The artist I have chosen as our September artist is Romare Bearden. He was born on September 2, 1911, in Charlotte, North Carolina, and died in New York City on March 12, 1988, at the age of 76. When he was young, his family moved to Harlem in New York City. Here he learned to appreciate jazz music. He experimented with many different mediums but is best known for his collages. Collages are pictures or designs created by pasting flat elements such as newspaper, wallpaper, printed text, illustrations, photographs, cloth, string, and painted or drawn pictures to a flat surface.
The Metropolitian Museum of Art has a great Interactive Romare Bearden Page called "Let's Walk the Block". Here you can learn about the artist, the history and inspiration behind "The Block", and examine this large scale collage more closely. You can also follow the directions to make your own collage about your own neighborhood.
If you want a quick preview of Romare Bearden's life and works click here.
At the MOMA you can watch a short video showing Romare Bearden discussing how he came up with his ideas and created his collages and paintings. Just click on:
Romare Bearden.
