Ernie Barnes

Ernie Barnes (1938-2009) was an American painter whose distinctive figurative work captured the rhythms of African American life with unmistakable warmth, humor, and dignity. Born on July 15, 1938 in Durham, North Carolina, he grew up in the segregated South and discovered art as a means of expression while working through the challenges of a childhood spent between the strictures of Jim Crow and the vibrant social and cultural life of his community. He attended North Carolina Central University on an athletic scholarship, majoring in art while playing football, and went on to a professional football career in the American Football League that took him to the Baltimore Colts, the New York Titans, the San Diego Chargers, and the Denver Broncos.

After retiring from football in the mid-1960s, Barnes devoted himself to painting full-time. He developed a distinctive figurative style, sometimes called Neo-Mannerism, characterized by elongated forms, dynamic compositions, and figures whose eyes are frequently closed, a device Barnes said represented humanity's tendency to be blind to the beauty and struggles of others. His most celebrated painting, The Sugar Shack, depicts an ecstatic Black dance hall scene and became one of the most iconic American images of its era, featured on Marvin Gaye's 1976 album I Want You and on the closing credits of the television show Good Times.

Barnes served as the official artist of the 1984 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles and painted portraits of many celebrities and public figures. His work is held in the permanent collections of major American museums, and his auction market has grown substantially in recent years as new generations have discovered his singular vision of American life.