The Art of Romare Bearden

Amazon.com
It takes a special kind of book to paint the full picture of Romaire Bearden's artistic life. While quietly wrestling with what it meant to be a black American artist at mid-century, Bearden opened himself to a world of cultural influences. He found inspiration in Benin bronzes and paintings by Duccio; the Bible and Buddhism; The Odyssey and the blues; contemporary urban life and the rural lore of Mecklenburg County, North Carolina. The Art of Romaire Bearden offers a wise and thoughtful assessment of Bearden in the social context of his life and times. In the graceful lead essay, Ruth E. Fine traces Bearden's career from its beginnings in the mid-1930s, when—as a newly-minted New York University grad—he toiled by day as a social worker and painted at night. Bearden's best-known works are his Dada-influenced photomontages, begun in the mid-1960s, which created a visual equivalent for a disjunctive era of triumph and tragedy for African-Americans. His ou! tput also included stunning book illustrations and costume designs, political cartoons, incisive essays about the role of the black artist and even popular songs. More than 200 color illustrations display Bearden’s coloristic wizardry as a master of painted collage and lyrical landscape. The book accompanies an exhibition assembled by the National Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C. (through Jan. 4, 2004) which travels to San Francisco, Dallas, New York and Atlanta. —Cathy Curtis

From Publishers Weekly
Published in conjunction with the National Gallery's recent retrospective, this oversized volume offers a look at Romare Bearden's (1911-1988) creative history, critical essays on his work and origins, and plates of his paintings, sketches and vibrant signature collages. Fine, a curator at the National Gallery, sketches Bearden's biography swiftly but with detail, describing the North Carolina native's family life during the Harlem Renaissance in New York (their circle included Langston Hughes, Duke Ellington and Paul Robeson), his influential early friendships and the political cartoons with which he began his artistic career. A handful of thoughtful essays by art history scholars and curators piece together Bearden's influences, reading habits and the range of responses his work evoked. They emphasize Bearden's sense of rootedness in Western art and the "selective appropriation of canonical images" that became essential in his expression of African-Americans' complex identity and experience. Bearden's works are juxtaposed here with those of other ages and places-from Renaissance painter Duccio di Buoninsegna to Impressionist Degas, and from African sculpture to works by Picasso and Matisse. The "bibliophile" Bearden was an avid reader and writer whose lifelong scholarship informed his reflections on art. The written record he left behind, both in published essays and unpublished letters, "affords a rare opportunity to consider art as a result of thinking and reasoning" instead of romantically springing forth from the "sensitive soul's churning depths." This is a discerning retrospective that will appeal most to those interested in understanding Bearden's artistic inspiration and intellectual breadth. 224 color photos, 86 b&w illustrations. Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Book Description
One of America's most innovative artists, Romare Bearden (1911-1988) made colorful and passionate images that reflected his life in a time of creative ferment. His influences ranged from the old masters to African art, as well as the world around him: popular religion and ritual, jazz clubs and brothels, the history and literature of his time, and the places he lived (the rural South, Pittsburgh and Harlem, the Caribbean island of St. Martin). The resulting images are fresh and evocative, filled with quirky details and rhythmic forms. This authoritative and beautiful book, which accompanies a major retrospective opening at the National Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C., provides a provocative and absorbing look at a beloved artist. The Art of Romare Bearden showcases compelling examples of his pioneering work: complex collages and photostats; watercolors, gouaches, and oils; little-known landscapes; his only known sculpture; costume designs; and book illustrations. The book includes a comprehensive overview by distingushed art historian and curator Ruth E. Fine based on extensive new research, as well as essays on Bearden's African sources, his writings (from art scholarship to songs), and his place in art and culture.

About the Author
Ruth E. Fine, curator of special projects in modern art at the National Gallery of Art, has written or contributed essays to numerous books on American art, including works on Roy Lichtenstein, Georgia O'Keeffe, and Helen Frankenthaler. Jacqueline Francis teaches art history at the University of Michigan. Rocío Aranda-Alvarado is assistant curator at the Jersey City Museum, New Jersey. Sarah Kennel is curatorial and exhibition assistant for the department of photographs, National Gallery of Art. Nnamdi Elleh is assistant professor of architecture at the College of Design, Architecture, Art, and Planning, University of Cincinnati. Abdul Goler is a Henry Luce Scholar in the Seton Hall Masters in Musem Professions Program.


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During the next two years, a major retrospective exhibition of Romare Bearden's work will travel from the National Gallery in Washington, DC, to San Francisco, Dallas, New York, and Atlanta. Such an occasion calls for a catalog as compelling and far-reaching as this elegant volume, which provides an intellectually stimulating and visually exciting record of the worlds of Bearden (1911-88). As part of the Harlem Renaissance, Bearden found his influences in a variety of geographies, cultures, and religions: Harlem and the Caribbean, European and African art, blues and hymns. Fine (exhibition curator, National Gallery) provides a splendid general view of the life and development of the artist's work; essays by a number of outstanding scholars cover more specific areas. Many of the works included have rarely been seen by the public, giving readers a marvelous opportunity to view a wide range of paintings, book illustrations, and costume designs along with the better-known collages, all in finely executed illustrations (224 color, 86 b&w). This important contribution to the history of 20th-century American art is highly recommended.-Paula Frosch, Metropolitan Museum of Art Lib., New York Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information.


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