Street Scene

Romare Bearden (1911 - 1988) was an Afro-American artist who worked with many types of media including cartoons, oils and collages. Born in North Carolina, Bearden moved to New York City after high school and went on to graduate from NYU. He began his artistic career creating scenes of the American South, focusing on the unity and cooperation within the African-American community. After his experience in the US Army during World War II, he endeavored to express the humanity he felt was lacking in the world. He studied Art History and Philosophy at the Sorbonne in Paris in 1950. In the 1960s he became a founding member of the Harlem-based art group known as The Spiral, formed to discuss the responsibility of the African-American artist in the struggle for civil rights. He was also an author, a songwriter and held a lifelong passion to support young or emerging artists, creating the Bearden Foundation with his wife. His work in collage led the New York Times to describe him as Òthe nation's foremost collagist.Ó