The Art of Romare Bearden - National Gallery of Art

1 The Art of Romare BeardenA Resource for TeachersDivision of EducationNational Gallery of Art, WashingtonMailing address:2000B South Club DriveLandover, MD 20785 The Art of Romare Bearden A Resource for Teachers National Gallery of Art, WashingtonCover ss 11/6/03 5:52 PM Page 1 The Art of Romare Beardenis organized by the National Gallery of Art, exhibition is made possible with generous support from AT& exhibition is sponsored in part by Chevy Chase exhibition is presented at the following museums: National Gallery of Art, Washington, September 14, 2003 January 4, 2004 San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, February 7 May 16, 2004 Dallas Museum of Art, June 20 September 12, 2004 Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, October 14, 2004 January 9, 2005 High Museum of Art, Atlanta, January 29 April 24, 2005 Written and produced by staff of the National Gallery of Art, : Carla Brenner, Heidi Hinish, and Barbara Moore, division of education.

2 Photographyresearch, acquisition, and permissions: Ira Bartfield and Sara Sanders-Buell, publicationsdepartment, and Leo Kasun and Lesley Keiner, division of education. Online production: Stephanie Burnett and Rachel Richards, division of education. Thanks for contributions supporting publication of this packet to: Lynn Russell, chair, division of education; Chris Vogel, production manager, publications department; Donna Mann, senior publications manager, education division; Phyllis Hecht, web manager;and staff of the exhibition programs and photography departments. The education division extends special appreciation to Mary Lee Corlett, research associate, and Ruth Fine, curator of the exhibition, for their help in realizing this project.

3 Edited by Richard CarterDesigned by Studio A, Alexandria, VirginiaEvery effort has been made to locate copyright holders for the materials used in this book. Anyomissions will be corrected in subsequent printings. 2003 Board of Trustees, National Gallery of Art, WashingtonCover: Tomorrow I May Be Far Away,1966/1967, collage of various papers with charcoal andgraphite on canvas, 46 x 56 in. National Gallery of Art, Washington, Paul Mellon FundTitle page: Thank (Funking Up My Life) detail, 1978, collage of various papers withink and graphite on fiberboard, 15 x 183/8, Donald ByrdBack cover: The Street, 1964, collage of various papers on cardboard, 95/8x 113/8in. Milwaukee Art Museum, gift of Friends of Art and the African American Art Acquisition FundCover ss 11/6/03 5:52 PM Page 2 The Art of Romare BeardenA Resource for TeachersExcept as otherwise noted, all works of art by Romare Bearden are Romare Bearden Foundation/Licensed by VAGA, New York, NYObjectivesThe materials in this packet will help students learn the following aboutRomare Bearden : Bearden used personal memories, African-American cultural history,and literature as the source of his subject matter.

4 He placed aspectsof African-Americanlife within the context of universal themes. Bearden s style was influenced by numerous sources,includingWestern European art, African sculpture, the art of his contempo-raries in America and Mexico, and music especially blues and jazz. Bearden is most famous for his work in collage, which he used inunique and innovative ways. He also made paintings in watercolor,gouache, and oil, edition prints, monotypes, murals, and oneassemblage sculpture. Through his involvement with the arts community, Bearden empow-eredand promoted artists of to Use this PacketThis packet includes slides, color reproductions, transparencies, anda music CD. Some images exist in all three forms, to offer maxi-mumflexibility.

5 Slides follow the order in which they appear in the text. Transparencies are keyed to ACTIVITIES. Color reproductions are for classroom display. The Branford Marsalis Quartet CD, Romare Bearden Revealed,complements the packet s section on Art of Romare BeardenA Resource for TeachersOpposite: Cut magazine images from Bearden s studioCover: Detail of work on page 466 Bearden at a Glance12 BiographyActivities: Scrutinize a BeardenWrite a Poem Inspired by Collage22 Memories North CarolinaPittsburghHarlemParisThe CaribbeanActivity:Make a Collage32A Leader in the Arts CommunityWorking in Black and WhiteActivities: Organize an ExhibitionWhat s Your Cause?Study Art Like Bearden40 Music Music as SubjectMusic and Aesthetic ChoicesMusic and LifeActivities: Draw to MusicCompare Poetry and Music54 Artistic and Literary SourcesBorrowing and MixingChangingActivity: Match Bearden s Works with Artistic Models 64 MethodCollage: Bearden s Signature StyleMonotypesActivity: Make a Monotype 73 Coda: Artist to Artist74 Slide List 76 Reproduction List 77 Transparency List78 Resource FinderTable of ContentsOpposite: Romare Bearden , Canal Street, New York, of Romare Bearden , courtesy of the Romare BeardenFoundation, New York, photo:Blaine Waller, copy photograph by Beckett LoganBearden at a Glance8 Meet Romare Bearden .

