Blackberry Woman

Richmond Barthé, Blackberry Woman, modeled by 1930, cast 1932, bronze, 35 1212 1416 14 in. (90.131.141.3 cm), Smithsonian American Art Museum, Museum purchase through the Luisita L. and Franz H. Denghausen Endowment, 2001.6

Artwork Details

Title
Blackberry Woman
Date
modeled by 1930, cast 1932
Location
Not on view
Dimensions
35 1212 1416 14 in. (90.131.141.3 cm)
Credit Line
Museum purchase through the Luisita L. and Franz H. Denghausen Endowment
Mediums Description
bronze
Classifications
Subjects
  • African American
  • Figure female — full length
  • Occupation — domestic — gathering
  • Object — other — basket
Object Number
2001.6

Artwork Description

The angular grace of Blackberry Woman speaks of stoicism and constancy. The subject – an African American woman in a simple dress who is balancing a basket on her head – is one Barthé may well have seen on market day as a boy growing up in Bay St. Louis, Mississippi. But she is more than an echo of an image once observed. She has the frontal, linear form found in West African sculpture, which Barthé first saw in Chicago, in an exhibition during “The Negro in Art Week” in November 1927, when he was a student at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago.


African American Art: Harlem Renaissance, Civil Rights Era, and Beyond, 2012

Works by this artist (3 items)

Ray Strong, San Francisco from Russian Hill, ca. 1934, oil on canvas, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Transfer from the General Services Administration, 1974.89.9
San Francisco from Russian Hill
Dateca. 1934
oil on canvas
On view
Ray Strong, San Francisco from Russian Hill, ca. 1933-1934, oil on canvas, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Transfer from the U.S. Department of Labor, 1964.1.102
San Francisco from Russian Hill
Dateca. 1933-1934
oil on canvas
Not on view
Ray Strong, Golden Gate Bridge, 1934, oil on canvas, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Transfer from the U.S. Department of the Interior, National Park Service, 1965.18.50
Golden Gate Bridge
Date1934
oil on canvas
Not on view

More Artworks from the Collection

Winfred Rembert, Picking Cotton with Boss Men, 2007, dye on carved and tooled leather, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Museum purchase through the Luisita L. and Franz H. Denghausen Endowment, 2022.35, © Estate of Winfred Rembert/Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York
Picking Cotton with Boss Men
Date2007
dye on carved and tooled leather
Not on view
Flag Spectre
Date2015
urethane and chromaluscent paint on aluminum
Not on view
Radcliffe Bailey, Untitled, 2022, mixed media including flock, oil stick, acrylic paint on tarp, with steel railroad tracks, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Museum purchase through the Luisita L. and Franz H. Denghausen Endowment, 2024.23.2A-B, © Radcliffe Bailey. Courtesy of the artist and Jack Shainman Gallery, New York.
Untitled
Date2022
mixed media including flock, oil stick, acrylic paint on tarp, with steel railroad tracks
Not on view
Radcliffe Bailey, Up From, 2015, canvas tarpaulin, velvet, Georgia clay, wood, rock, metal, thread, rum, and tobacco, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Museum purchase through the Luisita L. and Franz H. Denghausen Endowment, 2024.23.1A-D, © Radcliffe Bailey. Courtesy of the artist and Jack Shainman Gallery, New York.
Up From
Date2015
canvas tarpaulin, velvet, Georgia clay, wood, rock, metal, thread, rum, and tobacco
On view