Barkley L. Hendricks was an African-American painter known for his photo-based portraits of black men and women. Conveying a sensitivity towards the unique persona of each sitter, his works are both matter-of-fact and culturally pointed. “Let me correct the assumption that my early work was explicitly political,” the artist said. “I was only political because, in the 1960s, America was fucked up and didn’t see what some artists or what black artists were doing.” Born on April 16, 1945 in Philadelphia, PA, he attended the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts before receiving his BFA and MFA from the Yale School of Art. While at Yale, he spent much of his time honing his photography skills, working under the famed Walker Evans. Throughout the...