6 He was 5 feet11 inches tall and heavyset. Hisfriends called him Romie. Aftergraduating from college, he had acareer as a social worker whilebecoming one of the preeminentartists in the United States from themid 1960s until his death in 1988. I think the artist has to be some-thing like a whale, swimmingwith his mouth wide open,absorbing everything until he haswhat he really needs. When hefinds that, he can start to makelimitations. And then he really begins to grow. Having grown up in a housewhere Harlem Renaissance luminaries like poet LangstonHughes were regular visitors, it isno surprise that adult Bearden readall the time: poetry, philosophy,politics, works about myth, religionand art, and ancient literature. Healso read contemporary writersand intellectuals, many of thempersonalfriends, includingRichard Wright, James Baldwin,and Albert Murray.

7 Bearden at a GlanceBearden loved his cats: Gypo, Tuttle (short forthe Egyptianpharaoh Tutankhamen), Rusty (named after the PersianHercules Rustum), and Mikie(short for the Renaissance artist Michelangelo). Bearden s art transcends categories because itjoins the imagery of black life and circumstance to universally understood experience. This is the essence of Bearden s contribution. Previous page and opposite: Bearden and hiscat Gypo, mid-1970s. Estate of RomareBearden, courtesy of the Romare BeardenFoundation, New York. Both photos: Nancy CramptonCut magazine images from Bearden s studio9 Bearden AT A GLANCEB earden didn t just read. Healso wrote exhibition reviews,articles about his own workingmethods and artistic ideas, andthree book-length studies, ThePainter s Mind(1953), Six BlackMasters of American Art (1972),and A History of African-American Artists: From 1792 to thePresent(1993, posthumously).

8 Duke Ellington conducting from the piano, of Congress, photo: Gordon ParksJazz and the blues provided Beardenwith many subjects. He grew up hear-ing rural blues and uptown jazz: DukeEllington s orchestra, Earl Hines piano, Ella Fitzgerald s scat sixteen years, his studio wasabove the Apollo Theatre, still aHarlem musical landmark. Bearden s signature tech-nique was collage. Snippetsfrom magazine photo-graphs, painted papers,foil,posters, and art reproduc-tions were among hismaterials. They were his paints. Bearden s col-lages fractured space andform, leading one writer todescribe them as patch-work cubism. Bearden working in his Long Island Citystudio, early 1980s, photo: Frank StewartThe Places Bearden PaintedRural North Carolina, where hewas born and later Subjects Bearden PaintedAfrican-American life and traditionsStories from religion, history, literature, and mythBlues singers and jazz players Untitled (Prevalence of Ritual),c.

9 1971, collage of various papers with fabric, ink and surfaceabrasion on fiberboard, 273/4x 207/8. From theCollection of Raymond J. McGuirePittsburgh, Pennsylvania, steelindustry town where he spentsummers and one high schoolyear, and was inspired to drawfor the first time. Pittsburgh(detail), 1965, collage of variouspapers with ink on cardboard, 61/4x 83 HendersonSt. Martin, the Caribbean islandwhere, as a mature artist, helived and worked part of the Bearden Foundation, New York,photo: Frank StewartOf the Blues: Mecklenburg Co., Saturday Night(detail), 1974, collage of various papers withpaint, ink, graphite, and surface abrasionon fiberboard, 501/2x 441/4in. Mr. and HouchensHarlem, New York City, center ofblack culture, where he movedas a toddler.

10 Profile/Part II, The Thirties: Midtown Sunset(detail), 1981, collage of various papers withpaint and bleached areas on fiberboard, 14 x 22 in. Private collectionConjur: A Masked Folk Ballet [Sunlight],c. 1970, collage of variouspapers with watercolor, gouache, ink and graphite on paper, 17 x 13 in. Courtesy of Ekstrom & Ekstrom, Inc., New YorkThis is one of fourteen costume designs for a ballet Bearden s Other ProjectsIllustrations for BooksRecord Album CoversStage Sets and CostumesPublic MuralsBearden was committed to improving the standingof African-American artists. Critical of special orseparate treatment for African-American artists, hewas nevertheless aware of their limited opportuni-ties. Bearden made important commitments toleveling the playing field for black artists.