The Late, Great and Legendary Ernie Barnes. 1938-2009
Ernest Barnes Jr. was born during the Jim Crow era in āthe bottomā community of Durham, North Carolina, near the Hayti District of the city. He had a younger brother, James (b. 1942), as well as a half-brother, Benjamin B. Rogers Jr. (1920ā1970). Ernest Jr. was nicknamed āJuneā. His father, Ernest E. Barnes Sr. ( ā1966), worked as a shipping clerk for Liggett Myers Tobacco Company. His mother, Fannie Mae Geer (1905ā2004), oversaw the household staff for a prominent Durham attorney and local Board of Education member, Frank L. Fuller Jr.
On days when Fannie allowed āJuneā (Barnesā nickname to family and childhood friends) to accompany her to work, Mr. Fuller encouraged him to peruse the art books and listen to classical music. The young Ernest was intrigued and captivated by the works of master artists. By the time Barnes entered the first grade, he was familiar with the works of such masters as Toulouse-Lautrec, Delacroix, Rubens and Michelangelo. When he entered junior high school, he could appreciate, as well as decode, many of the cherished masterpieces within the walls of mainstream museums ā although it would be many more years before he was allowed entrance because of segregationā¦.
Barnes credits his college art instructor Ed Wilson for laying the foundation for his development as an artist. Wilson was a sculptor who instructed Barnes to paint from his own life experiences. āHe made me conscious of the fact that the artist who is useful to America is one who studies his own life and records it through the medium of art, manners and customs of his own experiences.āā¦..Ā Ā
Throughout the Good Times television series (1974ā79) most of the paintings by the character J.J. are works by Ernie Barnes. However a few images, including āBlack Jesusā in the first season (1974), were not painted by Barnes. The Sugar Shack made its debut on the showās fourth season (1976ā77) during the opening and closing credits. In the fifth season (1977ā78) The Sugar Shack was only used in the closing credits for five early episodes during that season. In the sixth season (1978ā79), The Sugar Shack was only used in opening credits for the first eight episodes and in the closing credits for five early episodes during that season. In the fifth and sixth seasons (1977ā79), The Sugar Shack appears in the background of the Evans family apartment. Barnes had a bit part on two episodes of Good Times: The Houseguest (February 18, 1975) and Sweet Daddy Williams (January 20, 1976).
Barnesā artwork was also used on many television series, including Columbo, The White Shadow, Dream On, The Hughleys, The Wayans Bros., Wife Swap, and Soul Food, and in the movies Drumline and Boyz n the Hoodā¦ā¦..
Barnes passed away on Monday evening, April 27, 2009 at Cedars Sinai Hospital in Los Angeles, California from myeloid leukemia.Ā He was cremated and his ashes were scattered in two places: at his hometown Durham, North Carolina, near the site of where his family home once stood, and at the beach in Carmel, California, one of his favorite cities.
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