Ernie Barnes
Encyclopedia
Ernest “Ernie” Eugene Barnes, Jr. (July 15, 1938 – April 27, 2009) was an African-American painter, well-known for his unique style of elongation and movement. He was also a professional football player, actor and author.
.
His father, Ernest E. Barnes, Sr. (1900–1966) worked as a shipping clerk for Liggett Myers Tobacco Company
. His mother, Fannie Mae Geer (1905–2004) oversaw the household staff for prominent attorney Frank Fuller, Jr.
On days when Fannie allowed “June” (Barnes’ nickname to his family and childhood friends) to accompany her to work, Barnes had the opportunity to peruse the art books and listen to the classical music in Fuller’s study. The young Ernest was intrigued and captivated by the works of master artists. By the time Barnes entered the first grade, he was familiar with the works of such masters as Toulouse-Lautrec, Delacroix
, Rubens, and Michelangelo
. When he entered junior high, he could appreciate, as well as decode, many of the cherished masterpieces within the walls of mainstream museums – although it would be a half dozen more years before he was allowed entrance because of his race.
A self-described chubby and unathletic child, Barnes was taunted and bullied by classmates. He continually sought refuge in his sketchbooks, hiding in the less-traveled parts of school away from the other students. He was caught one day in a quiet area by Tommy Tucker, the masonry teacher who was also the weightlifting coach and a former athlete. Tucker was intrigued with Barnes' drawings. He asked the aspiring artist about his grades and goals. Tucker shared his own experience of how bodybuilding improved his strength and outlook on life. That one encounter would instill in Barnes discipline and dedication that would permeate his life. In his senior year at Hillside High School, Barnes became the captain of the football team and state champion in the shot put and discus throw.
, he was prevented from considering nearby Duke
or the University of North Carolina
. His mother promised him a car if he lived at home and attended the all-Black North Carolina College (now North Carolina Central University
) which was then located across the street from his high school. He enrolled there on a full athletic scholarship and majored in art. His track coach was Dr. Leroy T. Walker
. Barnes played the football positions of tackle and center at NCC, and was selected to the All-Conference team.
At age 18, on a college art class field trip to the newly-desegregated North Carolina Museum of Art
, Barnes inquired where he could find “paintings by Negro artists.” The docent
responded, “Your people don’t express themselves that way.” Poetic justice prevailed 22 years later in 1978 when Barnes returned to the museum for a solo exhibition, hosted by North Carolina Governor James Hunt
.
In 1990 Barnes was awarded an Honorary Doctorate of Fine Arts by North Carolina Central University.
In 1993 Barnes was selected to the Black College Football 100th Year All-Time Team by the Sheridan Broadcasting Network.
In 1999 Barnes was bestowed The University Award, the highest honor by The University of North Carolina Board of Governors.
, who renounced the pick minutes after discovering he was a Negro
.
Later that month, on December 27, 1959, Barnes was invited to see the Colts’ NFL Championship Game vs. the New York Giants
at Memorial Stadium
in Baltimore, Maryland
. The Colts won 31-16 and Barnes was filled with layers of emotion after watching the game from behind the Colts' bench. He had just signed his football contract and met his new teammates Johnny Unitas
, Jim Parker
, Lenny Moore
, Art Donovan
, Gino Marchetti
, Alan Ameche
and "Big Daddy" Lipscomb
, who Barnes called "the greatest defensive tackle in the game."
After he returned to the hotel that evening, and without making any preliminary sketches, he went directly to a blank canvas. Using a palette knife, “painting in quick, direct movements hoping to capture the vision...before it evaporated,” Barnes said, he created The Bench in less than an hour. Throughout his life, The Bench remained in Barnes' possession, even taking it with him to all his football training camps and hiding it under his bed. It would be the only painting Barnes would never sell, despite many substantial offers, including a $25,000 bid at his first show in 1966.
Shortly after his 22nd birthday, while at the Colts training camp, Barnes was interviewed by N.P. Clark, sportswriter for the Baltimore News-Post newspaper. Until then Barnes was always known by his birth name, Ernest Barnes. But when Clark's article came out, it referred to him as “Ernie Barnes,” which changed his name and life forever.
immediately signed him because the team had first option on any player released within the league.
Barnes loathed being on the Titans. He said, “(New York) was a circus of ineptitude. The equipment was poor, the coaches not as knowledgeable as the ones in Baltimore. We were like a group of guys in the neighborhood who said let’s pretend we’re pros.”
After their seventh game on October 9, 1960 at Jeppesen Stadium, his teammate Howard Glenn
died. Barnes asked for his release two days later. Glenn had sustained a broken neck in the first half of the game and it was reported that injury caused his death. However, Barnes and other teammates have long attributed it to heatstroke. In a later interview, Barnes said, “They never really said what he died of. (Coach) Sammy Baugh
said he’d broken his neck in a game the Sunday before. But how could that be? How could he have hit in practice all week with a broken neck? What he died of, I think, was more like heat exhaustion. I told them I didn’t want to play on a team like this.”
at the Los Angeles Chargers. Barnes joined their team at mid-season as a member of their taxi squad. The following season in 1961 the team moved to San Diego, joining the NFL. It was there Barnes met teammate Jack Kemp
, and the two would share a lifelong close friendship.
During the off-seasons with the Chargers, Barnes was program director at San Diego’s Southeast YMCA
working with parolees from the California Youth Authority. He also worked as the Sports Editor for The Voice, a local San Diego newspaper, writing a weekly column called “A Matter of Sports.”
Barnes also illustrated several articles for San Diego Magazine
during the off-seasons in 1962 and 1963.
Barnes’ first television interview as an artist was in 1962 on The Regis Philbin
Show on KGTV
in San Diego. It was Philbin's first talk show. The next time the two men would see each other would be 45 years later when Philbin attended a tribute to Barnes in New York.
.
On Barnes’ 1964 Denver Broncos Topps football card he is shown wearing jersey #55 although he never played in that number. His jersey was #62.
Barnes was called “Big Rembrandt” by his Denver teammates. Coincidentally, Barnes and Rembrandt share the same birthday.
Barnes was often fined by Denver Coach Jack Faulkner
when caught sketching during team meetings. One of the sketches that he was fined $100 sold years later for $1000.
During the Broncos games, Barnes would run off the field and onto the sideline to give his offensive line coach Red Miller
the scraps of paper of his sketches and notes.
“During a timeout you’ve got nothing to do – you’re not talking – you’re just trying to breathe, mostly. Nothing to take out that little pencil and write down what you saw. The shape of the linemen. The body language a defensive lineman would occupy, his posture. What I see when you pull. The reaction of the defense to your movement; the awareness of the lines within the movement, the pattern within the lines, the rhythm of movement. A couple of notes to me would denote an action, an image that I could instantly recreate in my mind. Some of those notes have been made into paintings. Quite a few, really.”
in Canada
. In the final quarter of their last exhibition game, Barnes fractured his right foot, in effect, ending his professional football career.
owner Sonny Werblin
, who was intrigued by Barnes and his art. He paid for Barnes to bring his paintings to New York
. Later they met at a gallery and unbeknownst to Barnes, three art critics were there to evaluate his paintings. They told Werblin that Barnes was “the most expressive painter of sports since George Bellows
.”
In what was undoubtedly an unusual post in the history of the NFL, Werblin retained Barnes as a salaried player, but positioned him in front of the canvas, rather than on the football field. Werblin told Barnes “You have more value to the country as an artist than as a football player”
Barnes’ November 1966 debut solo exhibition, hosted by Werblin at the Grand Central Art Galleries
in New York City
was critically acclaimed and all the paintings sold.
In 1971 Barnes wrote a series of essays (illustrated with his own drawings) in the Gridiron newspaper titled I Hate the Game I Love (with Neil Amdur). These articles became the beginning manuscript of his autobiography, later-published in 1995 titled From Pads to Palette which chronicles his transition from professional football to his art career.
