Oliver O'Connor Barrett
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Oliver O'Connor Barrett (17 January 1908 – July 1989), better known as Connor Barrett, was a British sculptor, painter, graphic artist, educator, poet and composer. Most of his adult career and recognition was in the
United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...
.


Life and art career

Oliver O'Connor Barrett was born in
Eltham, London Eltham ( ) is a district of southeast London, England, within the Royal Borough of Greenwich. It is east-southeast of Charing Cross, and is identified in the London Plan as one of 35 major centres in Greater London. The three wards of Elth ...
, England on 17 January 1908. He studied at
Fircroft College Fircroft College is a specialist adult residential college based in Selly Oak, Birmingham, England. The college was founded by George Cadbury Junior, son of George Cadbury Senior, in 1908 and offers over 150 short residential courses throughou ...
in England but was largely self-taught as a sculptor. In 1933, Barrett exhibited at the
Royal Academy The Royal Academy of Arts (RA) is an art institution based in Burlington House in Piccadilly London, England. Founded in 1768, it has a unique position as an independent, privately funded institution led by eminent artists and architects. Its ...
. In 1937-38 he carved a panel, ''The Temptation of St. Anthony'' and fifteen keystones for a block of flats, called Viceroy Close, in
Edgbaston Edgbaston () is a suburb of Birmingham, West Midlands (county), West Midlands, England. It lies immediately south-west of Birmingham city centre, and was historically in Warwickshire. The Ward (electoral subdivision), wards of Edgbaston and Nort ...
,
Birmingham Birmingham ( ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of West Midlands (county), West Midlands, within the wider West Midlands (region), West Midlands region, in England. It is the Lis ...
. The work was designed and executed in the almost cartoonish manner that was to become one of the several styles that Barrett was comfortable in. In 1940 he moved to the United States where he settled with his family in
New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...
. In 1942 he exhibited at the New Orleans Art Center, in 1945 at the
Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts The Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts (PAFA) is a museum and private art school in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Founded in 1805, it is the longest continuously operating art museum and art school in the United States. The academy's museum ...
and in 1946, 1948 and 1950 at
Audubon Artists The National Audubon Society (Audubon; ) is an American non-profit environmental organization dedicated to conservation of birds and their habitats. Located in the United States and incorporated in 1905, Audubon is one of the oldest of such orga ...
. Barrett was one of the sculptors who exhibited at the
3rd Sculpture International 3rd Sculpture International was a 1949 exhibition of contemporary sculpture held inside and outside the Philadelphia Museum of Art, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA. It featured works by 250 sculptors from around the world, and ran from May 15 ...
, sponsored by the
Fairmount Park Art Association Established in 1872 in Philadelphia, the Association for Public Art (aPA), formerly Fairmount Park Art Association, is the first private, nonprofit public art organization dedicated to integrating public art and urban planning in the United Stat ...
and held at the
Philadelphia Museum of Art The Philadelphia Museum of Art (PMA) is an List of art museums#North America, art museum originally chartered in 1876 for the Centennial Exposition in Philadelphia. The main museum building was completed in 1928 on Fairmount, a hill located at ...
in 1949.


Teaching appointments

* 1940 - 42 Sculpture Instructor at
Putney School The Putney School is an independent high school in Putney, Vermont. The school was founded in 1935 by Carmelita Hinton on the principles of the Progressive Education movement and the teachings of its principal exponent, John Dewey. It is a co-edu ...
, Vermont. * 1942 - 44 Professor of Sculpture and Drawing,
Tulane University The Tulane University of Louisiana (commonly referred to as Tulane University) is a private research university in New Orleans, Louisiana, United States. Founded as the Medical College of Louisiana in 1834 by a cohort of medical doctors, it b ...
, New Orleans. * 1947 - 52 Sculpture Instructor,
Cooper Union The Cooper Union for the Advancement of Science and Art, commonly known as Cooper Union, is a private college on Cooper Square in Lower Manhattan, New York City. Peter Cooper founded the institution in 1859 after learning about the government-s ...
Art School, New York. * 1952 - 53 Sculpture Instructor,
Brooklyn Museum Art School The Brooklyn Museum Art School was a non-degree-granting professional school that opened at the Brooklyn Museum in Brooklyn, New York in the summer of 1941. The Brooklyn Museum Art School provided instruction for amateur artists as well until Ja ...
and Cooper Union. * Instructor in Sculpture and Painting, People's Art Center,
Museum of Modern Art The Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) is an art museum located in Midtown Manhattan, New York City, on 53rd Street (Manhattan), 53rd Street between Fifth Avenue, Fifth and Sixth Avenues. MoMA's collection spans the late 19th century to the present, a ...
, New York. * 1954 - 62 Director Of Sculpture Department, Palm Beach Art Institute.


