighting his images so they would not fall into the public domain, and set up a trust to protect the accounts of the artist. The trio of Lewis, Garner, and Manpearl turned the elderly artist’s life around. Once copyrighted, Garner funded the casting of editions of Barthé’s sculptures, under the supervision of the artist. The revenue from these sculptures, supplemented by financial support from Garner (Mr. Manpearl, stated in an interview that Garner put Barthé on his payroll for the remainder of the artist’s life) provided support for the artist. Barthé celebrated his 81st birthday in 1982 on the set of The Rockford Files, and five years later, in 1987, the Museum of African American Art honored him for his achievements in the art world. 

Jerry Manpearl is the co-founder of the Paul Robeson Community Wellness Center in Los Angeles and President of the Southern California World Trade Association. He clerked for the Chief Justice of the California Courts of Appeal. Through his interest in the visual arts, Manpearl has lent his services to many artists, including Elizabeth Catlett and Samella Lewis, both of whom, like Barthé, are represented in his collection. 

Portrait of Josephine Baker, SOLD, February 6, 2021 Works on Paper & 3-D Auction

Portrait of the Inimitable

Josephine Baker