Ernie Barnes facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Ernie Barnes
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Barnes in 1974
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| Born |
Ernest Eugene Barnes Jr.
July 15, 1938 |
| Died | April 27, 2009 (aged 70) |
| Occupation | American artist, football player, actor |
| Height | 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) |
| Spouse(s) |
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| Children | Deidre Barnes Paige Barnes Sean Barnes Erin Barnes Michael Barnes |
Ernest Eugene Barnes Jr. (born July 15, 1938 – died April 27, 2009) was a talented American artist. He was famous for his special way of drawing people with long, flowing shapes, showing lots of movement. Besides being an artist, he was also a professional football player, an actor, and a writer.
Contents
Early Life and Art
Growing Up in Durham
Ernest Barnes Jr. grew up in Durham, North Carolina, during a time called the Jim Crow era. This meant that people were often treated unfairly and kept separate based on their race. His father worked at a tobacco company, and his mother worked for a lawyer.
Sometimes, young Ernest (who his family called "June") went to work with his mother. The lawyer, Mr. Fuller, encouraged him to look at art books and listen to classical music. Ernest loved it! Even before first grade, he knew about famous artists like Michelangelo. By junior high, he understood many great artworks. However, because of segregation, he couldn't visit many museums for a long time.
Ernest was a quiet child who loved to draw in his sketchbook. He often found peaceful spots away from other kids. One day, his masonry teacher, Tommy Tucker, found him drawing. Mr. Tucker was also a coach and encouraged Ernest to try sports. This meeting changed Ernest's life. He started working out and became very dedicated. By his senior year at Hillside High School, he was the football team captain and a state champion in shot put.
College and Art
Ernest went to North Carolina College at Durham, which was a college mainly for Black students at the time. He received a full scholarship for sports and studied art.
When he was 18, Ernest visited the North Carolina Museum of Art. He asked to see paintings by Black artists, but a museum guide told him, "Your people don't express themselves that way." Twenty-three years later, in 1979, Ernest had his own art show at that very museum! The governor of North Carolina even attended.
Later in life, North Carolina Central University gave him an honorary degree in Fine Arts in 1990. In 1999, he received "The University Award," a very high honor from the University of North Carolina.
Playing Professional Football
| No. 73, 61, 62 | |
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| Position: | Guard Tackle |
| Personal information | |
| Height: | 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) |
| Weight: | 247 lb (112 kg) |
| Career information | |
| High school: | Hillside High School (Durham, North Carolina) |
| College: | North Carolina Central |
| NFL Draft: | 1960 / Round: 10 / Pick: 112 (Baltimore Colts) |
| Career history | |
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| Player stats at PFR | |
Starting with the Colts
In December 1959, the Baltimore Colts picked Ernie Barnes to play for them. He was first chosen by the Washington Redskins, but they changed their minds when they learned he was Black.
Playing for the Titans
The Colts later released Barnes, and the new Titans of New York team quickly signed him. Barnes didn't enjoy playing for the Titans. He felt the team wasn't well-organized.
During his time with the Titans, a teammate named Howard Glenn sadly passed away after a game. Barnes and others believed it was due to heat exhaustion. This made Barnes very concerned about player safety, and he asked to leave the team.
Moving to the Chargers
Barnes then joined the Los Angeles Chargers (who later moved to San Diego). There, he became good friends with his teammate Jack Kemp.
During the football off-seasons, Barnes stayed busy. He worked at the San Diego Southeast YMCA, helping young people. He also wrote a weekly sports column for a local newspaper called "A Matter of Sports." He even drew pictures for San Diego Magazine.
In 1962, Barnes had his first TV interview about being both a football player and an artist. It was on The Regis Philbin Show.
Time with the Broncos
After some injuries, Barnes was traded to the Denver Broncos. His coach, Jack Faulkner, often fined him for sketching during team meetings! One of those sketches, for which he was fined $100, later sold for $1000.
Barnes would often draw during breaks in games. He would quickly sketch what he saw on the field. He captured the movements and feelings of the players. Many of these quick drawings later became famous paintings. His teammates even called him "Big Rembrandt" because of his artistic talent.
Canadian Football and Retirement
In 1965, after his second season with the Broncos, Barnes signed with the Saskatchewan Roughriders in Canada. Sadly, he broke his right foot in his last exhibition game, which ended his professional football career.
After football, Barnes wanted to become the official artist for the American Football League. He met New York Jets owner Sonny Werblin, who was very impressed by Barnes's art. Werblin told Barnes, "You have more value to the country as an artist than as a football player." He hired Barnes as a salaried player but for art, not football!
Barnes's first art show in New York City in 1966 was a big success. All his paintings sold, and critics praised his work. In 1971, he wrote essays about his journey from football to art, which later became his autobiography, From Pads to Palette.
Ernie Barnes's Amazing Artwork
Ernie Barnes's college art teacher, Ed Wilson, helped him become the artist he was. Mr. Wilson taught him to paint about his own life and experiences. Barnes learned to show the customs and feelings from his own world in his art.
Even though Barnes didn't always love the tough side of football, his time as an athlete gave him a special way of seeing things. He learned to pay attention to how bodies move. This helped him create his unique style of long, flowing figures that show so much feeling and action.
He sold his very first painting, "Slow Dance," in 1959 for $90. It was bought by a basketball player named Sam Jones.
Special Framing
Ernie Barnes often framed his paintings with old, weathered wood. This was a special tribute to his father. His father worked very hard for his family.
