Graduating from Newark School of Fine Arts with honors in painting and printmaking, Barger pursued further studies at the Pratt Graphics Center in New York. Since 1968 he has been a professional artist, not only producing and selling his work through galleries, but also creating illustrations for such publications as Scholastic Magazine, Intellectual Digest, the Boston Globe Magazine and the New York Times Book Review. His most recent illustrations include book jacket designs for Agatha Christie novels published through G.K. Hall, Inc. Other recent pursuits include art designs for handcrafted wooden jigsaw puzzles produced by Bogart’s Puzzles, Inc. Barger has had solo exhibitions plus inclusion of his works in numerous group shows. Although his work has been mainly exhibited on the east coast, his audience is a wide one and much of his work had gone into collections in Canada, Europe and Australia. On the east coast, Barger is a regular exhibitor at art shows in Lincoln, Boston, and Worcester Massachusetts. He has won numerous awards including first place for printmaking and Best in Show. Barger’s work reflects the influence of Picasso and Matisse, evidenced by the sophistication of his works in the understatement of line and his economy of color. His imaginative, whimsical and often dreamlike etchings have a deceptive air of simplicity. Delicate as his hand-colored images are, they speak with assurance of large subjects and deep feelings; love, friendship, loneliness, and childhood. That he is a professional is evident in the outstanding quality of his prints. Barger lives in Norwell, MA with his wife Elizabeth, children Evan and Anna, and his canine companion Chester.