Oil on linen canvas, 1967. 457x559 mm; 18x22 inches. Signed, titled and initialed in pencil on the stretcher bars, verso. Initialed in oil on the canvas verso.
Provenance Acquired directly from the artist. Shuna Miah, Philadelphia (1967). Thence by descent, private collection.
Shuna Miah was the director of the Lee Cultural Center in Philadelphia.
Exhibited "Philadelphia Negro Artists Exhibition," Lee Cultural Center, Philadelphia, February 10 - March 3, 1967. Note We would like to thank the estate of Barkley Hendricks for its assistance in authenticating this painting.
This still life painting is a fascinating re-discovery - it has not been exhibited since the very beginning of Barkley Hendricks's professional career in Philadelphia. While a student at the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts (PAFA), Hendricks first began exhibiting in 1966 at the Kenmore Galleries. Pluck was part of a group exhibition in the early spring of 1967 at the Lee Cultural Center; Hendricks graduated later that spring from PAFA. While focused on portraiture, still life painting was part of his studio practice. Another scarce example from this year is Star Spangled Chitlins, private collection, included in the memorial exhibition Barkley Hendricks: Let's Make Some History at the Bowdoin College Museum of Art in 2017.