All his life, Barnes was ambivalent about his football experience. In interviews and in personal appearances, Barnes said he hated the violence and the physical torment of the sport. However, his years as an athlete gave him unique, in-depth observations. “(Wilson) told me to pay attention to what my body felt like in movement. Within that elongation, there’s a feeling. And attitude and expression. I hate to think had I not played sports what my work would look like.”
Barnes’ first painting sale was in 1959 for $90 to Boston Celtic
Sam Jones
for a painting called Slow Dance. It was subsequently lost in a fire at Jones' home.
Critics have defined Barnes’ work as neo-mannerist. Based on his signature use of serpentine lines, elongation of the human figure, clarity of line, unusual spatial relationships, painted frames, and
distinctive color palettes, art critic Frank Getlein credited Barnes as the founder of the neo-Mannerism
movement - because of the similarity of technique and composition prevalent during the 16th century, as practiced by such masters as Michelangelo and Raphael
.
Numerous artists have been influenced by Barnes’ art and unique style. Accordingly, several copyright infringement
lawsuits have been settled and are currently pending.
. Los Angeles Olympic Organizing Committee President Peter V. Ueberroth said Barnes “captured the essence of the Olympics” and “portray the city’s ethnic diversity, the power and emotion of sports competition, the singleness of purpose and hopes that go into the making of athletes the world over.” Barnes was commissioned to create five Olympic-themed paintings and serve as an official Olympic spokesman to encourage inner city youth.
In 1985 Barnes was named the first Sports Artist of the Year by the United States Sports Academy
.
In 1987 Barnes created Fastbreak, a commissioned painting of the World Champion Los Angeles Lakers
basketball team that included Magic Johnson
, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar
, James Worthy
, Kurt Rambis
and Michael Cooper.
In 1996 Carolina Panthers
football team owners Rosalind and Jerry Richardson
(Barnes’ former Colts teammate) commissioned Barnes to create the large painting Victory in Overtime (approximately 7 ft. x 14 ft.). It was unveiled before the team's inaugural season and hangs permanently in the stadium owner’s suite.
To commemorate their 50th anniversary in 1996, the National Basketball Association
commissioned Barnes to create a painting with the theme, “Where we were, where we are, and where we are going.” The painting, The Dream Unfolds hangs in the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in Springfield
, Massachusetts
. A limited edition of lithographs were made, with the first 50 prints going to each of the NBA’s 50th Anniversary All-Time Team.
In 2004 Barnes was named America’s Best Painter of Sports by the American Sport Art Museum & Archives.
Other notable sports commissions include paintings for the New Orleans Saints
, Oakland Raiders
and Boston Patriots football team owners.
television series and on a 1976 Marvin Gaye
album.
According to Barnes, he created the original version of Sugar Shack after reflecting upon his childhood, during which he was not "able to go to a dance." In a 2008 interview, Barnes said, "Sugar Shack is a recall of a childhood experience. It was the first time my innocence met with the sins of dance. The painting transmits rhythm so the experience is re-created in the person viewing it. To show that African-Americans utilize rhythm as a way of resolving physical tension.” The Sugar Shack has been known to art critics for embodying the style of art composition known as "Black Romantic," which, according to Natalie Hopkinson of The Washington Post, is the "visual-art equivalent of the Chitlin' circuit."
On the original Sugar Shack, Barnes included his hometown Durham, North Carolina radio station WSRC on a banner. He incorrectly listed the frequency at 620. It was actually 1410. Barnes confused what he used to hear WSRC's on-air personality Norfley Whitted saying "620 on your dial" when Whitted was at his former station WDNC in the early 1950s.
After Marvin Gaye asked him for permission to use the painting as an album cover, Barnes then augmented the painting by adding references that allude to Gaye's album, including banners hanging from the ceiling to promote the album's singles.
During the Motown 25: Yesterday, Today, Forever
anniversary television special on March 25, 1983, tribute was paid to Sugar Shack with a dance interpretation of the painting.
” cultural movement and James Brown
’s 1968 Say it loud: I’m Black and I’m Proud song, Barnes created The Beauty of the Ghetto exhibition of 35 paintings that toured major American cities from 1972 to 1979. Dignitaries, athletes and celebrities, including Los Angeles Mayor Tom Bradley
, the Hon. Jack Kemp and Ethel Kennedy each hosted several shows.
Of his The Beauty of the Ghetto exhibition, Barnes said, “I am providing a pictorial background for an understanding into the aesthetics of black America. It is not a plea to people to continue to live there (in the ghetto) but for those who feel trapped, it is...a challenge of how beautiful life can be.”
When The Beauty of the Ghetto was on view in 1974 at the Museum of African Art
in Washington, DC, Rep. John Conyers
stressed the important positive message of the exhibit in the Congressional Record
.
In the wake of the 1992 Los Angeles riots
, Mayor Tom Bradley
used Barnes’ painting Growth Through Limits as an inspirational billboard in the inner-city. Barnes contributed $1000 to the winner of a slogan contest among the city’s junior high school students that best represented the painting.
Barnes’ work was included in the 1995 traveling group exhibition 20th Century Masterworks of African-American Artists II.
Barnes’ painting The Advocate was donated to the North Carolina Central University School of Law in 1998 by a private collector. Barnes was compelled to create the painting from his “concern with the just application of the law... the integrity of the legal process for all people, but especially those without resource or influence.”
While watching the tragic events of 9/11, Barnes created the painting In Remembrance. It was formally unveiled at the Seattle Art Museum
. It was later acquired on behalf of the City of Philadelphia
and donated to its African American Museum
. A limited number of giclée
prints were sold with 100% of the proceeds going to the Hero Scholarship Fund, which provides college tuition and expenses to children of Pennsylvania
police and fire personnel killed in the line of duty.
Three of Barnes’ original paintings were exhibited at the London, England Whitechapel Gallery
in the 2005 Back to Black: Art, Cinema & Racial Imaginary art exhibition.
In 2005 rapper producer Kanye West
commissioned Barnes to create a painting to depict his life-changing experience following his near-fatal car crash. A Life Restored measures 9 ft. x 10 ft. and hangs on West’s dining room ceiling. In the center of the painting is a large angel reaching out to a much smaller figure of West. It was inaccurately reported in several media outlets that the angel in the painting is of West.
Barnes’ final public exhibition was in October 2007 when the NFL and Time Warner
sponsored A Tribute to Artist and NFL Alumni Ernie Barnes in New York City
. It was hosted by Donna Brazile
, Susan L. Taylor
, Brig Owens
and his former teammate, the Hon. Jack Kemp
(who died five days after Barnes in 2009).
At the time of his passing, Barnes had been working on an exhibition titled Liberating Humanity From Within which featured a majority of paintings he created in the last three years of his life. Plans will continue. The exhibition will travel throughout the country and abroad.
The panelists correctly guessed Barnes was the professional football player-turned-artist.
Barnes played Deke Coleman in the 1969 motion picture Number One with Charlton Heston
and Jessica Walter
.
In 1971 Barnes, along with Mike Henry, created the Super Comedy Bowl, a CBS
television variety special which showcased pro athletes with celebrities such as John Wayne
, Frank Gifford
, Alex Karras
, Joe Namath
, Jack Lemmon
, Lucille Ball
, Carol Burnett
and Tony Curtis
. A second special aired in 1972.
Barnes played Dr. Penfield in the 1971 movie Doctors’ Wives, which starred Dyan Cannon
, Richard Crenna
, Gene Hackman
and Carroll O'Connor
.
Throughout the Good Times
television series (1974–79) most of the paintings “created” by the character JJ are works by Ernie Barnes. However a few images, including a Black Jesus, were not by Barnes. Sugar Shack made its debut on Good Times when it was used during the opening and closing credits during the show’s fourth season. In the fifth season it was only used in the closing credits. In the sixth season, Sugar Shack was only used in the opening credits for the first eight episodes and in a few closing credits during that season. In the fifth and sixth seasons, Sugar Shack appears in the background of the Evans family apartment.
Barnes had a bit part on two early episodes of Good Times.
