It's pleasing to see the works of contemporary black artists achieve remarkable feats at different galleries and auction houses at home and abroad. Notable among these great works are Ernie Barnes’ “Maestro” Painting and Shepard Fairey’s iconic “Hope” portrait, which soared above their estimated price at an auction. 

Fairey’s iconic HOPE portrait was sold for a huge $735,000 on May 19 at Heritage Auctions. The iconic mixed-media work was one of the three original stenciled collages by the artist. Of the remaining two, one is in a private collection and the other in a permanent collection of the Smithsonian Institution’s National Portrait Gallery.

The red and blue portrait depicts Obama as he gazes upward with his head slightly tilted to the right and the single word "HOPE'' written in capital letters beneath it.

The Heritage Auctions director of modern and contemporary art Taylor Curry considered it an honor to offer “HOPE” up for sale during the auction saying “HOPE” defined an entire movement and a presidency,”

“I can’t overstate how important the image is, and bidders responded accordingly,” Curry said.

According to Heritage’s Modern & Contemporary Art Signature® Auction, the final auction price for the collage surpassed its estimated pre-auction price of $300,000-$500,000.

Fairey, a street artist, and founder of OBEY clothing, had put out the portrait as a street art poster ahead of the 2008 Iowa caucus. His goal was to support Obama- a black American presidential candidate who later emerged as the winner and became the first African American to hold the presidential office.

In similar news, another of Ernie Barnes’ 1971 paintings, “The Maestro”, used as the cover artwork for The Crusader's 1984 album, has achieved a mind-blowing feat as it soared past its estimate (of $25,000 to $35,000) and got sold for $882,375 at Bonhams American Art sale on Thursday, May 26. 

The success didn’t come entirely as a surprise to some art collectors and art enthusiasts because most of Ernie Barnes' works are now experiencing a surge in recognition and appreciation after the artist’s death. Perhaps what birthed this newfound recognition was his “Sugar Shack” painting which recently sold for a whopping $15.3 million at an auction in the United Kingdom.

The Maestro, a stellar painting by Ernie Barnes, depicts a lone figure of what looks like a young boy with his back to the viewers. His arms are raised dramatically high. In between his long, delicate fingers on his right-hand lies a conductor’s baton, ready to passionately conduct the music spilling from an antique radio placed on a high table in front of him.

The anticipation of a chord about to be struck, of an impending crescendo, gives the painting a soothing effect, allowing the viewer to imagine the beauty in music.