Richard barthe biography

Richmond Barthe was one of the first sculptors to focus on blacks as his main subjects.

Richmond Barthe was an African American sculptor known for his public works.

During the s and s, when he reached the height of his career, Barthe achieved critical acclaim, commercial success, and widespread popularity. His most famous public works include an eagle that stands in front of the Social Security Building in Washington, DC, and a foot statue of Haitian revolutionary Jean Jacques Dessalines, which he created for the city of Port-au-Prince.

Barthe also designed several Haitian coins that are still in use. Barthe took a traditional approach to sculpture, sometimes exaggerating certain aspects of a figure, but always maintaining a strong undercurrent of realism. After World War II , when the art world became interested in more abstract forms of expression, his career waned.

Abstract sculpture did not hold an attraction for Barthe, who remained a traditionalist. Barthe was born on January 28, , in Bay St. Louis, Mississippi , on land that had once been part of a large property owned by his maternal grandfather. His parents, Richmond Barthe, Sr. His father died, when Barthe was just a few months old.

James Richmond Barthé, also known as Richmond Barthé (January 28, – March 5, ) was an African-American sculptor associated with the Harlem Renaissance.

From that point, his mother supported the family by working as a dressmaker. Education: Art Inst. Religion: Catholic. Print Soc. Museum, Howard Univ.