Shoeshine Boy
Artist/Maker
Richmond Barthé
(American, 1901–1989)
Date1924–28
MediumBronze-colored terracotta
DimensionsOverall: 10 5/8 × 5 3/8 × 7 in. (27 × 13.7 × 17.8 cm)
Overall (with base): 15 1/2 × 5 3/8 × 7 in. (39.4 × 13.7 × 17.8 cm)
Overall (with base): 15 1/2 × 5 3/8 × 7 in. (39.4 × 13.7 × 17.8 cm)
Credit LineAnonymous Gift
Object number1939.6
Status
On viewRichmond Barthé was among the most successful sculptors of the Harlem Renaissance. Initially a painter, Barthé first sculpted portraits as an exercise in a painting course at the Art Institute of Chicago.
As Barthé learned to work in three dimensions, his mentor suggested that he model forms in clay before casting them in bronze. This process is reflected in the AMAM’s sculpture, which is made in terracotta that is painted to look as if it were bronze. Other related sculptures of the Shoeshine Boy are made with painted plaster and with bronze.
An individualized formal study, Shoeshine Boy is one of numerous sensitive portraits of Black subjects that came to define Barthé’s body of work.
Exhibition History
As Barthé learned to work in three dimensions, his mentor suggested that he model forms in clay before casting them in bronze. This process is reflected in the AMAM’s sculpture, which is made in terracotta that is painted to look as if it were bronze. Other related sculptures of the Shoeshine Boy are made with painted plaster and with bronze.
An individualized formal study, Shoeshine Boy is one of numerous sensitive portraits of Black subjects that came to define Barthé’s body of work.
Saving Face: The Portrait
- Allen Memorial Art Museum, Oberlin, OH (August 5, 1986 - September 28, 1986 )
In Recognition of Black History Month
- Allen Memorial Art Museum, Oberlin, OH (February 3, 1987 - February 28, 1987 )
Capturing the Black Experience
- Allen Memorial Art Museum, Oberlin, OH (February 1, 1988 - February 29, 1988 )
African American Artists: Selections from the Permanent Collection
- Allen Memorial Art Museum, Oberlin, OH (February 16, 1999 - March 21, 1999 )
Portraits of the Black Experience
- Allen Memorial Art Museum, Oberlin, OH (September 1, 2005 - October 15, 2006 )
Regarding Realism
- Allen Memorial Art Museum, Oberlin, OH (August 6, 2013 - June 22, 2014 )
Wildfire Test Pit
- Allen Memorial Art Museum, Oberlin, OH (August 30, 2016 - June 12, 2016 )
Refiguring Modernism: A Fractured and Disorienting World
- Allen Memorial Art Museum, Oberlin, OH (July 5, 2023 - May 31, 2024 )
Collections
- Modern & Contemporary
- On View
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1999
2024
1975
postmarked July 4, 1958
