Romare Bearden

Romare Bearden grew up in Harlem, New York, but he was exposed to various urban and rural areas such as North Carolina, Pittsburgh and even St. Martin, an island in the Caribbean. These experiences influenced his works, but the most influential area was Harlem. His piece "The Block" shows a somewhat literal interpretation of a city block, yet transfigured to be more figurative, with aspects of a collage and mixed media woven into the image. His family was culturally involved with current artisans of the time, including famous musicians, artists, poets and writers (among them Duke Ellington, Fats Waller, Langston Hughes, Aaron Douglas and W. E. B. DuBois. It must have been very inspirational for him to interact with such intellectual creative artists, and he was very lucky to have those experiences to relate to in his works. He was unique as an artist of his time who did not learn from the WPA program, but his family was able to fund his schooling and expose him to culture that equally inspired artistry.

One interesting fact I learned about Romare Bearden is how he listened to jazz music as inspiration for his images, drawing from the silences in the timing of notes, finding rhythm and balance to apply to his paintings. This was very unique to me, I had never heard of this type of reference before. However, once I had read this, I went back to the image of "The Block" and re-assessed it, and could sort of see how that applied to this work. The way he placed each building and separated buildings from one another but tied them in together to create one mural panoramic image of a street block was balanced and yet haphazard at the same time;kind of like jazz. It creates a business and movement, while drawing the eye across the page so to speak, while simultaneously showcasing images that are jumping out at the viewer. I like the description in the essay that reads "the documentary and the fantastic weave together", because it is a wonderfully intuitive way to explain Bearden's works, specifically his piece "The Block".

Bearden believed that it was the calling of the Negro artist to study present day life and devote oneself to it, to portray it and yet transform it into an imaginative, figural, whimsical world. It shows pure creativity the way he portrays this in his pieces. Bearden's work is not traditional fine art; his collage style contradicts the elegance and formal technique of fine art. He uses this technique to show layers and metaphorical ideas and concepts that prove his intricate thought-process of developing the pieces.

Another piece by Bearden that is very different in subject matter and juxtaposition yet similar in style and combination of literal and figural representation is the image "He Is Arisen". The textbook compares it to stained-glass, which I had trouble picturing because I think of stained glass as being brightly-colored and translucent. However, I see the reference in that the shapes of the figures created by triangles and elongated figures creates similar shapes to stained-glass pieces, and the subject matter is the same as most church building windows; images of Christ and illustrations of religious passages. The religious context appears to be personally relevant and spiritually reflective of his upbringing and experience. He explained that he wasn't intending to portray a literal interpretation of the story of Christ, but rather to explore the concept and enhance the spiritual entity but portraying the subject non-representationally. The figures all connect, some melding together to form the figure of Christ, while the kneeling figure in front of Christ are translucent and Christ can be seen through their images.There is a sense of oneness in the piece, as though all the figures are puzzle pieces that combine to become one image, strength in numbers.

Bearden drew inspiration from a variety of cultures, religions, artistic styles and even historical times. He painted both religious scenes and urban streets; he as influenced by African sculpture and jazz music. This incorporation of multiple styles and cultures creates a new identity in his works, while still depicting a definite portrayal of black identity. In a sense, they embody Bearden himself, as he himself personifies the ideas present in his pieces.