One-man exhibitions

* 1934 London * 1934 Birmingham * 1940 New York * 1943 New Orleans * 1944 New York * 1946 New York * 1951 Potsdam, N.Y. * 1959 Palm Beach * 1962 Retrospective -Sculpture Centre * 1962
Whitney Museum The Whitney Museum of American Art, known informally as "The Whitney", is a Modern art, modern and Contemporary art, contemporary American art museum located in the Meatpacking District, Manhattan, Meatpacking District and West Village neighbor ...
, N.Y. * 1962
Williamsburg, Va Williamsburg is an independent city in Virginia, United States. It had a population of 15,425 at the 2020 census. Located on the Virginia Peninsula, Williamsburg is in the northern part of the Hampton Roads metropolitan area. It is bordered by ...
. * 1962 Albany Museum, * 1963 New York, World Fair


Sculpture Continuum

In 1962, as the
1964 New York World's Fair The 1964 New York World's Fair (also known as the 1964–1965 New York World's Fair) was an world's fair, international exposition at Flushing Meadows–Corona Park in Queens, New York City, United States. The fair included exhibitions, activ ...
was being planned, Barrett was commissioned to create the Sculpture Continuum Playground. In his book ''Myself Emerging'' it states that the "CONTINUUM principle was invented and patented by Barrett in America. Other designs based on the principle are available, adapted to various environmental situations." It is unclear as to what became of the playground following the end of the fair in 1965. Regarding this work, Barrett quotes a letter from the eminent art historian
Herbert Read Sir Herbert Edward Read, (; 4 December 1893 – 12 June 1968) was an English art historian, poet, literary critic and philosopher, best known for numerous books on art, which included influential volumes on the role of art in education. Read wa ...
in which Read states, "You have given a new spacial development to the Art of sculpture." The Sculpture Continuum playground was disassembled and stored for a while under the
Van Wyck Expressway A van is a type of road vehicle used for transporting goods or people. There is some variation in the scope of the word across the different English-speaking countries. The smallest vans, microvans, are used for transporting either goods or p ...
after the World's Fair closed in 1965, next to the disassembled World's Fair Pavilion (a geodesic dome). Eventually the dome was reassembled nearby and now serves as the Bird Aviary for the
Queens Zoo The Queens Zoo (formerly the Flushing Meadows Zoo and Queens Wildlife Center) is an zoo at Flushing Meadows–Corona Park in Queens, New York City, between Grand Central Parkway and 111th Street. The zoo is managed by the Wildlife Conservatio ...
. The Sculpture Continuum was acquired by Long Island's Valley Stream Union Free School District (District 13), where it was installed as playground equipment at Willow Road Elementary. After many years of outdoor use, it was moved into storage by the school district. Eventually at least three of the best pieces, including the elephant and the giraffe, were returned to district elementary schools for outdoor display (but not playground use). The elephant is displayed in front of Willow Road Elementary, and another piece is believed to be at Dever Elementary. In New York, Barrett taught as Instructor of Sculpture at the
Cooper Union The Cooper Union for the Advancement of Science and Art, commonly known as Cooper Union, is a private college on Cooper Square in Lower Manhattan, New York City. Peter Cooper founded the institution in 1859 after learning about the government-s ...
Art School and the
Museum of Modern Art The Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) is an art museum located in Midtown Manhattan, New York City, on 53rd Street (Manhattan), 53rd Street between Fifth Avenue, Fifth and Sixth Avenues. MoMA's collection spans the late 19th century to the present, a ...
. In the ensuing years he lived in several American cities including
New Orleans, Louisiana New Orleans (commonly known as NOLA or The Big Easy among other nicknames) is a Consolidated city-county, consolidated city-parish located along the Mississippi River in the U.S. state of Louisiana. With a population of 383,997 at the 2020 ...
and
Palm Beach, Florida Palm Beach is an incorporated town in Palm Beach County, Florida, United States. Located on a barrier island in east-central Palm Beach County, the town is separated from West Palm Beach, Florida, West Palm Beach and Lake Worth Beach, Florida, ...
, where he served as head of the art department at the Norton School of Art before returning to Great Britain and retiring to the Welsh valley of Cwm Prysor, near
Trawsfynydd Trawsfynydd (; Welsh language, Welsh for ) is a linear village in Gwynedd, Wales, near Llyn Trawsfynydd reservoir, and adjacent to the A470 road, A470 north of Bronaber and Dolgellau and 10 km (6 miles) south of Blaenau Ffestiniog. It als ...
. He died there in July 1989. Some of his artwork is in the collection of Birmingham Museum & Art Gallery, in the UK. His papers are in the collection of the Smithsonian
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 Washing ...
.


