Barkley Hendricks: “Let’s Make Some History”

Barkley Hendricks is widely acknowledged as one of the most influential American painters of his generation for his superlative talent, his evocative reinterpretation of portraiture, and his reckoning with contemporary life—whether he assumes a critical or celebratory perspective. For younger artists today, Hendricks’s work provides an important touchstone as they articulate their own identities and question perceptions of race in America. This commemorative exhibition is organized in response to the news of Hendricks’s passing on April 18, 2017. It is drawn from two New England private collections and features five rarely seen canvases from Hendricks’s Philadelphia years that represent themes and concerns at the beginning of his artistic career.

Credit: Exhibition overview from museum website.