Barkley L. Hendricks was the only person worthy enough to borrow the title “birth of the cool” from Miles Davis.

What were his qualifications for such a rad title (and how do I get one)? Well, his portraits depicted the people around him - friends, family, random people off the street - with such vibrant colors, interesting poses, and ~chic~ clothing that people became entranced and obsessed with his work. But don’t be caught thinking that his portraits are political statements. Hendricks insisted that, “[his] paintings [are] about people that [are] part of [his] life. If they [are] political, it’s because they [are] a reflection of the culture we [are] drowning in.”

Born in 1945 in Virginia, Hendricks is the only surviving child of two sets of twins - three died at birth. The reproductive issues of Hendricks’ parents stopped there and four children followed Barkley. Unfortunately, this was not the end of their tragedy as Barkley’s younger brother was murdered in October 1999.

Hendricks went on to study at Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts and Yale University. He may or may not have used an MFA at Yale to escape the Vietnam War draft but Hendricks was a part of the New Jersey National Guard, which was never deployed. When asked if the army affected his work in any way, Hendricks replied, “Made me want to stay the f**k away from the Army.” It just wasn’t his gig I guess. Art and music were definitely more his jam. Before his death, Hendricks played in a band called Other Issues, named for their inability to find time to play together due to “other issues.”

Overall, Hendricks was, as Jack Shainman his gallerist put it, “a true artist’s artist, always dedicated to his singular vision; he was a figurative painter when it was trendy and especially when it wasn’t.”