Before his first art show, Barnes saw his father's fence, which was usually well-kept, looking old and worn. His father was ill at the time. Barnes realized that the old wood looked perfect with his paintings. So, he decided to use similar distressed wood frames for all his artworks. He knew it would have made his father proud.
The Meaning Behind Closed Eyes
A unique feature in many of Barnes's paintings is that his subjects often have their eyes closed. He explained that this was to show how people sometimes don't truly "see" each other. He wanted to highlight how we can be "blinded" by things like skin color or background. Barnes believed that we need to look deeper to see the kindness, strength, and potential in others.
"The Beauty of the Ghetto"
In the 1960s, there was a cultural movement that celebrated Black identity. Inspired by this, Barnes created an art show called The Beauty of the Ghetto. This exhibition featured 35 paintings. It traveled to many cities across America from 1972 to 1979.
Barnes wanted his art to show the positive and beautiful parts of Black American life. He said it was "a challenge of how beautiful life can be" for those who felt stuck. Important people and athletes helped host these shows.
Sports Art Masterpieces
Barnes created many different kinds of sports art, not just football. He painted scenes from hockey, boxing, tennis, basketball, and gymnastics.
In 1984, the Los Angeles Olympic Committee named Barnes the "Sports Artist of the 1984 Olympic Games." They felt his art truly captured the spirit of the Olympics. He created five paintings for the event and encouraged young people in cities to get involved in sports.
The United States Sports Academy named him the first "Sports Artist of the Year" in 1985. He also painted a famous artwork called Fastbreak for the World Champion Los Angeles Lakers basketball team in 1987.
In 1996, the National Basketball Association asked Barnes to create a painting for their 50th anniversary. This painting, The Dream Unfolds, now hangs in the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame.
The Bench
After Barnes was drafted by the Baltimore Colts, he watched an important championship game from the team's bench. He felt many emotions seeing his new teammates play.
When he returned home, he immediately painted The Bench in less than an hour. He used a palette knife to quickly capture his feelings. This painting was so special to him that he never sold it, even when offered a lot of money. He kept it with him throughout his life.
In 2014, Barnes's wife, Bernie, gave The Bench painting to the Pro Football Hall of Fame for their permanent collection.
The Sugar Shack
One of Ernie Barnes's most famous paintings is The Sugar Shack, created in 1971. It became super popular when it was shown on the TV series Good Times. It also appeared on the cover of Marvin Gaye's 1976 album I Want You.
Barnes said he painted The Sugar Shack based on a childhood memory. He remembered a time when he couldn't go to a dance. The painting shows people dancing with lots of rhythm and energy. He wanted to show how African-Americans use rhythm to express themselves.
A duplicate of The Sugar Shack was sold in 2022 for $15.3 million. The original painting is owned by actor Eddie Murphy.
Art on Album Covers
Ernie Barnes's artwork has been featured on several music album covers, including:
- The Sugar Shack painting on Marvin Gaye's 1976 I Want You
- The Disco painting on Faith, Hope & Charity's 1978 self-titled album
- Donald Byrd and 125th Street, N.Y.C. painting on Donald Byrd and 125th Street, N.Y.C.'s 1979 self-titled album
- Late Night DJ painting on Curtis Mayfield's 1980 Something to Believe In
- The Maestro painting on The Crusaders' 1984 Ghetto Blaster
- Head Over Heels painting on The Crusaders' 1986 The Good and Bad Times
- In Rapture painting on B.B. King's 2000 Makin Love is Good For You
Other Important Artworks
In 1992, after some difficult events in Los Angeles, Mayor Tom Bradley used Barnes's painting Growth Through Limits as an inspirational billboard. It was placed in inner-city areas to encourage people.
In 2001, after the tragic events of 9/11, Barnes created the painting In Remembrance. This painting was later acquired by the City of Philadelphia and donated to its African American Museum. Prints of the painting were sold to raise money for a scholarship fund for children of police and fire personnel.
In 2005, Kanye West asked Barnes to create a painting about a life-changing car crash he experienced. The painting, A Life Restored, shows a large angel reaching out to a smaller figure of West.
Television and Movies
Ernie Barnes appeared on a game show called To Tell the Truth in 1967. The judges correctly guessed that he was a professional football player who became an artist.
He also acted in a few movies, including Number One (1969) and Doctors' Wives (1971). In 1981, he played baseball catcher Josh Gibson in the TV movie Don't Look Back: The Story of Leroy 'Satchel' Paige.
Barnes was also involved in creating Super Comedy Bowl, a TV special that featured athletes and celebrities.
His artwork was famously used throughout the TV series Good Times (1974–79). Many of the paintings by the character J.J. were actually by Ernie Barnes, including The Sugar Shack. Barnes even had small acting roles in two episodes of Good Times.
Barnes's art has also appeared in other TV shows like Columbo and The White Shadow, and in movies such as Drumline and Boyz n the Hood.
In the 2016 film Southside with You, which is about Barack and Michelle Obama's first date, Barnes's artwork is shown in an early scene.
Death
Ernie Barnes passed away on April 27, 2009, in Los Angeles, California, from a type of leukemia. His ashes were scattered in his hometown of Durham, North Carolina, and at a beach in Carmel, California, one of his favorite cities.
Posthumous Recognition
In 2019, Ernie Barnes was honored by the Durham 150 Closing Ceremony in Durham, North Carolina. He was recognized as one of 29 individuals whose dedication and accomplishments helped shape the city in important ways.
See also
- Other American Football League players
 | Precious Adams |
 | Lauren Anderson |
 | Janet Collins |
