Romare Bearden

(1911 - 1988)

Biography Featured Works Timeline Internet Links Lessons

Romare Bearden was an African-American
artist whose powerful works represented his
life experiences. He grew up in Harlem, but spent most of his early childhood in North Carolina were he was born in 1912. He attended Boston University and New York University, as well as studying at the Art’s Student League. Among the artists that were influential to Bearden’s work were Brancusi, Leger, and Braque whom he met while on travels to Paris.

He studied art with painter and cartoonist,
George Grosz and his influence is seen in Bearden's
work for almost fifty years -- he did a majority
of works with pen and ink and paints on scraps
of paper and old photographs. He used these
scrap materials to create collages which delivered
powerful messages about African-American life.
His deep feelings for the African-American people,
family, and memories of his childhood are reflected in his works.

Romare Bearden Photograph © Frank Stewart

Romare Bearden Self Portrait Profile Part II, The Thirties: Artist with Painting and Model, 1981

For a short time in 1950s, he was a songwriter and, although he returned to art as a profession, music was always an important subject matter in his work. Bearden’s first collages were done around the 1960s during the start of the Civil Rights movement. Some of these collages, such as Before Dawn, were recreated as murals.

Bearden had his first solo exhibition in 1965 at the Corcoran Gallery in Washington, DC. In 1967, Bearden retired from his job to create collages fulltime -- which he did until his death in 1988. (source of this biography is no longer on line. It came from a school site in California. Permission was granted to use at the time - May 2000. For a more complete biography, see information compiled by Kelly Sidley, Hood Museum of Art Intern, Dartmouth College Class of 1998. Her source was Myron Schwartzman's biography, Romare Bearden: His Life and Art. Also see authoritative resources below)

Favorite Quotes:

"Well, it [artistic method] is like jazz; you do this and then you improvise." ~ Romare Bearden

"There are roads out of the secret place within us which we must all move as we go to touch others." ~ Romare Bearden

Favorite Images:

1 2 3 4
All images © Romare Bearden - Romare Bearden Foundation* The links below are not the original source student used - Her sources are no longer on line)

1~Mother and Child- photolithograph-1977

2~The Return of Maudell Sleet-Photolithograph

3~Firebirds –lithograph –1979

4~Conversation- collage

Student comments: I chose these images because they remind me of good times, friends and family. Romare Bearden's work is full of sound, color and emotion. I like his collage method of making art.

Timeline:

~1911 - born in Charlotte, North Carolina - September 2, 1911 (source of date from
National Gallery of Art Biography)
~1912 - moves to New York City, shortly after birth
~1925 - moves to Pittsburgh to live with his maternal grandmother
~1929 - graduates from Peabody High School, Pittsburgh
~1930 - enrolls in New York University
~1935 - graduates with a B.S. degree in mathematics
~1938 - begins work as a case worker in New York
~1942-45 - serves in the U.S. Army
~1950 - decides to go to Paris to study philosophy - produces no paintings there
~1951 - returns to New York
~1952 - returns to work as a case worker
~1954 - marries Nanette Rohan
~1964 - "Projections" exhibit at Ekstrom's gallery
~1965 - second "Projections" exhibit at the Corcoran Gallery in Washington D.C.
~1966 - quits his social worker job to concentrate full-time on his art
~1972 - co-authors a book: "Six Black Masters in American Art" with Harry Henderson
~1987 - receives the President's National Medal of the Arts
~1988 - Romare Bearden dies

Activity: Use the following sites to learn how sound influenced and inspired Romare Bearden. Look at the selected works and see what sounds are represented. What other influences do you see in his work? How did he draw upon experiences in his life? What themes are found in his work? Compare the work of Romare Bearden to that of Jacob Lawrence. Could we call Romare Bearden a "Story Teller" as well? Why?

Select a work by Romare Bearden that you admire. Why did you select that work? Describe the work using elements of art and principles of design.

Links to Life and Art of Romare Bearden:

The Art of Romare Beardon - PBS Online NewsHour Excellent Lesson Plan. "Artist Romare Bearden drew on his interests in religious ritual and classic literature to create beyond what the camera could capture in his depictions of urban African-American life in the 20th century." See also PBS African American World: Art & Culture

Art of Romare Bearden at the National Gallery of Art Biography, many images - techniques and curriculum materials. Teachers' Resources - music, poetry integration. More from National Gallery Exhibit at San Francisco Museum of Modern Art Feb. 2004 - See Multi-media Art of Romare Bearden Students - use these museum sites and PBS for research.

