Oliver O'Connor Barrett
Encyclopedia
Oliver O'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
.
Oliver O'Connor Barrett studied at Fircroft College
in England but was largely self-taught as a sculptor. In 1933 Barrett exhibited at the Royal Academy
. 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
, Birmingham
. 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
. In 1942 he exhibited at the New Orleans Art Center, in 1945 at the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts and in 1946, 1948 and 1950 at Audubon Artists.
Barrett was one of the sculptors who exhibited at the 3rd Sculpture International
held at the Philadelphia Museum of Art
in 1949.
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
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 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 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 Art School and the Museum of Modern Art
. In the ensuing years he lived in several American cities including New Orleans, Louisiana
and Palm 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.
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 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:
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
sculptor, painter, graphic artist, educator, poet and composer. Most of his adult career and recognition was in the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
.
Life and art career
Fircroft College
Fircroft College is a specialist adult residential college based in Selly Oak, Birmingham.The college was originally founded by George Cadbury in 1909 and offers mostly short residential courses, as well as an Access to Higher Education programme and specialist courses for the over 55s...
in England but was largely self-taught as a sculptor. In 1933 Barrett exhibited at the Royal Academy
Royal Academy
The Royal Academy of Arts is an art institution based in Burlington House on Piccadilly, London. The Royal Academy of Arts has a unique position in being an independent, privately funded institution led by eminent artists and architects whose purpose is to promote the creation, enjoyment and...
. 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
Edgbaston is an area in the city of Birmingham in England. It is also a formal district, managed by its own district committee. The constituency includes the smaller Edgbaston ward and the wards of Bartley Green, Harborne and Quinton....
, Birmingham
Birmingham
Birmingham is a city and metropolitan borough in the West Midlands of England. It is the most populous British city outside the capital London, with a population of 1,036,900 , and lies at the heart of the West Midlands conurbation, the second most populous urban area in the United Kingdom with a...
. 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 City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
. In 1942 he exhibited at the New Orleans Art Center, in 1945 at the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts and in 1946, 1948 and 1950 at Audubon Artists.
Barrett was one of the sculptors who exhibited at the 3rd Sculpture International
3rd Sculpture International
3rd Sculpture International was an exhibition of sculpture that included works from 250 sculptors from around the world. It was "organized by the Fairmount Park Art Association under the terms of a bequest made to the Association by the late Ellen Phillips Samuel." It was held at the Philadelphia...
held at the Philadelphia Museum of Art
Philadelphia Museum of Art
The Philadelphia Museum of Art is among the largest art museums in the United States. It is located at the west end of the Benjamin Franklin Parkway in Philadelphia's Fairmount Park. The Museum was established in 1876 in conjunction with the Centennial Exposition of the same year...
in 1949.
Sculpture Continuum
In 1962, as the 1964 New York World's Fair1964 New York World's Fair
The 1964/1965 New York World's Fair was the third major world's fair to be held in New York City. Hailing itself as a "universal and international" exposition, the fair's theme was "Peace Through Understanding," dedicated to "Man's Achievement on a Shrinking Globe in an Expanding Universe";...
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
Herbert Read
Sir Herbert Edward Read, DSO, MC was an English anarchist, poet, and critic of literature and art. He was one of the earliest English writers to take notice of existentialism, and was strongly influenced by proto-existentialist thinker Max Stirner....
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 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 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 Art School and the Museum of Modern Art
Museum of Modern Art
The Museum of Modern Art is an art museum in Midtown Manhattan in New York City, on 53rd Street, between Fifth and Sixth Avenues. It has been important in developing and collecting modernist art, and is often identified as the most influential museum of modern art in the world...
. In the ensuing years he lived in several American cities including New Orleans, Louisiana
New Orleans, Louisiana
New Orleans is a major United States port and the largest city and metropolitan area in the state of Louisiana. The New Orleans metropolitan area has a population of 1,235,650 as of 2009, the 46th largest in the USA. The New Orleans – Metairie – Bogalusa combined statistical area has a population...
and Palm Beach, Florida
Palm Beach, Florida
The Town of Palm Beach is an incorporated town in Palm Beach County, Florida, United States. The Intracoastal Waterway separates it from the neighboring cities of West Palm Beach and Lake Worth...
, 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.
Some of his artwork is in the collection of Birmingham Museum & Art Gallery
Birmingham Museum & Art Gallery
Birmingham Museum and Art Gallery is a museum and art gallery in Birmingham, England.Entrance to the Museum and Art Gallery is free, but some major exhibitions in the Gas Hall incur an entrance fee...
, in the UK. His papers are in the collection of the Smithsonian Archives of American Art
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 16 million items of original material are housed in the Archives' research centers in Washington, D.C...
.
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 IIWorld War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
, 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."
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:
- O Father Abraham
- I am unsexed
- your knife is buried in my brain.
Selected books
- Barrett, Oliver O'Connor (1950). Little Benny Wanted a Pony. Illustrated by Scarry, RichardRichard ScarryRichard McClure Scarry was a popular American children's author and illustrator who published over 300 books with total sales of over 100 million units worldwide....
. Simon and Schuster. - Barrett, Connor (1980). Myself Emerging; A Book of Sculpture and Poetry.
