Barkley L. Hendricks

Kenmore Gallery, Philadelphia
Acquired from the above by the present owner

This work is in very good condition overall. The white-painted areas have slightly darkened with age. Under very close inspection, two minor and unobtrusive drip accretions are visible down the center and a few pinpoint white media accretions are visible in the lower right quadrant. Under raking light, a faint swirling inconsistency is visible in the central area, possibly inherent to the artist’s working method, and faint horizontal stretcher bar impressions are visible along the top and bottom edges. Under Ultraviolet light inspection, there is no evidence of restoration. Framed.
In response to your inquiry, we are pleased to provide you with a general report of the condition of the property described above. Since we are not professional conservators or restorers, we urge you to consult with a restorer or conservator of your choice who will be better able to provide a detailed, professional report. Prospective buyers should inspect each lot to satisfy themselves as to condition and must understand that any statement made by Sotheby's is merely a subjective qualified opinion.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING CONDITION OF A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD "AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF SALE PRINTED IN THE CATALOGUE.

"What Hendricks aspired toward...was a racial and cultural quintessence that rather than functioning as something symbolic or being superficially retrieved through a discursive rhetoric or mere phenotype, operated conceptually and metonymically and could be intuited through informed representations, a canvassing of cultural predilections and mores, and an exact understanding of what might be described as 'black reality.'"

Richard J. Powell, "Barkley L. Hendricks, Anew," in Exh. Cat., Durham, Duke University, Nasher Museum of Art (and traveling), Barkley L. Hendricks: Birth of the Cool, 2008, p. 46