Editing Romare Bearden (section)

==Career as an artist==
[[Image:Romare Bearden - Patchwork Quilt. 1970. Cut-and-pasted cloth and paper with synthetic polymer paint on composition board, Museum of Modern Art.jpg|thumb|left|''Patchwork Quilt'', cut-and-pasted cloth and paper with synthetic polymer paint on composition board, 1970, [[Museum of Modern Art]]]]
Bearden grew as an artist by exploring his life experiences. His early paintings were often of scenes in the [[Southern United States|American South]], and his style was strongly influenced by the Mexican muralists, especially [[Diego Rivera]] and [[José Clemente Orozco]]. In 1935, Bearden became a [[caseworker (social work)|case worker]] for the Harlem office of the New York City Department of Social Services.<ref name=":0" /> Throughout his career as an artist, Bearden worked as a case worker off and on to supplement his income.<ref name=":0" /> During [[World War II]], Bearden joined the [[United States Army]], serving from 1942 until 1945, largely in Europe.<ref name=":1">{{Cite book|title=Bearden, Romare (Howard), St. James Guide to Black Artists|last=Valakos|first=Dorothy|publisher=St. James Press|year=1997|location=Detroit|pages=41–45}}</ref>

After serving in the army, Bearden joined the Samuel Kootz Gallery, a commercial gallery in New York that featured [[avant-garde]] art. He produced paintings at this time in "an expressionistic, linear, semi-abstract style."<ref name=":0" /> He returned to Europe in 1950 to study philosophy with [[Gaston Bachelard]] and art history at the [[University of Paris|Sorbonne]], under the auspices of the [[G.I. Bill]].<ref name=":0" /><ref name=":1" /> Bearden traveled throughout Europe, visiting [[Pablo Picasso|Picasso]] and other artists.<ref name=":0" />

Making major changes in his art, he started producing abstract representations of what he deemed as human, specifically scenes from the [[Passion of Jesus]]. He had evolved from what [[Edward Alden Jewell]], a reviewer for the ''New York Times'', called a "debilitating focus on [[Regionalism (art)|Regionalist]] and ethnic concerns" to what became known as his stylistic approach, which participated in the post-war aims of avant-garde American art.<ref>Witkovsky 1989: 258</ref> His works were exhibited at the [[Samuel M. Kootz]] gallery until it was deemed not abstract enough.

During Bearden's success in the gallery, however, he produced ''Golgotha,'' a painting from his series of the Passion of Jesus (see Figure 1). ''Golgotha'' is an abstract representation of the [[Crucifixion of Jesus|Crucifixion]]. The eye of the viewer is drawn to the middle of the image first, where Bearden has rendered Christ's body. The body parts are stylized into [[Abstract art|abstract]] geometric shapes, yet are still too realistic to be concretely abstract; this work has a feel of early [[Cubism]]. The body is in a central position and darkly contrasted with the highlighted crowds. The crowds of people are on the left and right, and are encapsulated within large spheres of bright colors of purple and [[indigo]]. The background of the painting is depicted in lighter jewel tones dissected with linear black ink. Bearden used these colors and contrasts because of the abstract influence of the time, but also for their meanings.

[[File:"Sgt. Romare Bearden, noted young Negro artist whose paintings have been exhibited in galleries and museums in several m - NARA - 535841.tif|thumb|Bearden (right) discussing his painting ''Cotton Workers'' with Pvt. [[Charles H. Alston]], his first art teacher and cousin, in 1944. Both Bearden and Alston were members of the [[372nd Infantry Regiment (United States)|372nd Infantry Regiment]] stationed in New York City.]]
Bearden wanted to explore the emotions and actions of the crowds gathered around the Crucifixion. He worked hard to "depict myths in an attempt to convey universal human values and reactions."<ref>Witkovsky 1989: 260</ref> According to Bearden, Christ's life, death, and resurrection are the greatest expressions of man's humanism, because of the idea of him that lived on through other men. It is why Bearden focuses on Christ's body first, to portray the idea of the myth, and then highlights the crowd, to show how the idea is passed on to men.

