The Art of Romare Bearden (Hardcover)

by Ruth E. Fine (Author)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review
It takes a special kind of book to paint the full picture of Romaire Bearden's artistic life. While quietly wrestling with what it meant to be a black American artist at mid-century, Bearden opened himself to a world of cultural influences. He found inspiration in Benin bronzes and paintings by Duccio; the Bible and Buddhism; The Odyssey and the blues; contemporary urban life and the rural lore of Mecklenburg County, North Carolina. The Art of Romaire Bearden offers a wise and thoughtful assessment of Bearden in the social context of his life and times. In the graceful lead essay, Ruth E. Fine traces Bearden's career from its beginnings in the mid-1930s, when—as a newly-minted New York University grad—he toiled by day as a social worker and painted at night. Bearden's best-known works are his Dada-influenced photomontages, begun in the mid-1960s, which created a visual equivalent for a disjunctive era of triumph and tragedy for African-Americans. His ou! tput also included stunning book illustrations and costume designs, political cartoons, incisive essays about the role of the black artist and even popular songs. More than 200 color illustrations display Bearden’s coloristic wizardry as a master of painted collage and lyrical landscape. The book accompanies an exhibition assembled by the National Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C. (through Jan. 4, 2004) which travels to San Francisco, Dallas, New York and Atlanta. —Cathy Curtis

From Publishers Weekly
Published in conjunction with the National Gallery's recent retrospective, this oversized volume offers a look at Romare Bearden's (1911-1988) creative history, critical essays on his work and origins, and plates of his paintings, sketches and vibrant signature collages. Fine, a curator at the National Gallery, sketches Bearden's biography swiftly but with detail, describing the North Carolina native's family life during the Harlem Renaissance in New York (their circle included Langston Hughes, Duke Ellington and Paul Robeson), his influential early friendships and the political cartoons with which he began his artistic career. A handful of thoughtful essays by art history scholars and curators piece together Bearden's influences, reading habits and the range of responses his work evoked. They emphasize Bearden's sense of rootedness in Western art and the "selective appropriation of canonical images" that became essential in his expression of African-Americans' complex identity and experience. Bearden's works are juxtaposed here with those of other ages and places-from Renaissance painter Duccio di Buoninsegna to Impressionist Degas, and from African sculpture to works by Picasso and Matisse. The "bibliophile" Bearden was an avid reader and writer whose lifelong scholarship informed his reflections on art. The written record he left behind, both in published essays and unpublished letters, "affords a rare opportunity to consider art as a result of thinking and reasoning" instead of romantically springing forth from the "sensitive soul's churning depths." This is a discerning retrospective that will appeal most to those interested in understanding Bearden's artistic inspiration and intellectual breadth. 224 color photos, 86 b&w illustrations.
Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information, Inc.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 346 pages
• Publisher: Harry N. Abrams; Presentable Ex-Library edition (September 1, 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0810946408
• ISBN-13: 978-0810946408
• Product Dimensions: 11.3 x 9.5 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 4.6 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #747,047 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

20 of 20 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars An excellent retrospective on a stunningly gifted artist, December 18, 2003

By	JLind555 - See all my reviews

To call Romare Bearden a "black artist" is a hopeless exercise in trying to pigeonhole an enormously gifted human being. While supporting himself as a caseworker for the New York City Department of Social Services, Bearden turned out works of jaw-dropping skill and artistic talent. His inspiration ranged from Homer to the Bible to current events, and each was a vivid expression of black life in the Americas. Some of the best examples of his output are represented in this volume. The book is gorgeously illustrated and Ruth Fine's excellent narrative helps us get a deeper insight into one of America's finest artists.

14 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Puts all the pieces together, May 24, 2005

By	AfroAmericanHeritage (Wisconsin) - See all my reviews

This book was published on the occasion of a major retrospective of Romare Bearden's work at the National Gallery of Art. The lead essay by curator Ruth Fine deftly navigates Bearden's multifaceted artistic and personal life, a collage inspired by a world of cultural influences from the rural lore of North Carolina to Buddhism.

The breadth of the exhibition is exhaustive and stunning. Much of the art was loaned by private collections, and has rarely been viewed by the public. In addition to reproducing examples of his well-known collages, photostats and watercolors, it includes book illustrations, program covers, paintings in oil and gouache, murals, costume designs, and his only known sculpture. It also compares Bearden's work with some of its possible influences; for example, Bearden's collage "Down Home, Also" (1971) and Picasso's "Sleeping Peasants" (1919) though of course, Bearden always makes the image his own.

In addition to Fine's essay, 244 color plates and 86 black-and-white illustrations, the book offers five additional essays which place Bearden's life and work in the wider history of American society and art. For example, Jacqueline Francis' "Reading Bearden" explores what he read as well as what he wrote.

An indispensable book that finally puts all the pieces together.