Romare Bearden

1
Romare Bearden
2
Early Childhood

• Romare Bearden was born on September 2nd, 1911 in
  Charlotte, North Carolina. Early in his
  childhood, Romare and his family moved to Harlem,
  New York to escape some of the extreme racism of
  the south.

3
Music and Literature

• During his time in Harlem, the Bearden household
  was visited by many prominent jazz musicians and
  writers of the time. This started Romares love
  for both music and literature.

4
Art

• Romare was also very passionate about art.
  Although his first degree was in education, he
  began creating images from interests in
  literature and religion.

5
Memories

• Romares artwork used images of events and people
  from his past. He used these memories as a
  source to create many different works of art.

6
Collage

• Romare became interested in the art of collage as
  a way to document these memories. He used scraps
  of papers, newspapers, magazines, string, fabric,
  foil, tape, etc. and reassembled them to create
  brightly colored stories from his past.

7
Discussion

• What is going on in this collage?
• Does this seem like a happy memory? Why?
• Are the colors realistic or expressive? Why
• How old do you think Romare was when this memory
  took place?

8

• What are the people in this collage doing?
• What are some of the materials used to make this
  image?
• Is Romare concerned that the viewer knows who
  these people are? What is concerned about?