Romare Bearden

Romare Bearden (actually Fred Romare Bearden Harry, born September 2, 1911 in Charlotte, North Carolina, † March 12, 1988 in New York, NY) was an African-American American artist. He worked as a cartoonist, as a painter in oil and produced mainly collagen. He was also a writer and songwriter.

Biography

Romare Bearden was the son of Richard Howard Bearden and his wife Bessye Johnson. 1915 the family moved to New York, where his father worked as an inspector for the city. After his high school graduation in Pittsburgh, where he lived for a time with his maternal grandmother, he studied until 1935 at the New York University and 1936-37 at George Grosz at the Art Students League of New York.

In 1937, Romare Bearden worked as a social worker of the City of New York and during the Second World War he served in the United States Army in Europe ( 1942-1945 ). After the war he enrolled at the Sorbonne for philosophy and art history. After graduating in 1954, he traveled with his wife Nanette Rohan († 1996), to Italy, Switzerland, Algeria and Morocco. Bearden returned in 1956 returned to New York and established a studio there. He was co-founder of the Black Artists Group spiral and since 1964, he worked as an art director for the Harlem Cultural Council.

Many of his works showed a high interest in jazz and folk music. Early 1970s was Romare Bearden a Guggenheim Fellowship to write a book about African-American art. Later Romare Bearden taught at various institutions, including at Williams College in Williamstown and at Yale University in New Haven. Romare Bearden had suffered for some years from bone cancer and died on March 12, 1988 in a New York hospital.

Award

• Honorary doctorate at numerous universities in the U.S.
• 1955 American Society of Composers, Authors, and Publishers ( ASCAP )
• 1987 National Medal of Arts