Figure

Description

John W. Rhoden was a sculptor from Birmingham, Alabama associated with artists and thinkers of the Harlem Renaissance and the first black American to hold a fellowship in sculpture at the American Academy in Rome. Rhoden arrived in New York City in 1937 and, under sculptor Richmond Barthé, received rigorous training in anatomy and figural sculpture. Attending classes at Columbia University from 1947 through 1950 brought the artist into contact with Modernism and non-Western approaches to sculpting the human figure. This seated figure, in size and form, reflects African art Rhoden would have seen in New York during his years of artistic study, as well as his embrace of his own African heritage.