Xavier J. Barile (b. Saverio Barile) (March 18, 1891 – October 12, 1981) was an American painter, graphic artist, illustrator and art teacher born in Tufo, Italy. He worked in many mediums including oil, casein, watercolor, pen and ink,

monotyping Monotyping is a type of printmaking made by drawing or painting on a smooth, non-absorbent surface. The surface, or matrix, was historically a copper etching plate, but in contemporary work it can vary from zinc or glass to acrylic glass. The i ...

and etching creating figurative scenes, cityscapes, landscapes, seascapes and portraits. Always an avid sketcher, Barile also worked as a magazine and newspaper illustrator and cartoonist. As a painter Barile was strongly influenced by

American Realism American Realism was a style in art, music and literature that depicted contemporary social realities and the lives and everyday activities of ordinary people. The movement began in literature in the mid-19th century, and became an important te ...

and the

Ashcan School The Ashcan School, also called the Ash Can School, was an artistic movement in the United States during the late 19th-early 20th century that produced works portraying scenes of daily life in New York, often in the city's poorer neighborhoods. ...

, but developed his own distinctive, somewhat more modern style of realism involving subtle contours and distortions of perspective.

Early life and education

Xavier J. Barile was the oldest son in a family of six born on March 18, 1891, in the small town of Tufo, Italy, to Domenico and Carolina Barile. Domenico emigrated to New York City in 1905 to start a tailoring business and brought the family over two years later in 1907. For a while Barile worked in his father's shop to help get the family settled in their new life, but soon his love of sketching and drawing led him to enroll in evening art classes at the Cooper Union. After graduating there, he began studies at the

Art Students League The Art Students League of New York is an art school at 215 West 57th Street in Manhattan, New York City, New York. The League has historically been known for its broad appeal to both amateurs and professional artists. Although artists may stu ...

. Barile's early teachers and mentors included

John Sloan John French Sloan (August 2, 1871 – September 7, 1951) was an American painter and etcher. He is considered to be one of the founders of the Ashcan school of American art. He was also a member of the group known as The Eight. He is best known ...

William de Leftwich Dodge William de Leftwich Dodge (1867–1935) was an American artist best known for his murals, which were commissioned for both public and private buildings. Early life and education Dodge was born at Liberty, Virginia in the Piedmont near Ly ...

, F. Luis Mora and Victor Perard.

Career and associations

Barile was a gregarious and active member of the art scene wherever he found himself. He was a lifelong friend of

, Reginald Marsh,

George Luks George Benjamin Luks (August 13, 1867 – October 29, 1933) was an American artist, identified with the aggressively realistic Ashcan School of American painting. After travelling and studying in Europe, Luks worked as a newspaper illustrator a ...

Robert Henri Robert Henri (; June 24, 1865 – July 12, 1929) was an American painter and teacher. As a young man, he studied in Paris, where he identified strongly with the Impressionists, and determined to lead an even more dramatic revolt against A ...

and

Everett Shinn Everett Shinn (November 6, 1876 – May 1, 1953) was an American painter and member of the urban realist Ashcan School. Shinn started as a newspaper illustrator in Philadelphia, demonstrating a rare facility for depicting animated movement, a ...

. He was a member of the

Salmagundi Club The Salmagundi Club, sometimes referred to as the Salmagundi Art Club, is a fine arts center founded in 1871 in the Greenwich Village section of Manhattan, New York City. Since 1917, it has been located at 47 Fifth Avenue. , its membership roster ...

, the

Society of Independent Artists Society of Independent Artists was an association of American artists founded in 1916 and based in New York. Background Based on the French Société des Artistes Indépendants, the goal of the society was to hold annual exhibitions by avant-gard ...

, the American Monotype Society (now defunct)
Audubon Artists
th
New York Artists Equity Association
the

National Art Education Association The National Art Education Association (NAEA) is a non-profit professional association founded in 1947 in the United States, headquartered in Alexandria, VA. It is the world's largest professional art education association. The NAEA's annual conv ...

, the

(lifetime member) and more.Barile opened his first art school in 1919, the Barile Art School, on Lexington Avenue in New York City. He enjoyed teaching and continued to do so for the next 60 years in various locations. During 1936 and 1937, Barile worked for the

Treasury Relief Art Project The Treasury Relief Art Project (TRAP) was a New Deal arts program that commissioned visual artists to provide artistic decoration for existing Federal buildings during the Great Depression in the United States. A project of the United States ...

, assisting Reginald Marsh with the murals of the

Alexander Hamilton U.S. Custom House The Alexander Hamilton U.S. Custom House (originally the New York Custom House) is a government building, museum, and former custom house at 1 Bowling Green, near the southern end of Manhattan in New York City, United States. Designed by Cas ...

. Marsh and his assistants made multiple detailed field studies of American shipping in the New York City harbors before beginning the mural paintings on especially constructed scaffolding. Their wages were $1.60/hour. Barile closed his art school in 1939 and relocated to Colorado. Upon the recommendation of his friend John Sloan for the post, Barile become the founder and Head of the Art Department at the Pueblo Junior College (which eventually morphed into Colorado State University, Pueblo). Pueblo was a base for Barile's excursions to New Mexico, Arizona and California, locations which inspired much of his monotype work and other southwestern themed paintings. Barile's numerous monotypes are considered some of his best work. 42nd St

Before returning to New York City in 1946, Barile was inspired by a year spent teaching and painting in St. Augustine, Florida, where he held classes at the St. Augustine Arts Club. In New York after short stints teaching at the Pan-American Art School and the Catan-Rose Institute of Art, Barile opened his second art school in 1950, the Barile Fine Arts Group, on Union Square in New York City. He continued to teach there until 1973. Barile's papers are held at the

Archives of American Art The Archives of American Art is the largest collection of primary resources documenting the history of the visual arts in the United States. More than 20 million items of original material are housed in the Archives' research centers in Washingt ...

. Some of his work is in the Smithsonian American Art Museum.

Personal life

Barile remained single until age 70 when he married his student, Maria Dolores Silva y Gordoa (1914–1994), who was 23 years younger than him. She preferred to use the name Lolita de Silva in both her personal and artistic life. It was the first marriage for both of them. The marriage lasted until 1979 when de Silva, who had suffered several nervous breakdowns, was taken back to Mexico by her family. Barile died two years later on October 12, 1981. De Silva died in 1994.

Selected exhibitions

Exhibitions of Barile's work began in the 1920s and continued into the 1960s. * Art Students League * Audubon Artists Group Show (1950) * American Monotype Society (traveling show, 1940-41) * Denver Art Museum * Museum of New Mexico (1944) * National Academy of Design (1943) * National Museum of American Art (1982) This is now the Smithsonian American Art Museum. * Newark Art Museum (1951, as one of the 12 "Dialists") * Salmagundi Club (1954) * Whitney Studio Club (1921)

References

External links

*Smithsonian American Art Museum
Xavier J. BarileUnited States Customs House Interior
*Xavier J. Baril
Biography at Sullivan Goss
*Xavier J. Baril
Biography at AskArt.com
{{DEFAULTSORT:Barile, Xavier J. 1891 births 1981 deaths 20th-century American painters American male painters Italian emigrants to the United States Treasury Relief Art Project artists People from the Province of Avellino Artists from Campania Painters from New York City Cooper Union alumni Art Students League of New York alumni