In 1981 Barnes played the famed baseball catcher Josh Gibson
of the Negro league
in the television movie Don’t Look Back: The Story of Leroy ‘Satchel’ Paige
with Lou Gossett, Jr., who played Paige.
Barnes died on April 27, 2009 at Cedars Sinai Hospital in Los Angeles
, California
from a rare blood disorder. He was cremated and his ashes were scattered in Durham, North Carolina near the site of where his family home once stood, and at the beach in Carmel, California, one of his favorite cities.
“The artist uses creative visualization and the athlete uses the same thing... It’s the muscle of the mind, that’s the main muscle.”
“I am bound by the strongest ties with the organic life of all people. And being an artist has created in me the desire to continually affirm beauty.”
“The five years I lived in (the Fairfax district) a Los Angeles Jewish community led me to learn of their unyielding spiritual strength and internal sense of grandeur. I met people who had survived a hard school of struggle.”
“My early paintings have all the rawness and passion of the (football) game.”
“I was angry. I wanted to show and tell people what I had seen and felt. I wanted to show the dehumanization that is professional football. My only expression is through art. I painted until I had exhausted the hate. I had so many ideas that I couldn’t put a canvas up quick enough.”
“One day on the playing field, I looked up and the sun was breaking through the clouds, hitting the unmuddied areas on the uniforms, and I said, ‘that’s beautiful!’ I knew then that it was all over being a player. I was more interested in art. So I traded my cleats for canvas, my bruises for brushes, and put all the violence and power I had felt on the field into my paintings.”
“Throughout my five seasons in the NFL, I remained at the deepest level of my being...an artist.”
Childhood
Ernest Barnes, Jr. was born during the Jim Crow era in “the bottom” community of Hayti, Durham, North CarolinaHayti, Durham, North Carolina
Hayti is the African American community in the city of Durham, North Carolina. The business section was also known as "Lil" Mexico in the early 1920s and 30s. Over 200 Africian American businesses were located along Fayetteville, Pettigrew and Pine Streets, the boundaries of Hayti during it's...
.
His father, Ernest E. Barnes, Sr. (1900–1966) worked as a shipping clerk for Liggett Myers Tobacco Company
Liggett Group
Liggett Group , formerly known as Liggett & Myers Tobacco Company, is the fourth largest tobacco company in the United States. Its headquarters are located in Durham, North Carolina, though its manufacturing facility is 30 miles to the west in Mebane, North Carolina...
. His mother, Fannie Mae Geer (1905–2004) oversaw the household staff for prominent attorney Frank Fuller, Jr.
On days when Fannie allowed “June” (Barnes’ nickname to his family and childhood friends) to accompany her to work, Barnes had the opportunity to peruse the art books and listen to the classical music in Fuller’s study. The young Ernest was intrigued and captivated by the works of master artists. By the time Barnes entered the first grade, he was familiar with the works of such masters as Toulouse-Lautrec, Delacroix
Eugène Delacroix
Ferdinand Victor Eugène Delacroix was a French Romantic artist regarded from the outset of his career as the leader of the French Romantic school...
, Rubens, and Michelangelo
Michelangelo
Michelangelo di Lodovico Buonarroti Simoni , commonly known as Michelangelo, was an Italian Renaissance painter, sculptor, architect, poet, and engineer who exerted an unparalleled influence on the development of Western art...
. When he entered junior high, he could appreciate, as well as decode, many of the cherished masterpieces within the walls of mainstream museums – although it would be a half dozen more years before he was allowed entrance because of his race.
A self-described chubby and unathletic child, Barnes was taunted and bullied by classmates. He continually sought refuge in his sketchbooks, hiding in the less-traveled parts of school away from the other students. He was caught one day in a quiet area by Tommy Tucker, the masonry teacher who was also the weightlifting coach and a former athlete. Tucker was intrigued with Barnes' drawings. He asked the aspiring artist about his grades and goals. Tucker shared his own experience of how bodybuilding improved his strength and outlook on life. That one encounter would instill in Barnes discipline and dedication that would permeate his life. In his senior year at Hillside High School, Barnes became the captain of the football team and state champion in the shot put and discus throw.
Education
In 1956 Barnes graduated from high school with 26 athletic scholarship offers. Because of segregationRacial segregation in the United States
Racial segregation in the United States, as a general term, included the racial segregation or hypersegregation of facilities, services, and opportunities such as housing, medical care, education, employment, and transportation along racial lines...
, he was prevented from considering nearby Duke
Duke University
Duke University is a private research university located in Durham, North Carolina, United States. Founded by Methodists and Quakers in the present day town of Trinity in 1838, the school moved to Durham in 1892. In 1924, tobacco industrialist James B...
or the University of North Carolina
University of North Carolina
Chartered in 1789, the University of North Carolina was one of the first public universities in the United States and the only one to graduate students in the eighteenth century...
. His mother promised him a car if he lived at home and attended the all-Black North Carolina College (now North Carolina Central University
North Carolina Central University
North Carolina Central University is a public historically black university in the University of North Carolina system, located in Durham, North Carolina, offering programs at the baccalaureate, master’s, professional and doctoral levels....
) which was then located across the street from his high school. He enrolled there on a full athletic scholarship and majored in art. His track coach was Dr. Leroy T. Walker
LeRoy T. Walker
LeRoy T. Walker was the first black president of the United States Olympic Committee. In the 1996 Olympics, Dr. Walker was delegated to lead a 10,000 member group of the most talented athletes in the world. His goal is to make sure that American citizens have a feeling of ownership in the program,...
. Barnes played the football positions of tackle and center at NCC, and was selected to the All-Conference team.
At age 18, on a college art class field trip to the newly-desegregated North Carolina Museum of Art
North Carolina Museum of Art
The North Carolina Museum of Art is an art museum in Raleigh, North Carolina, featuring paintings and sculpture representing 5,000 years of artistic work from antiquity to the present. The museum features more than 40 galleries as well as more than a dozen works of art in its Museum Park...
, Barnes inquired where he could find “paintings by Negro artists.” The docent
Museum docent
Museum docent is a title used in the United States for educators trained to further the public's understanding of the cultural and historical collections of the institution, including local and national museums, zoos, historical landmarks, and parks. In many cases, docents, in addition to their...
responded, “Your people don’t express themselves that way.” Poetic justice prevailed 22 years later in 1978 when Barnes returned to the museum for a solo exhibition, hosted by North Carolina Governor James Hunt
Jim Hunt
James Baxter Hunt Jr. is an American politician who was the 69th and 71st Governor of the state of North Carolina . He is the longest-serving governor in the state's history.-Early life:...
.
In 1990 Barnes was awarded an Honorary Doctorate of Fine Arts by North Carolina Central University.
In 1993 Barnes was selected to the Black College Football 100th Year All-Time Team by the Sheridan Broadcasting Network.
In 1999 Barnes was bestowed The University Award, the highest honor by The University of North Carolina Board of Governors.
Baltimore Colts
In December 1959 Barnes was drafted in the 10th round by the then-World Champion Baltimore Colts. He was originally selected in the 8th-round by the Washington RedskinsWashington Redskins
The Washington Redskins are a professional American football team and members of the East Division of the National Football Conference in the National Football League . The team plays at FedExField in Landover, Maryland, while its headquarters and training facility are at Redskin Park in Ashburn,...
, who renounced the pick minutes after discovering he was a Negro
Negro
The word Negro is used in the English-speaking world to refer to a person of black ancestry or appearance, whether of African descent or not...
.
Later that month, on December 27, 1959, Barnes was invited to see the Colts’ NFL Championship Game vs. the New York Giants
New York Giants
The New York Giants are a professional American football team based in East Rutherford, New Jersey, representing the New York City metropolitan area. The Giants are currently members of the Eastern Division of the National Football Conference in the National Football League...
at Memorial Stadium
Memorial Stadium (Baltimore)
Memorial Stadium was a sports stadium in Baltimore, Maryland, that formerly stood on 33rd Street on an over-sized block also bounded by Ellerslie Avenue , 36th Street , and Ednor Road...
in Baltimore, Maryland
Maryland
Maryland is a U.S. state located in the Mid Atlantic region of the United States, bordering Virginia, West Virginia, and the District of Columbia to its south and west; Pennsylvania to its north; and Delaware to its east...
