Talking Points: Romare Bearden
Videos and sources to help you explore the work of African-American artist Romare Bearden.
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Romare Bearden
Romare Bearden’s artwork includes poetic memories from his childhood, powerful and thought-provoking statements about African American culture, and reinterpretations of biblical stories from an African American perspective.
In the work below, we see Bearden’s collages of Homers Odyssey, influenced by the quilting craft from African-American slaves and by post modern artists such as of Henri Matisse.
Download the PDF at this link to see some high quality images of the work produced.
The following video describes Romare’s work as a Black American artist.
You can find a Google Arts & Culture Story about Romare’s work here.
Questions to Ask Children
“You sing on the canvas. You improvise, you find the rhythm, and catch it good, and structure it as you go along, then the song is you.” Romare Bearden.
What do you think Romare meant by the quote above?
What do you think it is about the shapes and colours Romare uses in his artwork that helps his images speak to so many people?
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