Transcript The Art and Life of Romare Bearden

The Art and Life
of Romare Bearden
Social Activism through Art
Who was Romare Bearden?
• African-American artist born in
1911 and died in 1988
• Grew up in Harlem during the
• Painter, musician, performer,
activist, scholar, and humanist
• Some of his artists influences
include
– Paul Cezanne
– Pablo Picasso
– Henri Matisse
Who is Romare Bearden?
• Degree in Education from NYU
• Art Students League of New York and the
Sorbonne in Paris, France.
• Surrounded by intellects:
– Duke Ellington & Fats
Waller (musicians)
– Langston Hughes (poet)
– W.E.B. Du Bois (writer)
– Aaron Douglas (artist)
Who is Romare Bearden?
• First Art Director of
the Harlem Cultural
Council
• Founded The Studio
Museum in Harlem
and the Cinque Gallery
• Founding member of
the Black Academy of
Arts and Letters
Prolific Career
Well Known for Collage
Out Chorus
Come Sunday
Three Folk Musicians
Return of the Prodigal Son
Quilting Time
She-Ba
Uptown Sunday Night Session
Wrapping It Up at the Lafayette
Published by Bearden
• A History of African American Artists: From 1792 to the
Present
• The Caribbean Poetry of Derek Walcott and the Art of
Romare Bearden (1983)
• Six Black Masters of American Art, coauthored with
Harry Henderson (1972)
• The Painter's Mind: A Study of the Relations of
Structure and Space in Painting, coauthored with Carl
Holty (1969)
• Li'l Dan, the Drummer Boy: A Civil War Story, a
children's book published posthumously in September
2003
A Timeline of Bearden’s Life
• http://www.beardenfoundation.org/artlife/ti
meline/timeline.shtml
Extremely Prolific Artist
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Over 2000 works over his lifetime
Collages
Paintings
Drawings
Monotypes
edition prints
murals for public spaces
record album jackets
magazine and book illustrations
costume and set designs for theater and ballet
Words to know
• Collage
– From the French word “coller” meaning to paste
items together
• Social Activism
– The doctrine that action rather than theory is
needed at some political juncture; an activist is
therefore one who works to make change happen.
Words to know
• Juxtaposition
– To place side by side, especially for comparison or
contrast.
• Distorted
– Misrepresented or garbled
• Photomontage
– The technique of making a picture by assembling
pieces of photographs, often in combination with other
types of graphic material.
Words to know
• Mood
– A pervading impression of an observer: the
somber mood of the painting.
• Stylized
– To restrict or make conform to a particular
style. Break a shape down to the basics…
• Political
– Of, relating to, or dealing with the structure or
affairs of government, politics, or the state.
Part 2
What’s your stance?
Today’s
Today’s Political
Political Turmoil
Turmoil
Where do you stand?
• What bothers you?
• What affects you?
• What issues do you feel
strongly about?
• Who would you vote for?
• This is YOUR country.
• What is important to YOU?