Art | August 05, 2019

Jazz-Age illustrator Ralph Barton sported an exaggerated urbanity. Elegant and handsome, with dark hair, blue eyes, and a slight frame, he dressed in flawlessly tailored suits with striped shirts, matching collars, a cravat, and suspenders. Often he carried a walking stick and in his wake left a trace of Chanel No. 22. He bought the finest champagne, wine, and cigarettes and in his work was particular about pens, paper, and ink. After his first visit to France in 1915, he returned a full-bore dandy, out-fopping the French. But his cultivated sophistication and aspirations were born of provincialism. Even when he lived in a penthouse filled with rare books and art, was one of the highest-paid illustrators in New York City, and married and dated an array of beautiful, rich women, he never stopped fighting his way out of the “Kansas City mud.”