#romarebearden

Romare Bearden (1911-1988)

In the essay for a publication entitled, “Romare Bearden: Idea to Realization,” written by Professor Sarah E. Lewis in the Department of History of Art and Architecture at Harvard, she writes;

“Throughout the ages, artists have been truth tellers for our civilizations; they speak about the essence of their society in ways that others cannot or will not. Some such artists have incantatory vision. Romare Bearden was endowed with this gift. In his hands, slashes of textures and color became so active that they could show a complete world and its development across time; his collaged and painted images could inspire a vision of who we might become and remind us of who we had been all along.” (page 6)

Spring Way, 1964, Romare Bearden

As we continue to honor #BlackHistoryMonth, we are highlighting celebrated artist and author #RomareBearden (1911-1988), renowned for his richly textured collages, paintings and photomontages portraying Harlem street scenes and rural North Carolina. Born in 1911 in Charlotte, NC, Bearden moved with his family to #Harlem in 1914. His parents’ household became a social and intellectual hub for luminaries of the #HarlemRenaissance. Among his many friends were distinguished artists, intellectuals and musicians such as Duke Ellington, Langston Hughes, James Baldwin, Alvin Ailey and Jacob Lawrence. Bearden was a celebrated humanist, as demonstrated by his lifelong support of young, emerging artists. A founding member of the Harlem Cultural Council and Black Academy of Arts, Bearden was also a social worker with the New York City Department of Social Services, working on his art at night and on weekends. He was a longtime friend of #RobertBlackburn and one of the original trustees for the non-profit Printmaking Workshop (@efa.rbpmw). The two first met around 1936 in Harlem, when both attended meetings at “306” (an informal artists' group) and produced work at the Harlem Community Art Center.

In 1982, Romare Bearden created a collage of the #NewYorkCity skyline illuminated by a full moon (pictured image #2), which later served as his #MTAArts proposal that would be transformed into a jewel-like faceted glass triptych installed over the stairway landing at the Westchester Square-East Tremont Av (6) station. “Untitled” (City of Light) (1993 – proposed by artist in 1982) weaves together the spirit found in his many interests such as music, performing arts, history, literature and world art, connected by the thread of an elevated train passing through an urban landscape. Romare Bearden is recognized as one of the most original visual artists of the twentieth century.

Before the First Whistle, Romare Bearden, 1973, Brooklyn Museum: Contemporary Art

Medium: Screenprint on white wove paper

Patchwork Quilt, Romare Bearden, 1970, MoMA: Drawings and Prints

Gift of Lyn and ET Williams Jr. and The Friends of Education of The Museum of Modern Art Size: 6 x 5 1/4" (15.2 x 13.3 cm) Medium: Felt-tip pen and colored inks on printed graph paper