Romare Bearden Exhibit

"Bearden once said that 'an artist is an art lover who finds that in all the art that he sees, he sees something missing.' For him, what was missing was the experiences, dreams and projections of his people. Today’s prominent black artists, including Kerry James Marshall, Mickalene Thomas (whose collage aesthetic was heavily influenced by Bearden), Amy Sherald and Kehinde Wiley, are similarly motivated. Correcting this became Bearden’s life’s work. He wanted, he said in 1964, to 'establish a world through art in which the validity of my Negro experience could live and make its own logic.'” (Washington Post, 2019)

We recently visited an exhibit of Romare Bearden’s works at the University of Michigan Museum of Art.

“The Blues Has Got Me,” 1944.

Romare Bearden was born in Charlotte, NC in 1911. His parents moved to New York when he was a small child, so he grew up there with frequent visits to his grandparents in Pittsburgh. The UMMA exhibit provided documentation about his life and work, including his development of several art styles, which were influential — particularly collage. While the exhibit concentrated on Bearden’s abstract works, it referred to his many other creative works, of which a few were included.

“Fish Fry,” 1967.

“Young Students,” 1964. (From the Romare Bearden Foundation)

“Eastern Gate,” 1961. (From the UMMA Website)

"Evening 9:10, 461 Lennox Avenue," 1964.
One of Bearden's photo-based works that he called "projections." (source)

Many of the biographical facts of Bearden's life fascinated me: he wrote song lyrics and he made a living as a social worker, as well as producing paintings, collages, and other innovative art works. In New York, where Bearden lived for most of his life, he participated in the active intellectual and artistic life of the city, and was friends with many of the important figures in the Harlem Renaissance and other key art movements, for example James Baldwin, Stuart Davis, Duke Ellington, Langston Hughes, Ralph Ellison, Alvin Ailey, and Jacob Lawrence. In mid-career, in 1950, he used funds from the GI Bill to study in Paris, where he also met some of the famous artists of the time. He was also prominent in promoting the arts, and participated in the Harlem Cultural Council, an African-American advocacy group, as well as supporting art venues such as the Studio Museum in Harlem and the Cinque Gallery. Recognition of his achievements grew as his career continued. He died in 1988.

Outside the Museum

We stopped for coffee -- which we haven't done for ages!

Flower from the Matthaei Botanical Gardens.

Blog post © 2022 mae sander.

Potos as credited.