Barkley L. Hendricks: Birth of the Cool

Barkley Hendricks’s Bid 'Em In/Slave (Angie), oil and acrylic
on canvas, 1973 will come to auction on October 8.

Hip, cool and stylish men and women provide the foundation for Barkley Hendricks’ first retrospective exhibition. After successful runs at the Nasher Museum of Art at Duke University, the Studio Museum in Harlem, and the Santa Monica Museum of Art, “Barkley L. Hendricks: Birth of the Cool” makes its way to the artist’s home state, opening at the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts in Philadelphia on October 17th.

Hendricks’ life-size oil paintings depict cool and carefree men and women in the last quarter of the 20th century. Clothing and accessories make the man, as carefully styled afros, aviator sunglasses, three-piece suits (often with bell bottoms), trench coats and layered gold bracelets, rings and earrings accentuate the figure, typically set against an unadorned backdrop.

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