About John Barber

  • Biography

    Born in Galatz, Romania, John Barber became a modernist painter of figures and scenes of daily life.

    He emigrated from Romania with his family to the United States in 1908. His first art instruction came from his grandfather, and from 1909 to 1910, he studied at the National Academy of Design in New York City. However, he thought the teaching was too rigid and was much happier at the Ferrer Center School where he took lessons from Robert Henri. The social realism of Henri had much influence on Barber, and he became a part of Henri's circle devoted to depictions of urban life. By 1916, he was an illustrator for the radical magazine, The Masses.

    In 1917, he was drafted and was briefly in France, wh...

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