biographie de Romare Howard BEARDEN (1911-1988)

Birth place: Charlotte, NC

Death place: New York, NY?

Addresses: NYC

Profession: Painter, collagist, writer, art historian

Studied: NYU (B.S.), 1935; ASL, 1936-37, with George Grosz; Columbia Univ., 1943; Paris, 1950-54, receiving certificate from Sorbonne, 1951.

Exhibited: Harlem Art Center, 1937, 1939; American Art Gallery, 1938; McMillen Gallery, 1941; Downtown Gallery, NYC, 1941; Inst. of Modern Art, Boston, 1943; Smith College, 1943; Minneapolis Art Gallery; Columbus, OH, Mus. of Art; Albany Inst. of Hist.; Atlanta Univ., 1944; Samuel M. Kootz Gallery, NYC, 1945-47; G. Place Gallery, Wash., DC, 1945 (solo); PAFA, 1947, 1954; Corcoran Gal, 1947, 1966 (solo); AIC; Caresse Crosby Niveau Gallery, NYC, 1948; Barone Gallery, NYC, 1955; WMAA, 1955; Michael Warren Gallery, 1960; Ekstrom Gallery, 1961, 1964, 1967; Rockford Col., Ill., 1965; Fine Arts Gallery of San Diego, 1966; American Academy of Arts & Letters, 1966, 1972; Bundy Mus., Waitesfield, VT, 1967; Oakland Art Mus., CA, 1967; State Univ. of NY, Albany, 1968; J.L. Hudson Gallery, Detroit; Spelman Coll., Atlanta, 1968; Mus State Univ NY, Albany,1968 (solo); Dartmouth Coll., 1968; Williams Col., Williamstown, MA, 1969; RISD, 1969; Memorial Art Gallery, Rochester, 1969; Visual Arts Gallery, NYC; SFMA, 1969; Contemporary Arts Mus., Houston, 1970; NJ State Mus., 1970; Roberson Center for the Arts & Sciences, Binghampton, NY, 1970; UC Santa Barbara, 1970; National Center of Afro-American Artists, Boston, 1970; Tricia Karliss Gallery, Provincetown, MA, 1970; James A. Porter Gallery, 1970; BMFA, 1970; UC Mus. Art Berkeley, Calif, 10/1971(solo); Newark Mus., 1971; retrospective, MoMA, 3/1971-6/1971(solo); Univ. of Iowa, 1971-72; Sidney Janis Gal, 1972; Pace Gal, NYC, 1972; Cordier & Ekstrom Inc, NYC, 1970s; ACA Gal., NYC, 1989 (memorial exh.)

Member: Black Acad Art & Lett.; NIAL

Work: MMA; MoMA; WMAA; BM; BMFA; PMA; CAM; North Carolina Mus., Charlotte; Newark Mus, NJ; Albright Mus, Buffalo, NY.; Williams College; Akron AI, Ohio; Flint Inst. of Arts, MI; priv. colls.

Comments: During the 1940s Bearden made use of African symbols in his painting. After spending time in Paris in the early 1950s and meeting James Baldwin, Brancusi, and George Braque, his work became more abstract. He began working in collage in the 1960s, abstracting and juxtaposing elements such as faces and masks to create archetypal images, particularly as they relate to aspects of Black life, culture, and history. Very important for his activities in promoting opportunities for, and chronicling the history of, African-American artists. Founder: 306 Group" for Black artists of Harlem, 1930s. Positions: dir., Cinque Gallery, New York, 1969-. Teaching: Vis. lectr. African & Afro-American art & culture, Williams Col., 1969. Publications: co-auth., with Carl Holty, The Painters Mind (Crown, 1969); co-auth., with Harry Henderson, 5 Black Masters of American Art ( Doubleday, 1972); co-auth., with Harry Henderson, A History of African-American Artists, from 1792 to the Present (New York: Pantheon Books, 1993).

Sources: WW73; Lowery Stokes Sims, Romare Bearden (New York: Rizzoli Pub., 1993); Myron Schwartzman, Romare Bearden, His Life and Art (New York: H.N. Abrams, 1990); Ralph Ellison, foreword in catalogue, Romare Bearden (Albany Mus, State Univ NY, 1968); Carrik Greene, foreword in catalogue, Romare Bearden MoMA exhibition, March, 1971; Baigell, Dictionary; Cederholm, Afro-American Artists.