Ernie Barnes

North Carolina · born or raised1938–2009

African-American painter (1938-2009)

Born in Durham
Lived in Durham
Studied at Hillside High School
Studied at North Carolina Central University

Quotations with a citation

Being an athlete helped me to formulate an analysis of movement. Movement is what I wanted to capture on canvas more than anything else. I can’t stand a static canvas

I tend to paint everyone, most everyone, with their eyes closed because I feel that we are blind to one another’s humanity so if we could see the gifts strengths and potentials within every human being then our eyes would be open

It was perfect. A tribute to Daddy. I framed all of the paintings with that old wood fence. Daddy’s fence would hug my paintings in a prestigious New York gallery. That would have made him smile.