. The Colts won 31-16 and Barnes was filled with layers of emotion after watching the game from behind the Colts' bench. He had just signed his football contract and met his new teammates Johnny Unitas
Johnny Unitas
John Constantine Unitas , known as Johnny Unitas or "Johnny U", and nicknamed "The Golden Arm", was a professional American football player in the 1950s through the 1970s, spending the majority of his career with the Baltimore Colts. He was a record-setting quarterback, and the National Football...
, Jim Parker
Jim Parker (American football)
James Thomas "Jim" Parker was a college and professional American football player in the 1950s and '60s. He is a member of the College and Professional Football Halls of Fame.-College career:...
, Lenny Moore
Lenny Moore
Leonard Edward Moore is a former American football halfback who played for Penn State in college and the Baltimore Colts. He came to the Colts in 1956, and had a productive first pro season and was named the NFL Rookie of The Year...
, Art Donovan
Art Donovan
Arthur Donovan, Jr. is a former American football defensive tackle, better known as Art 'How much does dat guy weigh?' Donovan, who played for three National Football League teams, most notably the Baltimore Colts...
, Gino Marchetti
Gino Marchetti
Gino John Marchetti is a former professional American football player in the National Football League. A defensive end, he played in 1952 for the Dallas Texans and from 1953 to 1966 for the Baltimore Colts.-Early years:...
, Alan Ameche
Alan Ameche
Lino Dante "Alan" Ameche , nicknamed "The Horse", was an American football player who played six seasons with the Baltimore Colts in the National Football League after winning the Heisman Trophy in college at the University of Wisconsin–Madison. He was elected to the Pro Bowl in each of his first...
and "Big Daddy" Lipscomb
Eugene Lipscomb
Eugene Allen Lipscomb was an American football defensive lineman in the National Football League and a professional wrestler.-Early life:...
, who Barnes called "the greatest defensive tackle in the game."
After he returned to the hotel that evening, and without making any preliminary sketches, he went directly to a blank canvas. Using a palette knife, “painting in quick, direct movements hoping to capture the vision...before it evaporated,” Barnes said, he created The Bench in less than an hour. Throughout his life, The Bench remained in Barnes' possession, even taking it with him to all his football training camps and hiding it under his bed. It would be the only painting Barnes would never sell, despite many substantial offers, including a $25,000 bid at his first show in 1966.
Shortly after his 22nd birthday, while at the Colts training camp, Barnes was interviewed by N.P. Clark, sportswriter for the Baltimore News-Post newspaper. Until then Barnes was always known by his birth name, Ernest Barnes. But when Clark's article came out, it referred to him as “Ernie Barnes,” which changed his name and life forever.
Titans of New York
Barnes was the last cut of the Colts’ training camp. After Baltimore released Barnes, the newly-formed Titans of New YorkNew York Titans
New York Titans may refer to:*New York Titans , the former name of the National Football League's New York Jets* New York Titans , a National Lacrosse League team now known as the Orlando Titans...
immediately signed him because the team had first option on any player released within the league.
Barnes loathed being on the Titans. He said, “(New York) was a circus of ineptitude. The equipment was poor, the coaches not as knowledgeable as the ones in Baltimore. We were like a group of guys in the neighborhood who said let’s pretend we’re pros.”
After their seventh game on October 9, 1960 at Jeppesen Stadium, his teammate Howard Glenn
Howard Glenn
Howard Earl Glenn was an American collegiate and Professional Football player. He played collegiately at Linfield College and professionally with the Hamilton Tiger-Cats of the Canadian Football League and in the American Football League...
died. Barnes asked for his release two days later. Glenn had sustained a broken neck in the first half of the game and it was reported that injury caused his death. However, Barnes and other teammates have long attributed it to heatstroke. In a later interview, Barnes said, “They never really said what he died of. (Coach) Sammy Baugh
Sammy Baugh
Samuel Adrian "Slingin' Sammy" Baugh was an American football player and coach. He played college football for the Horned Frogs at Texas Christian University, where he was a two-time All-American. He then played in the National Football League for the Washington Redskins from 1937 to 1952...
said he’d broken his neck in a game the Sunday before. But how could that be? How could he have hit in practice all week with a broken neck? What he died of, I think, was more like heat exhaustion. I told them I didn’t want to play on a team like this.”
San Diego Chargers
Barnes then accepted a previous offer from Coach Al DavisAl Davis
Allen "Al" Davis was an American football executive. He was the principal owner of the Oakland Raiders of the National Football League from 1970 to 2011...
at the Los Angeles Chargers. Barnes joined their team at mid-season as a member of their taxi squad. The following season in 1961 the team moved to San Diego, joining the NFL. It was there Barnes met teammate Jack Kemp
Jack Kemp
Jack French Kemp was an American politician and a collegiate and professional football player. A Republican, he served as Housing Secretary in the administration of President George H. W. Bush from 1989 to 1993, having previously served nine terms as a congressman for Western New York's 31st...
, and the two would share a lifelong close friendship.
During the off-seasons with the Chargers, Barnes was program director at San Diego’s Southeast YMCA
YMCA
The Young Men's Christian Association is a worldwide organization of more than 45 million members from 125 national federations affiliated through the World Alliance of YMCAs...
working with parolees from the California Youth Authority. He also worked as the Sports Editor for The Voice, a local San Diego newspaper, writing a weekly column called “A Matter of Sports.”
Barnes also illustrated several articles for San Diego Magazine
San Diego Magazine
San Diego Magazine is a monthly publication concerning life in the San Diego region. This is the city’s longest running lifestyle publication and has continued to prosper and evolve throughout its 60-year history...
during the off-seasons in 1962 and 1963.
Barnes’ first television interview as an artist was in 1962 on The Regis Philbin
Regis Philbin
Regis Francis Xavier Philbin is an American media personality, actor and singer, known for hosting talk and game shows since the 1960s. Philbin is often called "the hardest working man in show business" and holds the Guinness World Record for the most time spent in front of a television camera...
Show on KGTV
KGTV
KGTV, digital channel 10, is the ABC television affiliate in San Diego, California. The station can be seen on Cox Communications, Time Warner Cable, and AT&T U-verse on cable channel 10 in standard definition. Cox Communications and Time Warner Cable carry its high definition signal on cable...
in San Diego. It was Philbin's first talk show. The next time the two men would see each other would be 45 years later when Philbin attended a tribute to Barnes in New York.
Denver Broncos
Midway through Barnes’ second season with the Chargers, after a series of injuries, Barnes was cut. He was then signed to the Denver BroncosDenver Broncos
The Denver Broncos are a professional American football team based in Denver, Colorado. They are currently members of the West Division of the American Football Conference in the National Football League...
.
On Barnes’ 1964 Denver Broncos Topps football card he is shown wearing jersey #55 although he never played in that number. His jersey was #62.
Barnes was called “Big Rembrandt” by his Denver teammates. Coincidentally, Barnes and Rembrandt share the same birthday.
Barnes was often fined by Denver Coach Jack Faulkner
Jack Faulkner
Jack Faulkner was an American football coach and administrator who most prominently served as head coach of the American Football League's Denver Broncos from 1962 to 1964. He also has been an integral part of the St. Louis Rams organization, dating back to the team's days in Los Angeles.-Early...
when caught sketching during team meetings. One of the sketches that he was fined $100 sold years later for $1000.
During the Broncos games, Barnes would run off the field and onto the sideline to give his offensive line coach Red Miller
Red Miller
Robert "Red" Miller is a former professional football coach with the Denver Broncos.- Early life and career :Miller was born and raised in Macomb, Illinois and attended Macomb Public Schools and Western Illinois University, where he was later a star player and coach for the Leathernecks football...
the scraps of paper of his sketches and notes.
