Barkley L. Hendricks

Painter and photographer Barkley L. Hendricks (1945––2017) delighted and inspired generations of art lovers and fellow artists with his chic, life-sized paintings of urban Black Americans. Riotous with color, Hendricks’s paintings capture the exuberant style and humanity of his neighbors, friends, family, and the people he met throughout his travels. His effortlessly cool portraits elevated everyday individuals to the level of royalty or divinity, simultaneously correcting the absence of Black subjects in the art historical record.