''Myself Emerging''

In 1980 Barrett published the book ''Myself Emerging'', consisting primarily of selections of his poetry interspersed with photographs of his sculpture. The book is prefaced with the statement, "With age, my development as a man, and perhaps as a poet, seems to have accelerated. Feelings are more intense and, becoming more open. I receive their full impact, whether joy or pain. Nor do I feel the need to justify or make them consistent." An intensely personal side of Barrett is revealed in his early poems. ''First Love'' (1927) finds him longing to be "crushed beneath a last caress of your all too-powerful hand", while in ''Lonely One'', written during
World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...
, the author wants to grieve, but is restrained from doing so by those who dictate "KEEP A STIFF UPPER LIP AND DON'T GIVE WAY! DON'T FEEL DON'T THINK DON'T BROOD DON'T BE." In the book the reader can trace the development of Barrett's style from his early purely figurative work of the 1930s through the abstracting of his figures during the 1950s and 1960s and finally a return to the realistic portraiture in his last years. In looking at the body of work, poetic and sculptural, that is presented in the book it is clear that the themes that Barrett was interested in, spirituality, mythology, eroticism and a love of music, were ones that he was drawn to early in his life and never abandoned. A poem "Isaak Speaks", written in September 1979, addresses the biblical story, where Abraham is so devoted to God that he is prepared to sacrifice his own son, although at the last minute an angel stops this from happening. In Barrett's short poem, "Being conceivable is deed enough" and the thought is enough to wreak the destruction. It ends:


Prizes and awards

*1943 1st prize Art Association, New Orleans, *1943 1st prize
New Orleans Arts and Crafts Club The New Orleans Arts and Crafts Club was a non-profit organization headquartered in the French Quarter of New Orleans in the early to mid-20th century. It was dedicated to expanding the global arts and crafts design movement into New Orleans, e ...
*1944 1st prize Art Association, New Orleans *1947 Fellowship at
Yaddo Yaddo is an artists' community located on a estate in Saratoga Springs, New York. Its mission is "to nurture the creative process by providing an opportunity for artists to work without interruption in a supportive environment.". On March  ...
*1948 1st prize 7th Annual Exhibition, Audubon Artists, New York. *1950 Gold Medal, 8th Annual Exhibition Audubon Artists, New York. *1953 Gold Medal for Sculpture, K.A. Artists' Annual,
Riverside Museum The Riverside Museum (replacing the preceding Glasgow Museum of Transport) is a museum in the Partick area of Glasgow, Scotland, housed in a building designed by Zaha Hadid, Zaha Hadid Architects, with its River Clyde frontage at the new Point ...
, New York. *1960 Life Fellowship at
International Institute of Arts and Letters International is an adjective (also used as a noun) meaning "between nations". International may also refer to: Music Albums * ''International'' (Kevin Michael album), 2011 * ''International'' (New Order album), 2002 * ''International'' (The T ...
.


Selected books

*Barrett, Oliver O'Connor (1950). ''Little Benny Wanted a Pony''. Illustrated by
Richard Scarry Richard McClure Scarry (; June 5, 1919 – April 30, 1994) was an American children's author and illustrator who published over 300 books with total sales of over 100 million worldwide. He is best known for his ''Best Ever'' book series that tak ...
. Simon and Schuster. *Barrett, Connor (1980). ''Myself Emerging; A Book of Sculpture and Poetry''.


References

*Barrett, Connor (1980), ''Myself Emerging; A Book of Sculpture and Poetry'' *''Who Was Who in American Art''. Edited by Falk, Peter Hastings (1985). Madison Connecticut: Sound View Press. *Noszlopy, George T. (1998), ''Public Sculpture in Birmingham: including Sutton Coldfield''. Edited by Beach, Jeremy. Liverpool: Liverpool University Press. *''Mantle Fielding's Dictionary of American Painters, Sculptors & Engravers''. Edited by Opitz, Glenn B (1986). Poughkeepsie NY: Apollo Book. *Obituary, '' Caernarfon Herald'', Friday July 10, 1987.


Notes


External links


Page about Connor Barrett, including link to a display of his art works on FlickrSculpture from Barrett's Sculpture ContinuumSculpture at Viceroy Close

Edgbaston, Birmingham
{{DEFAULTSORT:Barrett, Oliver Oconnor 1908 births 1989 deaths People from Eltham Alumni of Fircroft College 20th-century British sculptors British male sculptors 20th-century British male artists Cooper Union faculty British expatriates in the United States