The Art of Romare Bearden

Born in North Carolina, and later living in Pittsburgh, Harlem (family friends included Duke Ellington, Langston Hughes, and Paul Robeson), and the Caribbean island of St. Kitts, African American artist Romare Bearden created art that was evocative of the people and culture of the various neighborhoods in which he traveled. In his words, “the artist has to be something like a whale, swimming with his mouth open, absorbing everything.” A political cartoonist, watercolorist, and ultimately collage artist (his best-known work), Bearden argued in the 1940s that black artists should stop seeking out foreign subjects and instead reflect on the richness of their own experiences--a viewpoint he would later broaden in the cubist collage art (first with a band of artists he formed called “The Spiral Group”) that brought him to prominence in the 1960s. Unlike his colleagues, Bearden was later intrigued by the colors and shapes found in the clippings of magazine articles, which he incorporated into his mixed media canvases. Bearden was also a composer, penning a few popular tunes in the 1950s during a midlife detour before finding his artistic voice in the following decade. Combining archival footage, numerous examples of Bearden's artwork (he died in 1988), and commentary by art historians, artists, and friends (including Wynton Marsalis), this engaging biographical portrait is recommended. Aud: C, P. (C. Block)