Ernie Barnes’ My First Dunk envelops viewers in a nostalgic and jubilant memory. Painted in 1976, the present work features a lone figure suspended in air, about to gracefully place a basketball in a hoop. Extending and elongating the figure in his signature neo-Mannerist style, Barnes infuses the present work with a Surrealist-like tradition to examine the interplay of memory and contemporary culture. The present work was originally in the esteemed collection of Richard Roundtree, the iconic actor best known for his role as John Shaft in the Shaft movie franchise. Roundtree was familiar with Barnes’ football career in the 1960s and learned of his artistic practice when Sammy Davis Jr. and Charlton Heston purchased his works. He discovered that Barnes lived just four blocks away from him in Los Angeles and walked to his home to meet with him, purchasing My First Dunk from the artist directly in 1979.
Gracefully leaping to perform the eponymous dunk, the player’s exaggerated limbs are rendered in delicate brushstrokes that capture a fluid motion, presenting the figure as if flying through the air. Hinting at an intimate moment with the work’s title, Barnes employs a monotone backdrop and muted, almost sepia-toned color palette to further suggest that this is perhaps a personal memory, while subtle hues of baby blue and ochre reflect the elegance of classical Mannerist portraiture. Indeed, the composition feels playful, as if the subject is heroically soaring over his distant home across a barren landscape. In addition to his depiction of athletic moments, Barnes more broadly explored cultural representation and human experience throughout his practice. In the present work, he captures the essence of the human body in motion, showcasing the gifts, strengths, and potential inherent to everyone. The figure’s head is turned away from the viewer, obscuring any defining characters and allowing Barnes to universalize his athlete—a technique the artist would employ time and time again. Letting the viewer in on this nostalgic moment, one is able to put themselves in the basketballer’s shoes and envision themselves as the one making the dunk.
[Left] Salvador Dalí, Burning Giraffe, 1937, Kunstmuseum, Basel. Image: Bridgeman Images, Artwork:© 2024 Salvador Dalí, Gala-Salvador Dalí Foundation / Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York
[Right] Benny Andrews, The Way to the Promised Land, 1994. Image/Artwork: © 2024 Estate of Benny Andrews / Licensed by VAGA at Artists Rights Society (ARS), NY, Courtesy Michael Rosenfeld Gallery, LLC, New York, NYThrough these nostalgic renderings, Barnes showcases his reverence to and understanding of the tenets of Surrealism. Reminiscent of Salvador Dali’s fantastical compositions, My First Dunk embodies the Surrealist principles of irrationality, particularly in its compositional choices. The scale of the figure, alongside the hoop and the distant building, challenges realistic approaches to perspective – the house in the background is rendered as if in the very distant background, while the pole supporting the basketball hoop seems to be situated abnormally high within the air. Similarly, the low horizon line and desolate landscape create an eerie, other-worldly quality, the sky stretching across almost the entire composition, mimicking the length of the figure. Understanding and distorting traditional landscape and portraiture traditions, Barnes embraces the elongation and distortion of the figure through a Surrealist lens, inviting viewers into a fantastical realm that merges personal memory with imaginative exploration.
Provenance
Richard Roundtree (acquired directly from the artist in 1979)
Acquired from the above by the present owner
Property from an Important West Coast Collection
120
My First Dunk
signed "ERNIE BARNES" lower right
oil and acrylic on canvas, in artist's frame
41 x 21 1/2 in. (104.1 x 54.6 cm)
Painted in 1976.
My First Dunk is included in the forthcoming Ernie Barnes Catalogue Raisonné. We thank Luz Rodriguez for her assistance in cataloguing this work.
Estimate
$250,000 - 350,000
Sold for $444,500
Annie Dolan
NY Head of Auctions and Specialist, Head of Sale, Morning Session
+1 212 940 1288
adolan@phillips.com
Modern & Contemporary Art Day Sale, Morning Session
New York Auction 20 November 2024
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