“During a timeout you’ve got nothing to do – you’re not talking – you’re just trying to breathe, mostly. Nothing to take out that little pencil and write down what you saw. The shape of the linemen. The body language a defensive lineman would occupy, his posture. What I see when you pull. The reaction of the defense to your movement; the awareness of the lines within the movement, the pattern within the lines, the rhythm of movement. A couple of notes to me would denote an action, an image that I could instantly recreate in my mind. Some of those notes have been made into paintings. Quite a few, really.”
Canadian Football League
In 1965, after his second season with the Broncos, Barnes signed with the Saskatchewan RoughridersSaskatchewan Roughriders
The Saskatchewan Roughriders are a Canadian Football League team based in Regina, Saskatchewan. They were founded in 1910. They play their home games at 2940 10th Avenue in Regina, which has been the team's home base for its entire history, even prior to the construction of Mosaic Stadium at Taylor...
in Canada
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
. In the final quarter of their last exhibition game, Barnes fractured his right foot, in effect, ending his professional football career.
Retirement
Shortly after his final football game, Barnes went to the 1965 NFL owners meeting in Houston in hopes of becoming the league’s official artist. There he was introduced to New York JetsNew York Jets
The New York Jets are a professional football team headquartered in Florham Park, New Jersey, representing the New York metropolitan area. The team is a member of the Eastern Division of the American Football Conference in the National Football League...
owner Sonny Werblin
Sonny Werblin
David Abraham "Sonny" Werblin was a prominent entertainment industry executive and sports impresario who was an owner of the New York Jets, Chairman of Madison Square Gardens, and who built and managed the Meadowlands Sports Complex.A graduate of Rutgers University, Werblin went to work for Music...
, who was intrigued by Barnes and his art. He paid for Barnes to bring his paintings to New York
New York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
. Later they met at a gallery and unbeknownst to Barnes, three art critics were there to evaluate his paintings. They told Werblin that Barnes was “the most expressive painter of sports since George Bellows
George Bellows
George Wesley Bellows was an American realist painter, known for his bold depictions of urban life in New York City, becoming, according to the Columbus Museum of Art, "the most acclaimed American artist of his generation".-Youth:Bellows was born and raised in Columbus, Ohio...
.”
In what was undoubtedly an unusual post in the history of the NFL, Werblin retained Barnes as a salaried player, but positioned him in front of the canvas, rather than on the football field. Werblin told Barnes “You have more value to the country as an artist than as a football player”
Barnes’ November 1966 debut solo exhibition, hosted by Werblin at the Grand Central Art Galleries
Grand Central Art Galleries
The Grand Central Art Galleries were the exhibition and administrative space of the nonprofit Painters and Sculptors Gallery Association, an artists' cooperative established in 1922 by Walter Leighton Clark together with John Singer Sargent, Edmund Greacen, and others...
in New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
was critically acclaimed and all the paintings sold.
In 1971 Barnes wrote a series of essays (illustrated with his own drawings) in the Gridiron newspaper titled I Hate the Game I Love (with Neil Amdur). These articles became the beginning manuscript of his autobiography, later-published in 1995 titled From Pads to Palette which chronicles his transition from professional football to his art career.
Work
Barnes credits his college art instructor Ed Wilson for laying the foundation for his development as an artist. Wilson was a sculptor who instructed Barnes to paint from his own life experiences. “He made me conscious of the fact that the artist who is useful to America is one who studies his own life and records it through the medium of art, manners and customs of his own experiences.”All his life, Barnes was ambivalent about his football experience. In interviews and in personal appearances, Barnes said he hated the violence and the physical torment of the sport. However, his years as an athlete gave him unique, in-depth observations. “(Wilson) told me to pay attention to what my body felt like in movement. Within that elongation, there’s a feeling. And attitude and expression. I hate to think had I not played sports what my work would look like.”
Barnes’ first painting sale was in 1959 for $90 to Boston Celtic
Boston Celtics
The Boston Celtics are a National Basketball Association team based in Boston, Massachusetts. They play in the Atlantic Division of the Eastern Conference. Founded in 1946, the team is currently owned by Boston Basketball Partners LLC. The Celtics play their home games at the TD Garden, which...
Sam Jones
Sam Jones (basketball)
Samuel Jones is a retired American professional basketball player at shooting guard and a member of the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame. He was known for his quickness and game-winning shots, especially during the NBA Playoffs...
for a painting called Slow Dance. It was subsequently lost in a fire at Jones' home.
Critics have defined Barnes’ work as neo-mannerist. Based on his signature use of serpentine lines, elongation of the human figure, clarity of line, unusual spatial relationships, painted frames, and
distinctive color palettes, art critic Frank Getlein credited Barnes as the founder of the neo-Mannerism
Mannerism
Mannerism is a period of European art that emerged from the later years of the Italian High Renaissance around 1520. It lasted until about 1580 in Italy, when a more Baroque style began to replace it, but Northern Mannerism continued into the early 17th century throughout much of Europe...
movement - because of the similarity of technique and composition prevalent during the 16th century, as practiced by such masters as Michelangelo and Raphael
Raphael
Raffaello Sanzio da Urbino , better known simply as Raphael, was an Italian painter and architect of the High Renaissance. His work is admired for its clarity of form and ease of composition and for its visual achievement of the Neoplatonic ideal of human grandeur...
.
Numerous artists have been influenced by Barnes’ art and unique style. Accordingly, several copyright infringement
Copyright infringement
Copyright infringement is the unauthorized or prohibited use of works under copyright, infringing the copyright holder's exclusive rights, such as the right to reproduce or perform the copyrighted work, or to make derivative works.- "Piracy" :...
lawsuits have been settled and are currently pending.
Framing
In homage to his father, Barnes would frame his paintings in distressed wood. In his autobiography, Barnes wrote of his father “with so little education, had worked so hard for us. His legacy to me was his effort and that was plenty. He knew absolutely nothing about art.” A few weeks before Barnes' first solo exhibition, and as his father lay in the hospital after suffering a stroke, Barnes was at his parents' Durham home and noticed the unkept condition of the usually well-maintained backyard. Barnes wrote about the “once-white fence was greying. One day, I placed a painting against the fence and stood away and had a look. I was startled at the marriage between the old wood fence and the painting. It was perfect. In tribute...Daddy’s fence would hug all my paintings in a prestigious New York gallery. That would have made him smile.”Eyes closed
A consistent and distinct feature in Barnes’ work are the closed eyes of his subjects. “It was in 1971 when I conceived the idea of The Beauty of the Ghetto as an exhibition. And I exposed it to some people who were black to get a reaction. And from one (person) it was very negative. And when I began to express my points of view (to this) professional man, he resisted the notion. And as a result of his comments and his attitude I began to see, observe, how blind we are to one another’s humanity. Blinded by a lot of things that have, perhaps, initiated feelings in that light. We don’t see into the depths of our interconnection. The gifts, the strength and potential within other human beings. We stop at color quite often. So one of the things we have to be aware of is who we are in order to have the capacity to like others. But when you cannot visualize the offerings of another human being you’re obviously not looking at the human being with open eyes.” “We look upon each other and decide immediately: This person is black, so he must be... This person lives in poverty, so he must be...”Sports art
In 1984 Barnes was appointed the Official Sports Artist for the Games of the XXIII Olympiad1984 Summer Olympics
The 1984 Summer Olympics, officially known as the Games of the XXIII Olympiad, was an international multi-sport event held in Los Angeles, California, United States in 1984...
. Los Angeles Olympic Organizing Committee President Peter V. Ueberroth said Barnes “captured the essence of the Olympics” and “portray the city’s ethnic diversity, the power and emotion of sports competition, the singleness of purpose and hopes that go into the making of athletes the world over.” Barnes was commissioned to create five Olympic-themed paintings and serve as an official Olympic spokesman to encourage inner city youth.