Bearden was focusing on the spiritual intent. He wanted to show ideas of humanism and thought that cannot be seen by the eye, but "must be digested by the mind".<ref>Witkovsky, 1989: 260</ref> This is in accordance with his times, during which other noted artists created abstract representations of historically significant events, such as [[Robert Motherwell]]'s commemoration of the [[Spanish Civil War]], [[Jackson Pollock]]'s investigation of Northwest Coast Indian art, [[Mark Rothko]]'s and [[Barnett Newman]]'s interpretations of Biblical stories, etc. Bearden depicted humanity through abstract expressionism after feeling he did not see it during the war.<ref name="Romare Bearden Foundation, 1990"/> Bearden's work was less abstract than these other artists, and Sam Kootz's gallery ended its representation of him.

Bearden turned to music, co-writing the hit song "Sea Breeze", which was recorded by [[Billy Eckstine]] and [[Dizzy Gillespie]]. It is still considered a jazz classic.<ref>[http://usinfo.state.gov/scv/Archive/2006/May/24-246536.html] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070510142055/http://usinfo.state.gov/scv/Archive/2006/May/24-246536.html|date=May 10, 2007}}</ref>
[[File:The Black American in Search of His Identity 1969 Romare Bearden.jpg|thumb|left|''The Black American in Search of His Identity'' (1969) at the [[National Gallery of Art]]'s showing of ''[[Afro-Atlantic Histories]]'' in [[Washington, DC]] in 2022]]

In the late 1950s, Bearden's work became more abstract. He used layers of oil paint to produce muted, hidden effects. In 1956, Bearden began studying with a Chinese [[Calligraphy|calligrapher]], whom he credits with introducing him to new ideas about space and composition which he used in painting. He also spent much time studying famous European paintings he admired, particularly the work of the Dutch artists [[Johannes Vermeer]], [[Pieter de Hooch]], and [[Rembrandt]]. He began exhibiting again in 1960. About this time he and his wife established a second home on the Caribbean island of [[St. Maarten]]. In 1961, Bearden joined the Cordier and Ekstrom Gallery in [[New York City]], which would represent him for the rest of his career.<ref name=":0" />

In the early 1960s in [[Harlem]], Bearden was a founding member of the art group known as Spiral, formed "for the purpose of discussing the commitment of the Negro artist in the present struggle for civil liberties, and as a discussion group to consider common aesthetic problems."<ref name="Bearden, Romare and Henderson, Harry, P. 1993, p. 400">{{Cite book|author1=Bearden, Romare  |author2=Henderson, Harry, P.  |name-list-style=amp |title=A History of African-American Artists. From 1792 to present |publisher=New York: Pantheon Books |year=1993|page=400}}</ref> The first meeting was held in Bearden's studio on July 5, 1963, and was attended by Bearden, [[Hale Woodruff]], [[Charles Alston]], [[Norman Lewis (artist)|Norman Lewis]], James Yeargans, [[Felrath Hines]], [[Richard Mayhew]], and William Pritchard. Woodruff was responsible for naming the group Spiral, suggesting the way in which the [[Archimedean spiral]] ascends upward as a symbol of progress. Over time the group expanded to include [[Merton Simpson]], [[Emma Amos (painter)|Emma Amos]], [[Reginald Gammon (American artist)|Reginald Gammon]], [[Alvin Hollingsworth]], Calvin Douglas, [[Perry Ferguson]], William Majors and Earle Miller. Stylistically the group ranged from [[Abstract expressionism|Abstract Expressionists]] to social protest painters.<ref name="Bearden, Romare and Henderson, Harry, P. 1993, p. 400"/>

Bearden's collage work began in 1963 or 1964.<ref name=":0" /> He first combined images cut from magazines and colored paper, which he would often further alter with the use of sandpaper, bleach, [[graphite]] or paint.<ref name=":0" /> Bearden enlarged these collages through the [[photostat]] process.<ref name=":0" /> Building on the momentum from a successful exhibition of his photostat pieces at the Cordier and Ekstrom Gallery in 1964, Bearden was invited to do a solo exhibition at the [[Corcoran Gallery of Art]] in [[Washington, D.C.]] This heightened his public profile.<ref name=":0" /> Bearden's [[collage]] techniques changed over the years, and in later pieces he would use blown-up photostat photographic images, silk-screens, colored paper, and billboard pieces to create large collages on canvas and [[fiberboard]].<ref name=":0" /> In 1970, he was awarded a [[Guggenheim Fellowship]]<ref>{{Cite web
| url = https://www.gf.org/fellows/romare-bearden/
| title = Romare Bearden - John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation
| website = www.gf.org
| access-date = 2024-06-13
}}</ref> for Fine Arts.

