User:Artistned/sandbox

Edward William Barbe Biography Edward (Ned) Barbe was born to (Mary) Ethel Shea Barbe and Bernard Barbe on December 20, 1929, in Chicago, IL. Early in his life, he displayed an aptitude for fine arts and began to attend Saturday morning classes at the Art Institute of Chicago. Even in these early years, he would draw caricatures of neighborhood friends as his younger brother, Lewis (August 27, 1931) would collect a small fee from them. As a youth and through his high school years, Ned enjoyed basketball and swimming in addition to his art. On June 27, 1947, Ned graduated from Carl Schurz High School and soon began work on his Bachelor Fine Arts degree. At this time, he received the first of his scholarships. In the fall of 1947, Ned was notified that he had won the Art Institute of Chicago Scholarship as a result of the High School Competition. The award covered tuition for the full academic year (note full tuition was $300 for the year). He also received other scholarships including the Junior League of Chicago Scholarship (in the amount of $8) and the Kawin, Hagar & David Scholarship of $75 (one third for each term). In addition to taking classes at the Art Institute, he also took classes at Wright Junior College and DePaul University to fulfill all of the needed academic requirements. He graduated with his Bachelor degree on June 8, 1951 and immediately began work on his Master of Fine Arts in Painting. He was awarded this degree on June 11, 1954 at the Art Institute of Chicago’s regular commencement exercises, even though he had finished his course work in early August of 1953. Two of Ned’s primary art instructors during his college years, were Allen E. Philbrick and John R. Cox. Philbrick was born in Utica, NY on November 19, 1879 and died November 14, 1964. He was a painter and art instructor who studied at the Art Institute of Chicago and in Paris at the Academie Colarossi and the Academie Julian with Jean Paul Laurens from 1904-1906. From 1906 to 1953 he taught at the Art Institute. He also was awarded a grant from Mary Cassatt, perhaps during his Paris days of study.(1) John Rogers Cox graduated from University of Pennsylvania and the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts in 1938 and not finding a position in the commercial arts field, returned to his hometown of Terra Haute, IN where he entered banking. At 26 years of age he left the banking business and became the youngest museum director in the U.S. when William T. Turman, professor of Art at the Indiana State Teachers College offered him the position, at the newly formed Sheldon Swope Art Gallery. Upon returning from active military service in 1945, he decided to devote his time to painting. By 1948 he had sold 7 of 9 major paintings and won two competitions. Life Magazine included a double page color feature about Cox in its July 12, 1948 edition. He soon moved to Chicago and began teaching figure drawing at the Art Institute where he remained until 1965.(2) During his years in college, Ned spent a summer teaching art at the Art Institute and another summer on scholarship to the The Skowhegan School of Painting and Sculpture. This was a nine week summer artists’ residency located in Skowhegan, Maine. The school was established in 1947 by Willard W. Cummings, Sidney Simon, Henry Varnum Poor and Charles Cutler. The vision of these founding artists was to create an enduring community of artistic practice, learning and innovation governed by artists. The school invites applicants to submit images of artwork, which are then judged by a jury of school governors and artists. During the summer work period, artists are given studios and living accommodations.(3) Ned also worked part-time for the Hirsch Printing Company as a layout technician in their art department. Shortly after completing his studies, Ned married Betty Catherine Weishaar on August 8, 1953 and was subsequently drafted into the United States Army. During his two year commitment, Leonard W. Barbe was born on May 4, 1955 while Ned was stationed at Ft. Knox in Kentucky. During his tour of duty, Ned was able to keep up with his artistic proclivities. ”While serving in the U.S. Army {between 1954 and 1956} as a specialist 3, Mr. Barbe’s art work won first and second place in exhibition and was placed in an art display at Ft. Knox, KY and later at the Pentagon in Washington, D.C. for six months. The paintings were later returned to his family.”(4) The paintings described were a triptych of watercolors of army life. Once honorably discharged, Ned and Betty returned to Chicago where Ned began work with the Hartford Fire Insurance Company located in the Wrigley Building. He didn’t want to be a commercial artist and he couldn’t afford to be a starving artist so he chose the insurance industry for his professional career. His preference was to always paint what he wanted, not what he had to paint. Two years after Leonard was born, Roger A. Barbe was born in Chicago on May 4, 1957. During these years, Ned served as an underwriter at Hartford and would paint at home during the evenings and on weekends, when not playing catch or going to the zoo with his sons. About this time, Ned’s art work changed from the nudes he had painted during his college years to other fields. About 1958, he painted a portrait of Leonard in front of the merry go round at Lincoln Park Zoo. In 1959, Ned was promoted and transferred to Hartford’s Cincinnati office. The family spent about a year there before Ned was promoted again and transferred to Charleston, WV. His position as a Special Agent took him on the road and he would visit various insurance agencies which represented Hartford. Here he completed work on the “Wounded Centurion Horse” oil painting. He also began to get involved in the community and entered a painting in the Fourth Annual Religious Art Exhibit, affiliated with the Creative Arts Festival of West Virginia in 1963. The painting he entered was his “Crucifix” which is now on permanent display at the Jubilee Museum in Columbus, OH. Two years after arriving in West Virginia, Ned was again promoted and transferred to Toledo, OH where he continued to serve as a Special Agent. On September 30, 1964, Ned was returning home from calls with agencies in Bowling Green, OH when his car was hit by a speeding driver who failed to stop at a stop sign. He died at the scene and after his funeral was buried in St. Joseph’s Cemetery on West Wayne Street in Maumee, OH. Ned never talked much about his art, but he did mention that he liked Picasso and Michelangelo. Also, it is believed that son Leonard, was named for Leonardo da Vinci. It is difficult to say what family or societal influences shaped his work. He was born at the beginning of the Great Depression and grew up through World War II. He did say that if you wanted a picture, use a camera. He spent a great deal of time preparing canvases by building up the surface with layers of white lead and many coats of paint. Since Ned regularly painted over old canvases, it is hard to say if any of his works were ever really finished. Had he lived longer than his 34 years, there certainly would have been more works of art and perhaps even completed works.

1. Taken from Ancestry.com 2. Taken from Wikipedia entry for John Rogers Cox 3. Taken from the Wikipedia entry for the Skowhegan School 4. Maumee Valley News, Vol. 42 No. 41, Thursday October 8, 1964, page 6.