In 1985 Barnes was named the first Sports Artist of the Year by the United States Sports Academy
United States Sports Academy
The United States Sports Academy is an accredited, sport-specific institution located in Daphne, Alabama. It offers bachelor's, master's and doctoral degree programs as well as certificate programs. Founded in 1972, the Academy has provided its sports programs to more than 60 countries around the...
.
In 1987 Barnes created Fastbreak, a commissioned painting of the World Champion Los Angeles Lakers
Los Angeles Lakers
The Los Angeles Lakers are an American professional basketball team based in Los Angeles, California. They play in the Pacific Division of the Western Conference in the National Basketball Association...
basketball team that included Magic Johnson
Magic Johnson
Earvin "Magic" Johnson Jr. is a retired American professional basketball player who played point guard for the Los Angeles Lakers of the National Basketball Association . After winning championships in high school and college, Johnson was selected first overall in the 1979 NBA Draft by the Lakers...
, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar is a retired American professional basketball player. He is the NBA's all-time leading scorer, with 38,387 points. During his career with the NBA's Milwaukee Bucks and Los Angeles Lakers from 1969 to 1989, Abdul-Jabbar won six NBA championships and a record six regular season...
, James Worthy
James Worthy
James Ager Worthy is a retired Hall of Fame American college and professional basketball player. Named as one of the 50 Greatest Players in NBA History, "Big Game James" was a seven-time NBA All-Star and three-time NBA champion...
, Kurt Rambis
Kurt Rambis
Darrell Kurt Rambis is a retired American professional basketball player and former head coach for the NBA's Minnesota Timberwolves.-Biography:...
and Michael Cooper.
In 1996 Carolina Panthers
Carolina Panthers
The Carolina Panthers are a professional American football team based in Charlotte, North Carolina. They are currently members of the South Division of the National Football Conference in the National Football League . The Panthers, along with the Jacksonville Jaguars, joined the NFL as expansion...
football team owners Rosalind and Jerry Richardson
Jerry Richardson
Jerry Richardson is the current majority owner and founder of the Carolina Panthers of the National Football League.-Biography:...
(Barnes’ former Colts teammate) commissioned Barnes to create the large painting Victory in Overtime (approximately 7 ft. x 14 ft.). It was unveiled before the team's inaugural season and hangs permanently in the stadium owner’s suite.
To commemorate their 50th anniversary in 1996, the National Basketball Association
National Basketball Association
The National Basketball Association is the pre-eminent men's professional basketball league in North America. It consists of thirty franchised member clubs, of which twenty-nine are located in the United States and one in Canada...
commissioned Barnes to create a painting with the theme, “Where we were, where we are, and where we are going.” The painting, The Dream Unfolds hangs in the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in Springfield
Springfield, Massachusetts
Springfield is the most populous city in Western New England, and the seat of Hampden County, Massachusetts, United States. Springfield sits on the eastern bank of the Connecticut River near its confluence with three rivers; the western Westfield River, the eastern Chicopee River, and the eastern...
, Massachusetts
Massachusetts
The Commonwealth of Massachusetts is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States of America. It is bordered by Rhode Island and Connecticut to the south, New York to the west, and Vermont and New Hampshire to the north; at its east lies the Atlantic Ocean. As of the 2010...
. A limited edition of lithographs were made, with the first 50 prints going to each of the NBA’s 50th Anniversary All-Time Team.
In 2004 Barnes was named America’s Best Painter of Sports by the American Sport Art Museum & Archives.
Other notable sports commissions include paintings for the New Orleans Saints
New Orleans Saints
The New Orleans Saints are a professional American football team based in New Orleans, Louisiana. They are members of the South Division of the National Football Conference of the National Football League ....
, Oakland Raiders
Oakland Raiders
The Oakland Raiders are a professional American football team based in Oakland, California. They currently play in the Western Division of the American Football Conference in the National Football League...
and Boston Patriots football team owners.
"Sugar Shack"
Barnes created the painting Sugar Shack in the early 1970s. It gained international exposure when it was used on the Good TimesGood Times
Good Times is an American sitcom that originally aired from February 8, 1974, until August 1, 1979, on the CBS television network. It was created by Eric Monte and Michael Evans, and developed by Norman Lear, the series' primary executive producer...
television series and on a 1976 Marvin Gaye
Marvin Gaye
Marvin Pentz Gay, Jr. , better known by his stage name Marvin Gaye, was an American singer-songwriter and musician with a three-octave vocal range....
album.
According to Barnes, he created the original version of Sugar Shack after reflecting upon his childhood, during which he was not "able to go to a dance." In a 2008 interview, Barnes said, "Sugar Shack is a recall of a childhood experience. It was the first time my innocence met with the sins of dance. The painting transmits rhythm so the experience is re-created in the person viewing it. To show that African-Americans utilize rhythm as a way of resolving physical tension.” The Sugar Shack has been known to art critics for embodying the style of art composition known as "Black Romantic," which, according to Natalie Hopkinson of The Washington Post, is the "visual-art equivalent of the Chitlin' circuit."
On the original Sugar Shack, Barnes included his hometown Durham, North Carolina radio station WSRC on a banner. He incorrectly listed the frequency at 620. It was actually 1410. Barnes confused what he used to hear WSRC's on-air personality Norfley Whitted saying "620 on your dial" when Whitted was at his former station WDNC in the early 1950s.
After Marvin Gaye asked him for permission to use the painting as an album cover, Barnes then augmented the painting by adding references that allude to Gaye's album, including banners hanging from the ceiling to promote the album's singles.
During the Motown 25: Yesterday, Today, Forever
Motown 25: Yesterday, Today, Forever
Motown 25: Yesterday, Today, Forever is a 1983 television special produced by Suzanne de Passe for Motown Records, to commemorate Motown's twenty-fifth year of existence. Motown 25: Yesterday, Today, Forever is a 1983 television special produced by Suzanne de Passe for Motown Records, to...
anniversary television special on March 25, 1983, tribute was paid to Sugar Shack with a dance interpretation of the painting.
Music album covers
Barnes’ work appears on the following album covers:- Sugar Shack on Marvin Gaye’s 1976 I Want You
- Disco on self-titled 1978 Faith, Hope & CharityFaith Hope and Charity (US band)Faith Hope and Charity was the name of a disco band from Tampa, Florida. They are best known for their 1975 hit, "To Each His Own".-Career:Founding members of the group were Zulema Cusseaux, Brenda Hilliard and Al Bailey...
- Donald Byrd and 125th Street, NYC on self-titled 1979 album
- Late Night DJ on Curtis MayfieldCurtis MayfieldCurtis Lee Mayfield was an American soul, R&B, and funk singer, songwriter, and record producer.He is best known for his anthemic music with The Impressions during the Civil Rights Movement of the 1960's and for composing the soundtrack to the blaxploitation film Super Fly, Mayfield is highly...
’s 1980 Something to Believe In - The Maestro on The CrusadersThe CrusadersThe Crusaders are an American music group popular in the early 1970s known for their amalgamated jazz, pop and soul sound. Since 1961, more than forty albums have been credited to the group , 19 of which were recorded under the name "The Jazz Crusaders" .-History:In 1960, following the demise of a...
' 1984 Ghetto Blaster - Head Over Heels on The Crusaders’ 1986 The Good and Bad Times
- Sugar Shack on Camp LoCamp LoCamp Lo is an American hip hop duo, formed in 1995, which hails from The Bronx, New York. The duo consists of rappers Sonny Cheeba and Geechi Suede , both of Muslim upbringing.-Career:...
's 1997 Uptown Saturday NightUptown Saturday Night (album)-Album:-Singles:-Personnel:*art direction – Carla Leighton*artwork – Dr. Revolt*assistant engineering – Dejuana Perignon, Dexter Thibou, Max Vargas*bass – Joe Quinde*design – Carla Leighton*engineering – Guido, Joe Quinde... - In Rapture on B.B. King’s 2000 Making Love is Good For You
- Sugar Shack on Lil BLil BBrandon McCartney , known by his stage name Lil B or "The BasedGod", is a rapper from Berkeley, California. He has recorded both solo and with the Pack. In addition, Lil B is noted for his extensive use of social media Web sites such as MySpace and Twitter to build an online following.-Early...
