Great Falls Art Enrichment January-February 2015 Romare Bearden ( )

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Corey Russell
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Slide 1 is one of the most celebrated African-American artists.

[proclaiming] that black people have survived in spite of everything.

equally famed African-American playwright August Wilson.

African- American life in the 20 th century: both the crowded, urban, industrial experience of African-Americans who had flocked to Northern cities in the Great Migration, and

1 Slide 1 is one of the most celebrated African-American artists. A master of collage, he aimed to paint the life of my people as I know it, and to make of art a victory conquering and redeeming both the beauty and sullennness of the past [proclaiming] that black people have survived in spite of everything. Bearden s themes celebrated the good earth, the beauty of African-American women, the vibrancy of color and music, and the struggles of African-American history, from slavery to emancipation to urban migration. Filled with people, cats, roosters, trains, and the spirit of jazz, his art defined not only the character of black American life, but also its conscience, in the words of equally famed African-American playwright August Wilson. Slide 2 Growing up attending school in Harlem and Pittsburgh and spending summers in his birthplace of North Carolina, Bearden was exposed to two classic experiences of African- American life in the 20 th century: both the crowded, urban, industrial experience of African-Americans who had flocked to Northern cities in the Great Migration, and the older, more traditional, rural experience of those who had remained in the South. In North Carolina, Bearden attended band concerts in the park on Saturdays and church on Sundays, where his father played the organ. He observed cotton picking and attended quilting bees, picnics and revival meetings. Meanwhile, Bearden worked in the steel mills in Pittsburgh, and in New York, he grew up amidst the intellectual ferment of the Harlem Renaissance, as his mother, a prominent journalist, regularly opened up their home to other African-American journalists, writers, leaders and musicians, including the jazz great Duke Ellington, as well to 10 Siamese cats! 1

Slide 3 Bearden began drawing when he was a child, and in high school, he won a movie poster drawing contest and

But he studied math, not art, in college, and he spent much of his time playing baseball as the starting pitcher for the

Philadelphia As offered him a contract if he was willing to pass, or pretend to be, white, but he declined.

, which he worked at off and on for 30 years. He did not begin exhibiting his art until the 1940s, in his mid-30s.

Slide 4 Bearden s early work focused on social-realist scenes of African-American life.

$fracturing of angles and perspectives, and broader, more universal subjects, from the Bible and European literature such$

2 Slide 3 Bearden began drawing when he was a child, and in high school, he won a movie poster drawing contest and received $25 and a year s worth of free movies. But he studied math, not art, in college, and he spent much of his time playing baseball as the starting pitcher for the Boston University baseball team, also playing for a semi-pro team in the summers against some of the best players in the Negro League, including Satchel Paige. Although blacks were not allowed to play major league baseball at the time, due to Bearden s light skin color, the Philadelphia As offered him a contract if he was willing to pass, or pretend to be, white, but he declined. After graduating from NYU, Bearden got a job as a social worker for the New York City Welfare Dept., which he worked at off and on for 30 years. He did not begin exhibiting his art until the 1940s, in his mid-30s. These works show some of Bearden s favorite motifs guitars, roosters and trains. Slide 4 Bearden s early work focused on social-realist scenes of African-American life. However, in his 30s, in the 1940s, he began to explore both different techniques, as he experimented with Cubist fracturing of angles and perspectives, and broader, more universal subjects, from the Bible and European literature such as the poetry of Federico Garcia Lorca. Bearden was a great lover of all the arts art, literature, and music - and he was friends with African-American poet Langston Hughes, writers Ralph Ellison and James Baldwin, musician Fats Waller and artist Jacob Lawrence, and his universalist belief that there is only one art, and it belongs to all mankind would influence all his art, regardless of subject. 2

Slide 5 In the 1950s, when Bearden was in his 40s, American painting was taken with the abstract expressionist school, and while Bearden toyed with his own,

and ultimately suffered a nervous breakdown.

children but they did have cats, named Mickey and Michelangelo.

scale. He was also influenced by classical Chinese landscapes that used multiple perspectives from both above and below eye level (comparable to Cubism).

He reintroduced the figure into his work and began making photomontages, collages made of cut photos.

rearrange them in a new way and context.

