Barthe' created Africa Awakening in 1959, and it was one of his last works to be recognized for its excellence.  Having dropped out of school at age 14 due to typhoid, he was working as a houseboy for the wealthy Ponds family of New Orleans when the local priest noticed his talent for painting.  

Through the Ponds' influence and the priest's contacts, he got into art school in Chicago in 1924.