In 1971, the [[Museum of Modern Art]] held a retrospective exhibition of Bearden's work,<ref name=":0" /> which traveled to the [[Berkeley Art Museum and Pacific Film Archive|University Art Museum]] in [[Berkeley, California]]. The City of Berkeley then commissioned Bearden to create a mural for the City Council chambers. The sixteen-foot-wide mural, incorporating many visual aspects of the city in collage style, was installed in late 1973 and received positive reviews.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Kroiz |first1=Lauren |title=Relocating Romare Bearden's Berkeley: Capturing Berkeley's Colorful Diversity |url=https://boomcalifornia.org/2016/12/26/relocating-romare-beardens-berkeley-capturing-berkeleys-colorful-diversity/ |website=BOOM California |date=December 27, 2016 |access-date=1 March 2022}}</ref> It was taken down and loaned to a [[National Gallery of Art]] Bearden retrospective in 2003 that traveled to the [[San Francisco Museum of Modern Art]], the [[Dallas Museum of Art]], and the [[Whitney Museum of American Art]].<ref>{{cite web |title=Berkeley - The City and Its People |url=https://www.cityofberkeley.info/City_Manager/Civic_Arts/Romare_Bearden.aspx |website=City of Berkeley website |access-date=1 March 2022 |archive-date=March 1, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220301044054/https://www.cityofberkeley.info/City_Manager/Civic_Arts/Romare_Bearden.aspx |url-status=dead }}</ref> Following that tour it has been in storage while the City Hall building has awaited a seismic retrofit and the city council has been meeting elsewhere. A portion of the mural inspired the city's current logo.<ref>{{cite web |title=City Logo |url=https://berkeleyplaques.org/e-plaque/city-logo/ |website=Berkeley Historical Plaque Project |access-date=1 March 2022}}</ref>

During the 1970s, he participated in a community art space called Communications Village operated by printmaker [[Benjamin Leroy Wigfall]] in Kingston, NY. Andrews made prints with the help of printer assistants who had been taught printmaking by Wigfall, and he exhibited there.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Fendrich |first=Laurie |date=2022-10-20 |title=When an artist becomes a community: The life and work of Benjamin Wigfall |url=https://twocoatsofpaint.com/2022/10/when-an-artist-becomes-a-community-the-life-and-work-of-benjamin-wigfall.html |access-date=2023-05-17 |website=Two Coats of Paint}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |date=1977-01-02 |title=Community Datebook: Art Exhibits |work=Daily Freeman, Kingston, NY |agency=via newspapers.com. |url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/80139853/ |access-date=2023-05-17}}</ref>

In the early 1980s, the [[Maryland Transit Administration|Maryland Transit Authority]] commissioned Bearden $114,000 to create "Baltimore Uproar", a 14' x 46' Venetian glass mosaic for the [[Upton–Avenue Market station]]. Featuring Baltimore-native [[Billie Holiday]], the mosaic was first built in Italy, and then reassembled upon arrival in Baltimore, before being unveiled in December 1982.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Frost |first1=Julian |title="Baltimore Uproar" |url=https://explore.baltimoreheritage.org/items/show/704 |website=baltimoreheritage.org |publisher=Baltimore Heritage |access-date=3 November 2024}}</ref>

Following Bearden's death in March 1988, the [[Metropolitan Transit Authority (New York)|Metropolitan Transit Authority]] in New York City unveiled ''City of Glass'', a colored-glass installation situated within the Westchester Sq-E Tremont Av station on the 6 line, made by the artist in collaboration with Benoit Gilsoul and Helmut Schardt, the fabricators. Bearden had originally worked on the project in 1982.<ref>{{Cite web |title=City of Glass |url=https://www.mta.info/agency/arts-design/collection/untitled-city-of-light |access-date=2025-02-06 |website=MTA |language=en}}</ref>

[[File:Uproar Bearden.jpg|thumb|"Baltimore Uproar" (1982) in the [[Upton–Avenue Market station|Upton metro station]], in [[Baltimore]], [[Maryland]].]]