3 Slide 5 In the 1950s, when Bearden was in his 40s, American painting was taken with the abstract expressionist school, and while Bearden toyed with his own, softer version of the style, he became disenchanted by the art world; attempted to become a songwriter; actually wrote one song, Seabreeze, that hit the charts; and ultimately suffered a nervous breakdown. His life and his art picked up again when he met and married his wife Nanette, who encouraged him and his art for the rest of their lives, in which they had no children but they did have cats, named Mickey and Michelangelo. As Bearden re-entered the art world, he spent years going to the New York museums and painstakingly copying old masters paintings in order to learn about grand scale. He was also influenced by classical Chinese landscapes that used multiple perspectives from both above and below eye level (comparable to Cubism). Slide 6 When Bearden was in his 50s, he finally hit upon a style that would bring him acclaim and enable him to devote himself to art full-time. He reintroduced the figure into his work and began making photomontages, collages made of cut photos. Bearden would cut photos from magazines, newspapers and books and then enlarge them and cut them apart further, separating eyes, faces, arms and hands, and rearrange them in a new way and context. The new compositions were characterized by striking variations in scale large hands on small bodies, large eyes on small faces and grand scale overall 6 to 8 feet large. Already in a limited palette of black, white and gray, Bearden would photograph the final work so as to further standardize the hues and enhance the cohesiveness of the piece. At a time of social and political tumult, Bearden s authentic and affirmative images of African Americans were powerful yet positive Time actually featured a Bearden work on the cover of a 1968 issue entitled New York: The Breakdown of a City. 3

Slide 7 In 1971, Bearden was honored with the ultimate distinction of a retrospective at the

the facades of buildings on a city block to reveal what was happening inside them.

if they were walking along a real-life city block.

continued to create collages of preprinted paper cuttings, arranged in compositions that were

He would often start by laying down rectangles in varying colors, sizes, and directions

Stuart Davis (who we studied in art enrichment two years ago).

magentas, fuschias and blues, though he still employed a good deal of grey, to remind the

Slide 9 Bearden s palette became still more vivid once he and Nanette acquired a second home in

Martin, and Bearden expanded his subject matter to the fishing villages, sugar cane fields and

4 Slide 7 In 1971, Bearden was honored with the ultimate distinction of a retrospective at the Museum of Modern Art, the highlight of which was his 4x18 mural The Block, which stripped away the facades of buildings on a city block to reveal what was happening inside them. The exhibit was accompanied by sounds of street life and church music, so that viewers felt as if they were walking along a real-life city block. Slide 8 After the MOMA exhibit in 1971, Bearden largely abandoned photomontage, although he continued to create collages of preprinted paper cuttings, arranged in compositions that were simpler and more geometric. He would often start by laying down rectangles in varying colors, sizes, and directions (vertical and horizontal), to create an almost musical harmony in the manner of his good friend Stuart Davis (who we studied in art enrichment two years ago). Bearden also returned to a brilliant palette of deep, rich colors, especially purples, magentas, fuschias and blues, though he still employed a good deal of grey, to remind the viewer of the weighty issues with which society still struggles. Slide 9 Bearden s palette became still more vivid once he and Nanette acquired a second home in her native St. Martin, and Bearden expanded his subject matter to the fishing villages, sugar cane fields and animals, plants and people of the Caribbean. In order to capture this new island environment, Bearden also began working more with watercolors. In another example of adapting his wide knowledge of Western art for his own work, Bearden also created a series of works on Odysseus, now trying to return to his island home in the Caribbean, which was inspired by Matisse as well as Homer. 4

Slide 10 Bearden s collages were made out of fabric as well as paper, and like

inspiration in the African-American tradition of quilting.

The great-grandson of slaves who, after being freed, worked as servants for

artist late in his life and was awarded the National Medal of the Arts by

You can see some of Bearden s art, as well as works by many other African and

5 Slide 10 Bearden s collages were made out of fabric as well as paper, and like Faith Ringgold (who we studied in art enrichment last year), Bearden found inspiration in the African-American tradition of quilting. Slide 11 Bearden s life followed an extraordinary arc. The great-grandson of slaves who, after being freed, worked as servants for Woodrow Wilson (before he became president), Bearden found great success as an artist late in his life and was awarded the National Medal of the Arts by another president, Ronald Reagan, in 1987, the year before he died. You can see some of Bearden s art, as well as works by many other African and AfricanAmerican artists including Faith Ringgold, at the Smithsonian National Museum of African Art, where they will be on display for all

Cut out magazine body parts, animals, sports, flowers, games, any item to help the students create their collage.

Cut out magazine body parts, animals, sports, flowers, games, any item to help the students create their collage. Masterpiece: Summertime & She-Ba Artist: Romare Bearden (Roh-mare Beer-den) 1911-1988 Concept: Collage Lesson: Magazine portrait collage Objectives: To make a collage To show students different ways to