ERNIE BARNES (1938-2009)
Games and Shines, circa 1970

signed 'ERNIE BARNES' (lower right)
acrylic on canvas

24 x 48 in.
61 x 121.9 cm.
Footnotes:
Provenance
The Collection of Tom Gries, California (acquired directly from the artist)
Acquired by descent from the above to the present owner

The copyright to this painting is reserved by the Ernie Barnes Family Trust.
We wish to thank the Ernie Barnes Estate for their kind assistance in cataloging this lot.

Demonstrating the iconic and vibrant style of Ernie Barnes, an artist now finally receiving long overdue recognition, the present lot is a paramount example from the artist's oeuvre which uniquely brings together Barnes' personal history as an artist, football player, and actor in conversation with his upbringing in North Carolina. In 1969 Barnes played football player Deke Coleman in a supporting role in Number One, a film directed by Tom Gries starring Charlton Heston. With a plot centered around a quarterback for the New Orleans Saints who leads the team to glory in the Super Bowl, it was a fitting narrative for Barnes, who earlier in his career was a professional football player for the New York Titans, the San Diego Chargers, and the Denver Broncos. Commissioned by Gries, Barnes painted this scene of a pool hall set in his hometown of Durham, North Carolina. Hidden motifs (such as the cover page of the newspaper on the right side of the composition which announces that Tom Gries will be directing Number One) reveals the artist sharing and reflecting on his accomplishments with loved ones in his hometown. The soft and thoughtful brushstrokes, and dynamic rendering of hazy light, imbue the painting with a sense of presence and emotion that is a quintessential characteristic of the artist's style.