Bo Bartlett III (American, b. 1955), Henry Robinson Jones, Study for Selma

Graphite on Arches paper, 1997, signed, titled, and inscribed to lower edge, with red "IGN" artist stamp to lower right, unframed.

Sheet size 15 1/8 x 11 1/4 in.

From the Collection of Ron W. Djuren, Durham, North Carolina

Bo Bartlett III is a contemporary American Realist artist known for his figurative paintings that blend the visual language of American culture with complex psychological symbolism. His art often conveys ordinary moments in dreamlike compositions, evoking a narrative.

“Bartlett looks at America’s heart—its land and its people—and describes the beauty he finds in everyday life. His paintings celebrate the underlying epic nature of the commonplace and the personal significance of the extraordinary…He pushes the boundaries of the realist tradition with his multilayered imagery. Life, death, passage, memory, and confrontation coexist easily in his world. Family and friends are the cast of characters that appear in his dreamlike narrative works. Although the scenes are set around his childhood home in Georgia or his island summer home in Maine, they represent a deeper, mythical concept of the archetypal, universal home." -Tom Butler, excerpt from the book Bo Bartlett, Heartland

Born and raised in Georgia, Bartlett studied at the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts and later apprenticed under Nelson Shanks (1937-2015). Bartlett’s work has been exhibited in major museums and galleries across the United States and is held in numerous public and private collections. He currently lives and works in Columbus, Georgia, where he also directs the Bo Bartlett Center—a creative hub fostering arts education, community engagement, and dialogue through the power of visual storytelling.

Tape residue at the corners, some smudges and marks to the sheet.