"Romare Bearden".(September 2, 1911-March 12,1988).

Was an artist an a writer he worked in several media including cartoons, oils,and collage.Romare was born in Charlotte, North Carolina.In 1929 he graduated from Peabody High School in Pittsburgh,Pennsylvania.He completed his studies at New York University (NYU), graduating with a degree in science and education.After he started to focus on his art and less on athletics, he took courses in art that led to him being a lead cartoonist and art editor for the Eucleian(a secretive student society at NYU) monthly journal, The medley.Romare grew as an artist not by learning how to create new techniques and mediums,but by his life experiences,and the different decades he created art events that took place completely reshaped his vision of art.He studied under German artist George Grosz at the Art Student League in 1936 and 1937.At this time his paintings were often of scenes in the American South,and his style was strongly influenced by the Mexican muralists,especially Diego Rivera and Jose Clemente Orozco.Shortly thereafter he began the first of his stints as a case worker for the New York Department of Social Services.During  World War  II,Romare joined the United States Army,serving from 1942 until 1945.He would return to Europe in 1950 to study philosophy at the Sorbonne under the auspices of the GI Bill.This completely changed his style of art as he started producing abstract representations of what he deemed as human;specifically scenes from the Passion of the Christ.He had evolved from what Edward Alden Jewell,a reviewer for the New York times,called a debilitating focus on Regionalism and ethnic concerns"to what became known as his stylistic approach which participated in the post-war aims of avant-grade American art.His works were exhibited in Sam Koontz's until his work was deemed not abstract enough.During his success in the gallery,however,he produced Golgotha, a painting  from his series of the Passion of the Christ Golgotha is an abstract representation of the Crucifixion.The eye of the viewer is drawn to the middle of the image first,where Romare has rendered Christ's body.The body parts are stylized into abstract geometric shapes,yet still too realistic to be concretely abstract; this work has a feel of early cubism.The body is in a central position and yet darkly contrasting 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.Romare use these colors and contrasts because of the abstract influence of the time,but also for their meanings.Romare intended to not focus on Christ but he wanted to emulate rather 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"According  to Romare himself Christ's life,death,and resurrection are the greatest expressions of man's humanism, not because of Christ's actual existence but the idea of him that lived on through other men.This is why Romare 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.While it may seem as if Romare was emphasizing  the Biblical interpretations of Christ and the Crucifixion, he was actually focusing on the spiritual intent.He wanted to show ideas of humanism and though cannot be seen by the eye,but "must be digested by the mind"This is accordance with the time he produced this image,as other famous artist creating avant-grade abstract representations of historically significant events,such as Motherwell's commemoration of the Spanish Civil War,Pollock's investigation of the Northwest Coast Indian art,Rothko's and new Newman's interpretations of Biblical stories,etc.Romare used this form of art to depicthumanityduring a period of time when didn't  see humanity in existence through the war.However,Romare stands out from these other artists as his works,including Golgotha,are a little too realistic for this time,and he was kicked out of Sam Koontz's gallery.Romare 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. In 1954, at age 42,he  married Nanette (Rohan) Bearden, a 27 year old accomplished dancer and noted beauty who herself became an artist and critic.The couple eventually created the Bearden Foundation to assist young artists.Nanette Bearden was also instrumental in convincing her husband to return to visual art.In the late 1950s,Romare work became more abstract,using layers of oil paint to produce muted,hidden effects.In 1956 Romare began studying with a Chinese calligrapher,whom he credits with introducing him to new ideas about space and composition in painting.He also spent a lot of 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 the couple established a second home in the Caribbean island of St Marten.Romare  had struggled with two artistic sides of himself.His background as a"student and of artistic traditions,and being a black involves very real experiences,figurative and concrete.Which was at combat with the mid-twentieth century"exploration of abstraction."His frustration with abstraction won over,as he himself described his paintings'focus as a coming to a plateau.Romare then turned to a completely different medium at a very important time for the country.During the 1960s Civil Rights movement,Romare started to experiment again,this time with forms of collage.After helping to an artist's group in support of Civil Rights,Romare work became  more representational and more overtly socially conscious.He used clippings from magazines,which in and itself was a new medium as glossy magazines were fairly new.He used these glossy scraps to incorporate modernity in his works,trying to show how not only were African American rights moving forward,bur so was his socially conscious art.In 1964,he held an exhibition he called Projections,where he introduced his new collage style.These works were very well received,and these are generally considered to be his best work.There have been numerous museums shows of romare work since then,including a 1971,show atthe Museum of Modern Art entitled Prevalence of Ritual,an exhibition of his highly prized prints entitled  A Graphic Odyssey showing the work of the last fifteen years of his life,and the 2005 National Gallery of Art retrospective entitled The Art of Romare Bearden.Romare died in New York on March 12, 1988due to complications from bone cancer.In their obituary for him, the New York Times Called Romare "one of America'spreminent artists"and the nation's foremost collagist.