Richmond Barthé (born Bay St. Louis, MS 1901- died Pasadena, CA 1989) sculpted the human body with a sensitivity to movement and expression, earning him acclaim during the 1930s and 1940s. At age fourteen Barthé moved from Mississippi to New Orleans, where patrons encouraged him to pursue the formal study of art. In 1924 he began studies at the Art Institute of Chicago and started to work in sculpture, while also taking private lessons with the painter Archibald Motley Jr. Settling in New York in 1930, Barthé quickly joined the artistic and literary circles of the Harlem Renaissance. Along with fellow African American sculptors Meta Fuller, Elizabeth Catlett, and Augusta Savage, he used figuration and the classical sculptural tradition to depict aspects of black American life and culture, drawing particular inspiration from the worlds of music and dance.