's 2011 I'm Gay (I'm Happy)I'm Gay (I'm Happy)I'm Gay is an album by California rapper Lil B. The album was suddenly released digitally on June 29, 2011. On June 30, 2011, the rapper provided a free download link on his Twitter account...
Other notable art and exhibitions
In response to the 1960s “Black is beautifulBlack is beautiful
Black is beautiful is a cultural movement that began in the United States of America in the 1960s by African Americans. It later spread to much of the black world, most prominently in the writings of the Black Consciousness Movement of Steve Biko in South Africa...
” cultural movement and James Brown
James Brown
James Joseph Brown was an American singer, songwriter, musician, and recording artist. He is the originator of Funk and is recognized as a major figure in the 20th century popular music for both his vocals and dancing. He has been referred to as "The Godfather of Soul," "Mr...
’s 1968 Say it loud: I’m Black and I’m Proud song, Barnes created The Beauty of the Ghetto exhibition of 35 paintings that toured major American cities from 1972 to 1979. Dignitaries, athletes and celebrities, including Los Angeles Mayor Tom Bradley
Tom Bradley
Thomas or Tom Bradley is the name of:*Tom Bradley , mayor of Los Angeles, California*Tom Bradley , American novelist and essayist...
, the Hon. Jack Kemp and Ethel Kennedy each hosted several shows.
Of his The Beauty of the Ghetto exhibition, Barnes said, “I am providing a pictorial background for an understanding into the aesthetics of black America. It is not a plea to people to continue to live there (in the ghetto) but for those who feel trapped, it is...a challenge of how beautiful life can be.”
When The Beauty of the Ghetto was on view in 1974 at the Museum of African Art
National Museum of African Art
The National Museum of African Art is a museum that is part of the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, D.C.. Located on the National Mall, the museum specializes in African art and culture...
in Washington, DC, Rep. John Conyers
John Conyers
John Conyers, Jr. is the U.S. Representative for , serving since 1965 . He is a member of the Democratic Party...
stressed the important positive message of the exhibit in the Congressional Record
Congressional Record
The Congressional Record is the official record of the proceedings and debates of the United States Congress. It is published by the United States Government Printing Office, and is issued daily when the United States Congress is in session. Indexes are issued approximately every two weeks...
.
In the wake of the 1992 Los Angeles riots
1992 Los Angeles riots
The 1992 Los Angeles Riots or South Central Riots, also known as the 1992 Los Angeles Civil Unrest were sparked on April 29, 1992, when a jury acquitted three white and one hispanic Los Angeles Police Department officers accused in the videotaped beating of black motorist Rodney King following a...
, Mayor Tom Bradley
Tom Bradley (politician)
Thomas J. "Tom" Bradley was the 38th Mayor of Los Angeles, California, serving in that office from 1973 to 1993. He was the first and to date only African American mayor of Los Angeles...
used Barnes’ painting Growth Through Limits as an inspirational billboard in the inner-city. Barnes contributed $1000 to the winner of a slogan contest among the city’s junior high school students that best represented the painting.
Barnes’ work was included in the 1995 traveling group exhibition 20th Century Masterworks of African-American Artists II.
Barnes’ painting The Advocate was donated to the North Carolina Central University School of Law in 1998 by a private collector. Barnes was compelled to create the painting from his “concern with the just application of the law... the integrity of the legal process for all people, but especially those without resource or influence.”
While watching the tragic events of 9/11, Barnes created the painting In Remembrance. It was formally unveiled at the Seattle Art Museum
Seattle Art Museum
The Seattle Art Museum is an art museum located in Seattle, Washington, USA. It maintains three major facilities: its main museum in downtown Seattle; the Seattle Asian Art Museum in Volunteer Park on Capitol Hill, and the Olympic Sculpture Park on the central Seattle waterfront, which opened on...
. It was later acquired on behalf of the City of Philadelphia
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Philadelphia is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania and the county seat of Philadelphia County, with which it is coterminous. The city is located in the Northeastern United States along the Delaware and Schuylkill rivers. It is the fifth-most-populous city in the United States,...
and donated to its African American Museum
African American Museum in Philadelphia
The African American Museum in Philadelphia is notable as the first museum funded and built by a municipality to help preserve, interpret and exhibit the heritage of African Americans...
. A limited number of giclée
Giclée
Giclée , is a neologism coined in 1991 by printmaker Jack Duganne for fine art digital prints made on ink-jet printers. The name originally applied to fine art prints created on IRIS printers in a process invented in the late 1980s but has since come to mean any high quality ink-jet print and is...
prints were sold with 100% of the proceeds going to the Hero Scholarship Fund, which provides college tuition and expenses to children of Pennsylvania
Pennsylvania
The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania is a U.S. state that is located in the Northeastern and Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States. The state borders Delaware and Maryland to the south, West Virginia to the southwest, Ohio to the west, New York and Ontario, Canada, to the north, and New Jersey to...
police and fire personnel killed in the line of duty.
Three of Barnes’ original paintings were exhibited at the London, England Whitechapel Gallery
Whitechapel Gallery
The Whitechapel Gallery is a public art gallery on the north side of Whitechapel High Street, in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets. Designed by Charles Harrison Townsend, it was founded in 1901 as one of the first publicly-funded galleries for temporary exhibitions in London, and it has a long...
in the 2005 Back to Black: Art, Cinema & Racial Imaginary art exhibition.
In 2005 rapper producer Kanye West
Kanye West
Kanye Omari West is an American rapper, singer, and record producer. West first rose to fame as a producer for Roc-A-Fella Records, where he eventually achieved recognition for his work on Jay-Z's album The Blueprint, as well as hit singles for musical artists including Alicia Keys, Ludacris, and...
commissioned Barnes to create a painting to depict his life-changing experience following his near-fatal car crash. A Life Restored measures 9 ft. x 10 ft. and hangs on West’s dining room ceiling. In the center of the painting is a large angel reaching out to a much smaller figure of West. It was inaccurately reported in several media outlets that the angel in the painting is of West.
Barnes’ final public exhibition was in October 2007 when the NFL and Time Warner
Time Warner
Time Warner is one of the world's largest media companies, headquartered in the Time Warner Center in New York City. Formerly two separate companies, Warner Communications, Inc...
sponsored A Tribute to Artist and NFL Alumni Ernie Barnes in New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
. It was hosted by Donna Brazile
Donna Brazile
Donna Brazile is an American author, professor, and political analyst affiliated with the Democratic Party. She was the first African American to direct a major presidential campaign, for Al Gore in 2000...
, Susan L. Taylor
Susan L. Taylor
Susan L. Taylor is an American editor, writer, and journalist. She served as editor-in-chief of Essence from 1981 through 2000. In 1994, American Libraries referred to Taylor as "the most influential black woman in journalism today".-Early life:Taylor was born in the Harlem neighborhood of New...
, Brig Owens
Brig Owens
Brigman Owens is a former American football player in the National Football League who played defensive back for the Dallas Cowboys and the Washington Redskins....
and his former teammate, the Hon. Jack Kemp
Jack Kemp
Jack French Kemp was an American politician and a collegiate and professional football player. A Republican, he served as Housing Secretary in the administration of President George H. W. Bush from 1989 to 1993, having previously served nine terms as a congressman for Western New York's 31st...
(who died five days after Barnes in 2009).
At the time of his passing, Barnes had been working on an exhibition titled Liberating Humanity From Within which featured a majority of paintings he created in the last three years of his life. Plans will continue. The exhibition will travel throughout the country and abroad.
Television & Movies
Barnes appeared on a 1967 episode of the game show What's My Line?What's My Line?
What's My Line? is a panel game show which originally ran in the United States on the CBS Television Network from 1950 to 1967, with several international versions and subsequent U.S. revivals. The game tasked celebrity panelists with questioning contestants in order to determine their occupations....
