Romare Bearden
By Harriet Zinnes
Three Folk Musicians Romare Bearden, 1967 Collage of various papers with paint and graphite on canvas , 50 1/8 x 60 in. (127.3 x 152.4 cm) Anonymous Lender Copyright ©Romare Bearden Foundation / Licensed by VAGA, New York, New York
Even a quick look at the work of Romare Bearden (1911-1988), a luminary of the Harlem Renaissance, whose work is now showing at the Whitney Museum of Modern Art (945 Madison Avenue at 75 Street, New York City) until January 9, 2005, reveals the energy, the vibrant rhythms of an exceptional artist. Bearden’s glorious colors imply his early exposure to poet Langston Hughes, painter Aaron Douglas, and musician Duke Ellington. Bearden graduated from New York University in 1935 with a degree in education and studied at the Art Students� League of New York with the German �migr� painter Georg Grosz. Intense and engrossed in the world beyond the making of art itself, he was also a song writer and author of books and articles on art history and aesthetic theory.
Bearden’s memories of his childhood experiences in Charlotte, North Carolina are apparent in his work. Often, he painted in gouache on large sheets of board or brown paper and was influenced by the work of the contemporary Mexican muralist Diego Rivera. The artist’s work emerges from his roots in African-American culture and his devotion to archetypal myths and rituals, such as baptism and the religious concept of the Annunciation. His artistic development was temporarily interrupted by his service in the U.S. Army during World War II, and after returning to the U.S. in 1945 he turned away from personal themes toward literary and biblical tropes. Examples of this impressive work include a series on the Passion of Christ and pieces inspired by the Spanish poet, Frederico Garcia Lorca, meditating on the theme of death. But it is the artist’s passion for life, for rhythms and music, which engaged him as in the earnest and colorful Three Folk Musicians of 1967.
