Who was Romare Bearden?
Romare Bearden was born in Charlotte, North Carolina in 1911 and by the time of his death in 1988 had achieved international acclaim and a stature known by few artists during their lifetime. Bearden is considered America’s greatest collagist and was thus honored by receiving the National Medal of Arts in 1987 by then President Ronald Reagan. The artist’s works are in the permanent collections of most every major American museum including the Museum of Modern Art and the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Retrospectives of Bearden’s art have been organized by the Museum of Modern Art (MOMA), the Mint Museum of Art, the Detroit Institute, the Studio Museum in Harlem and the Council for Creative Projects. Most recently, the National Gallery of Art, Smithsonian Institute, conducted a solo retrospective of his artwork, making Bearden the first African American to be so honored. Bearden depicted the many rituals and social customs of twentieth century rural Black America. Spiritual ceremonies, bapt
