You've got until April 8 to witness the inspirational work of African-American Harlem Renaissance sculptor Richmond Barthé at the N.C. Central University Museum.
Barthé's work is known for the way he explores beyond the surface of the human body, focusing on the spiritual quality inherent in human experience.
"My work is not based on surfaces or stylization but on what is inside …," said Barthé.
Barthé's bronze sculptures first appear to be traditional but when examined closely, his figures become more expressionistic, with slightly elongated and distorted features.
The exhibit reflects Barthé's avowed love of humankind—his love of people of all races, classes and creeds. He sculpts distinct differences between the features of people of various the races.
"I hope that my people will look into my work and see a reflection of themselves," Barthé wrote. "My dream in life was … to show how beautiful the world is."
The most famous piece in the exhibit is Barthé's 1944 work "The Negro Looks Ahead," considered by critics to be one of Barthé's most passionate and inspiring pieces.
The work captures the emotion and personality of a black male inspired to move ahead.
Barthé said that President Franklin D. Roosevelt inspired the piece.
"I believed that the Negro advanced more under him than any other President since Lincoln," he wrote in a letter, "so I did this piece of the Negro emerging out of his rough background with hope in the future."
Two other sculptures that stand out in the exhibit are "Lovers" and "Woman Putting Flower in Hair."
In "Lovers," Barthé captures the emotional bond between a man and a woman. There can be no doubt that the two are in love.
The man has his arms protectively wrapped around the woman from behind.
The nude, "Woman Putting Flower in Hair," is gorgeous. He captures every aspect of womanhood.
She is elegant and looks as if she is floating or dancing on clouds. Her limbs are long and every muscle and feature is perfect.
Barthé has been acknowledged as one of the primary sculptors of his time. He was born in 1901 in Bay St. Louis, Mississippi, and spent his teen years in New Orleans.
He later enrolled in the Art Institute of Chicago. He then moved to New York, where he established a studio in Harlem and was associated with the Harlem Renaissance cultural movement.
The Harlem Renaissance—initially known as the New Negro Movement—spanned the 1920s and 1930s, and was embodied in literature, theatre, jazz, blues, poetry and other cultural expressions and expressed an emerging racial consciousness that arguably laid the path for the eventual emergence of the Civil Rights Movement.
According to NCCU's Art Museum director Kenneth Rodgers, says Barthé "was on the fast track, he was better than anyone in his time. He was easily the most visible and collected sculptors in New York and the major museums—such as the Whitney Museum—were collecting his work."
Rodgers said it has been over a decade since there has been a sculpture exhibit at the museum.
"It was about time we took a look at sculpting and there was no one more suitable," said Rodgers.
"I encourage the NCCU family and in particular the student body to take advantage of this extraordinary opportunity to see sculpture by black America's Rodin."
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