Romare Bearden Detailed biography and selected works - Site created by Maalek Marshall- a Graduate Student pursuing my MA in English at Virginia Commonwealth University in Richmond, VA. The purpose of this site is to provide a complete history of Romare Bearden, one of America's greatest contemporary artists.

Romare Bearden- on North by South - Compare Charleston with Harlem. Listen to music and learn about the cultures of these two regions. Bearden Gallery North by South - The Great Migration - Kenyan College student project.

Romare Bearden: Let's Walk The Block See Harlem street life through the eyes and imagination of Romare Bearden. This exploration of his famous collage, The Block, includes a guided tour, music by the Branford Marsalis Quartet, and activities
designed for kids, parents, and teachers.

NPR: The Art of Romare Bearden - featuring 8 collage. Listen to Maya Angelou read from Bearden's children's book L'il Dan the Drummer Boy: A Civil War Story. Listen to the sounds from the Jazz Cd Romare Bearden Revealed.

Romare Bearden Foundation Biography is online - Several images - Lesson plans and web resource links. Lots of new features added (Time line under construction right now).

Romare Bearden- Biography and influence on August Wilson - Biographical information and explanation of his collage work - images are missing.

The Papers of African American Artists: Romare Bearden Biography of the artist and sketches.

Image Sources for Romare Bearden

Art Institute of Chicago - Romare Bearden (View enlargement) Explains The Return of Odysseus. Click on small thumbnails in left boarder to see other African American art

Romare Bearden - Black and White Photomontage has photograph of Bearden and several images. He created small collages and then photographically enlarged them, creating black-and-white images he called "photomontage projections." See Bearden at work.

Romare Bearden: A Graphic Odyessy Known for his paintings and collages, in the last fifteen years of his life Romare Bearden produced a great variety of prints which are assembled for the first time in this exhibition curated by Gail Gelburd and Alex Rosenberg.

Romare Bearden - ArtNet Seven pages of images. Musical themes, daily life, train images

Jazz Rhapsody image

Romare Bearden - Cool Jazz Alto Composite Learn all about Jazz

Bearden - Early Morning from New Britain Museum of American Art

Artcyclopedia: Romare Bearden Links page [African-American Harlem Renaissance Painter, 1914-1988] - find out more.

Romare Beardon - lithographs and screen prints from RoGallery (commercial site) Bearden biography (brief - use Museum and PBS resources for research).

Books - CD's - Videos - Posters

Romare Bearden Revealed - CD with Branford Marsalis. Listen to some of the selections online (29 second sound files for several of the selections)

Book: The Art of Romare Bearden by Ruth E. Fine, Romare Bearden, with Jacqueline Francis, with Rocio Aranda-Alvarado

Selected Romare Bearden Prints (art posters)

Lesson Plans:

Lesson Plan: Romare Bearden- The Homecoming - Return of Prodigal Son. A lesson in art criticism. This lesson plan was designed to complement the third-grade social studies curriculum. It is based on the collage by Romare Bearden called Return of the Prodigal Son. Student page. Lesson plan. From Albright Knox Art Gallery

Electronic Art by High School Student Inspired by Romare Bearden "Electronic Paintings" by students in the Electronic Art and Photography classes of the Homewood-Flossmoor High School District, in Flossmoor, Illinois. A painting by Jason Daley was inspired by the work of Romare Bearden. (one example)

NewsHour Extra: Romare Bearden Piecing Together a Viewpoint PBS Lesson. Gives students a good introduction to Bearden's work. Note: Middle school students will need more than two class periods to complete a quality project. Companion NewsHour site

Romare Bearden's Art Helps Children Understand Geometric Shapes An exercise for children provided by the University of California's Berkeley Art Museum Pacific Film Archive. Children view a painting by Romare Bearden and are asked to find the geometric shapes within the painting and to make up a story about people in the painting. (site was down last I checked)

Collage Lesson Plan - by Connie Ferguson - middle school and up

Romare Bearden Lesson - Collage and Watercolor Lesson from Art Aware, Camden, NJ - art program for inner city youth. Lesson suitable for grades 3 through 8.

Learn more about African American Artists

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*Notice: Original created by Middle School 8th grader May 2000- updated January, 2006 by J. Decker. Images and biography have been added back and will be removed at the copyright holder's request. Permission to use emails were saved on the school server in May 2000 and are no longer available. Permission request to use Bearden images and photograph was sent to the Romare Bearden Foundation on January 15, 2006. Background image is adapted from work by Romare Bearden ("Watching the Good Trains Go By," 1964). If you need these links updated to use with students email Judy Decker - address on home page. One day lead time required