American; “…Romare Bearden, one of the 20 th century's first ‘collagists’, magnificently transmuted the collage medium into personal and universal statements of African American culture…” ROMARE BEARDEN

Romare Bearden: Background/History - Born in Charlotte, North Carolina. His family moved to Harlem, New York, at the zenith of the Harlem Renaissance, a Black cultural movement. Moved because of the “Great Migration” and oppressive Jim Crow Laws - Although Bearden is best-known for his work in collage he achieved success in a staggering array of media, including watercolor, gouache, oil, painting, drawing, monotype, edition prints, photography, designs for record albums, costumes and stage sets, book illustration, and one known wood sculpture -Bearden employed a variety of media to create his collage artwork, including cuttings from magazines, sample catalogs, wallpaper, art reproductions, and painted papers. -Bearden preferred the improvisational nature of the collage medium and other influences around him. He carefully selected and accumulated images (photographs, magazine and newspaper clippings) which he kept in bags in his studio. Then he would choose those which most effectively completed his pieces. Aware of the Cubist movement's debt to African sculpture, he created faces inspired by African masks and sculpture -Bearden’s collages are known for employing flat areas of color defined by cut papers as wells as more patterned or textured areas created by cuttings of preprinted images, hand- painted papers, foils, and fabrics. Surface manipulation was also an ongoing concern for the artist. Bearden was also well known for “juxtaposition of both negative and positive space.” -A turning point in Bearden's career was his creation of “Projections”, enlarged photostatic copies of smaller collages.

Bearden's genre scenes from the early 1940s such as The Family permit interpretations that range from the secular to the religious. Forms comprising the man, woman, child, and other details of the composition reveal that Bearden already was concerned with abstraction over literal description. “The Family” Romare Bearden, c gouache with ink and graphite on brown paper

“At Five in the Afternoon” early cubist painting by Bearden Bearden's inspiration for At Five in the Afternoon was the dramatic poem Lament for a Bullfighter by Spanish poet Frederico Garcia Lorca. For most of us, 5:00 in the afternoon signifies the end of a working day; but Romare Bearden chose the time as the climax of a bullfight in his painting. The figure of the bullfighter has merged with that of the bull so that it is difficult to see where one begins and the other ends. Bearden chose a style similar to "Synthetic Cubism," which was invented by Georges Braque and Pablo Picasso more than 40 years before At Five in the Afternoon was painted. Although Romare Bearden used paint instead of gluing paper to the canvas, his solid shapes appear to have been cut out of construction paper. Bearden chose bright colors to convey the drama and intensity of the moment.

“Jazz Grand Terrace” - – Romare Bearden 1964-Photomontage

“Mysteries” – Romare Bearden 1964-Photomontage The title “mysteries” comes from Bearden’s attempt to shed light on life in the South within black culture; while many people have preconceived notions about the culture for Blacks, Bearden wanted to dispel the myths and mysteries of life for Black Americans in the 1960’s Southern Regions

“Pittsburgh Memory” – Romare Bearden 1964-Photomontage Bearden said: “In most instances in creating a picture, I use many disparate elements to form a figure, or part of a background....I feel that when some photographic detail, such as a hand or an eye, is taken out of its original context and is fractured and integrated into a different space and form configuration, it acquires a plastic quality it did not have in the original....”

“Watching the Good Trains Go By” – Romare Bearden 1964 – Mixed media Collage The adjective “good” that Bearden applies to the passing trains is telling. All of the faces in his collage are recognizably African American, so the reality that the “good” trains are passing them by gives the image a political message — especially when you consider that it was constructed in 1964 during the Civil Rights Movement. Bearden’s placement of the figures in the foreground gives them the appearance of waiting for the train to stop, yet we know from the title that it will not.

“Return of the Prodigal Son” – Romare Bearden, 1967

The phrase "prevalence of ritual" was first used in relation to this and three other 1964 collages: Conjur Woman as an Angel, Tidings, and Baptism. The conjure woman (which Bearden consistently spelled "conjur"), a spirit figure in southern African-American culture, moved north as part of the Great Migration and reappears frequently in Bearden's work. She is called upon to prepare love potions, cure illnesses, and assist with personal problems. “Prevalence of Ritual: Conjur Woman”, 1964 Romare Bearden, collage of various papers with foil, ink, and graphite on cardboard

“Showtime” – Romare Bearden 1974 If Romare Bearden had not become an artist, he might have been a musician. For a short time in 1950 � s, he was a songwriter. He eventually went back to art, but music has always been important in his work. Bearden uses music themes in many of his collages. Bearden said that making collages is like making music. Bearden makes his collages with the use of everyday materials such as fabric scraps, and photos, arranging them as a musician would arrange notes. Bearden uses these very day materials to create a mood like a musician.

“Jazz Village" mixed media and collage on board, 1967 (30 x 40 in)

“Palm Sunday Procession” – Romare Bearden Collage

“Gospel Song” – Romare Bearden 1969 – mixed media collage

“Tomorrow I May Be Far Away”, Romare Bearden, 1966/1967 collage of various papers with charcoal and graphite on canvas

“Berkeley, the City and It’s People” – Romare Bearden 1973 This mural, one of Bearden's earliest commissions, was installed in the Berkeley City Council Chambers in Composed on seven fiberboard panels joined together, it is Bearden's largest known collage. Its subject is unusual in that it is not rooted in Bearden's long-term personal experience, but rather is based on Bearden's travel throughout Berkeley for a period of several days, during which he gathered material. Architectural details, political rallies, worship services, sailing vessels, and figures of importance to Berkeley's history are documented. The image of four overlapping heads in the lower right quadrant, representing the community's diversity, has become Berkeley's city logo.

Romare Bearden, Mother and Child, 1971 lithograph

“The Street” – Romare Bearden 1977 – Black Felt Tip Pen Drawing This drawing was reproduced in the New York Times on April 8, 1977

“Magic Garden” – Romare Bearden 1978 – mixed media collage