How can artists use their work to show shared or personal experiences?

Romare Bearden was an influential artist in the 20th Century. He used collage as a way to tell stories about his personal experience, as well as celebrate the African-American cultural experience, by cutting up old artworks, magazines and photos, and building a composition with them.

Explore his collages using the sources below, then discuss the questions provided.

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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. 

You can find a Google Arts & Culture Story about Romare’s work here.

Questions to Ask Children

What can you see in Beardens’s collages?

Do you like his artwork Why?

Can you see any other artistic influences in his work?

What do you think the benefits of collage are?

“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.

Knowing that music was a big influence in Bearden’s artwork, what do you think he meant by the quote above? 

This Talking Points Is Used In…

Pathway: working with shape and colour

This is featured in the ‘Working with Shape and Colour’ pathway

using sketchbooks to make visual notes

Show me what you see