The panelists correctly guessed Barnes was the professional football player-turned-artist.
Barnes played Deke Coleman in the 1969 motion picture Number One with Charlton Heston
Charlton Heston
Charlton Heston was an American actor of film, theatre and television. Heston is known for heroic roles in films such as The Ten Commandments, Ben-Hur for which he won the Academy Award for Best Actor, El Cid, and Planet of the Apes...
and Jessica Walter
Jessica Walter
Jessica Walter is an American actress, known for the films Play Misty for Me, Grand Prix, and for her role as Lucille Bluth on the sitcom Arrested Development...
.
In 1971 Barnes, along with Mike Henry, created the Super Comedy Bowl, a CBS
CBS
CBS Broadcasting Inc. is a major US commercial broadcasting television network, which started as a radio network. The name is derived from the initials of the network's former name, Columbia Broadcasting System. The network is sometimes referred to as the "Eye Network" in reference to the shape of...
television variety special which showcased pro athletes with celebrities such as John Wayne
John Wayne
Marion Mitchell Morrison , better known by his stage name John Wayne, was an American film actor, director and producer. He epitomized rugged masculinity and became an enduring American icon. He is famous for his distinctive calm voice, walk, and height...
, Frank Gifford
Frank Gifford
Francis Newton "Frank" Gifford is a Hall of Fame former American football player and American sportscaster.-Early life:Gifford was born in Santa Monica, California, the son of Lola Mae and Weldon Gifford, an oil driller....
, Alex Karras
Alex Karras
Alexander George "Alex" Karras , nicknamed "The Mad Duck", is a former football player, professional wrestler, and actor, best known for his stint with the Detroit Lions of the National Football League from 1958–1962 and 1964-1970 and for his role as Mongo in the film Blazing Saddles...
, Joe Namath
Joe Namath
Joseph William "Joe" Namath , nicknamed "Broadway Joe" or "Joe Willie", is a former American football quarterback. He played college football for the University of Alabama under coach Paul "Bear" Bryant and his assistant, Howard Schnellenberger, from 1962–1964, and professional football in the...
, Jack Lemmon
Jack Lemmon
John Uhler "Jack" Lemmon III was an American actor and musician. He starred in more than 60 films including Some Like It Hot, The Apartment, Mister Roberts , Days of Wine and Roses, The Great Race, Irma la Douce, The Odd Couple, Save the Tiger John Uhler "Jack" Lemmon III (February 8, 1925June...
, Lucille Ball
Lucille Ball
Lucille Désirée Ball was an American comedian, film, television, stage and radio actress, model, film and television executive, and star of the sitcoms I Love Lucy, The Lucy–Desi Comedy Hour, The Lucy Show, Here's Lucy and Life With Lucy...
, Carol Burnett
Carol Burnett
Carol Creighton Burnett is an American actress, comedian, singer, dancer and writer. Burnett started her career in New York. After becoming a hit on Broadway, she made her television debut...
and Tony Curtis
Tony Curtis
Tony Curtis was an American film actor whose career spanned six decades, but had his greatest popularity during the 1950s and early 1960s. He acted in over 100 films in roles covering a wide range of genres, from light comedy to serious drama...
. A second special aired in 1972.
Barnes played Dr. Penfield in the 1971 movie Doctors’ Wives, which starred Dyan Cannon
Dyan Cannon
Dyan Cannon is an American film and television actress, director, screenwriter, editor, and producer.-Early life:...
, Richard Crenna
Richard Crenna
Richard Donald Crenna was an American motion picture, television, and radio actor and occasional television director. He starred in such motion pictures as The Sand Pebbles, Wait Until Dark, Body Heat, the first three Rambo movies, Hot Shots! Part Deux, and The Flamingo Kid...
, Gene Hackman
Gene Hackman
Eugene Allen "Gene" Hackman is an American actor and novelist.Nominated for five Academy Awards, winning two, Hackman has also won three Golden Globes and two BAFTAs in a career that spanned five decades. He first came to fame in 1967 with his performance as Buck Barrow in Bonnie and Clyde...
and Carroll O'Connor
Carroll O'Connor
John Carroll O'Connor best known as Carroll O'Connor, was an American actor, producer and director whose television career spanned four decades...
.
Throughout the Good Times
Good Times
Good Times is an American sitcom that originally aired from February 8, 1974, until August 1, 1979, on the CBS television network. It was created by Eric Monte and Michael Evans, and developed by Norman Lear, the series' primary executive producer...
television series (1974–79) most of the paintings “created” by the character JJ are works by Ernie Barnes. However a few images, including a Black Jesus, were not by Barnes. Sugar Shack made its debut on Good Times when it was used during the opening and closing credits during the show’s fourth season. In the fifth season it was only used in the closing credits. In the sixth season, Sugar Shack was only used in the opening credits for the first eight episodes and in a few closing credits during that season. In the fifth and sixth seasons, Sugar Shack appears in the background of the Evans family apartment.
Barnes had a bit part on two early episodes of Good Times.
In 1981 Barnes played the famed baseball catcher Josh Gibson
Josh Gibson
Joshua Gibson was an American catcher in baseball's Negro leagues. He played for the Homestead Grays from 1930 to 1931, moved to the Pittsburgh Crawfords from 1932 to 1936, and returned to the Grays from 1937 to 1939 and 1942 to 1946...
of the Negro league
Negro league baseball
The Negro leagues were United States professional baseball leagues comprising teams predominantly made up of African Americans. The term may be used broadly to include professional black teams outside the leagues and it may be used narrowly for the seven relatively successful leagues beginning in...
in the television movie Don’t Look Back: The Story of Leroy ‘Satchel’ Paige
Satchel Paige
Leroy Robert "Satchel" Paige was an American baseball player whose pitching in the Negro leagues and in Major League Baseball made him a legend in his own lifetime...
with Lou Gossett, Jr., who played Paige.
Personal
In addition to his parents, Barnes was preceded in death by his half-brother Benjamin B. Rogers, Jr. (1920–1970). His younger brother James (b. 1942) resides in Durham, North Carolina. Barnes has five children: Deidre (b. 1957) and Michael (b. 1961) with first wife Andrea Burnett (1957–1965); and Sean (b. 1965), Erin (b. 1969) and Paige (b. 1972) with second wife Janet Thaleen Norton (1965–1983). He was also married to Bernadine "Bernie" Gradney (1984 - to death).Barnes died on April 27, 2009 at Cedars Sinai Hospital in Los Angeles
Los Angeles, California
Los Angeles , with a population at the 2010 United States Census of 3,792,621, is the most populous city in California, USA and the second most populous in the United States, after New York City. It has an area of , and is located in Southern California...
, California
California
California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...
from a rare blood disorder. He was cremated and his ashes were scattered in Durham, North Carolina near the site of where his family home once stood, and at the beach in Carmel, California, one of his favorite cities.
Quotes
“An artist paints his own reality.”“The artist uses creative visualization and the athlete uses the same thing... It’s the muscle of the mind, that’s the main muscle.”
“I am bound by the strongest ties with the organic life of all people. And being an artist has created in me the desire to continually affirm beauty.”
“The five years I lived in (the Fairfax district) a Los Angeles Jewish community led me to learn of their unyielding spiritual strength and internal sense of grandeur. I met people who had survived a hard school of struggle.”
“My early paintings have all the rawness and passion of the (football) game.”
“I was angry. I wanted to show and tell people what I had seen and felt. I wanted to show the dehumanization that is professional football. My only expression is through art. I painted until I had exhausted the hate. I had so many ideas that I couldn’t put a canvas up quick enough.”
“One day on the playing field, I looked up and the sun was breaking through the clouds, hitting the unmuddied areas on the uniforms, and I said, ‘that’s beautiful!’ I knew then that it was all over being a player. I was more interested in art. So I traded my cleats for canvas, my bruises for brushes, and put all the violence and power I had felt on the field into my paintings.”
“Throughout my five seasons in the NFL, I remained at the deepest level of my being...an artist.”