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Celebrated artist’s works on view at UD
Bearden’s vibrant collages, which seem to possess a life force of their own, as well as his photomontages, watercolors, monotypes and book illustrations, have been the subject of premier exhibits at major museums such as the Whitney Museum of American Art in New York City and the High Museum of Art in Atlanta. New York City currently is the site of another major Bearden retrospective, “Romare Bearden at the Met,” which runs through Sunday, March 6. While a trip to New York City might be the current destination of choice for Bearden fans, the University of Delaware is the permanent home of several works by the artist, who lived from 1911-88 and grew up in New York during the Harlem Renaissance. Bearden is represented at UD by three works, Firebirds (1975), School Bell Time (1980) and Island Scene (1984). The works by Bearden are among the 101 items by 66 artists featured in “A Century of African American Art: The Paul R. Jones Collection,” which is on display until June 1 in Mechanical Hall and Old College. Amalia Amaki, curator of the Paul R. Jones Collection, and author of A Century of African American Art: The Paul R. Jones Collection, said that, besides being an exhibition favorite, Bearden’s work also is receiving serious scholarly examination, including a recent symposium held at UD. “A lot of Bearden’s popularity is because there is no question that he is America’s premier collage artist and has been so much on the front side of establishing collage as an art form,” Amaki said. “Before Bearden came along, collages were not embraced formally by academia. “His sensitivity to treatment of color, form, space and textural surfaces with colors reveals his mastery of color,” Amaki said. “He was one of the first artists to talk about collages in relation to form and space.” Bearden also used his artistic talents to tell stories, Amaki said. “He employed interesting compositions that served him well in producing a single-image effect in his work.” School Bell Time speaks to a narrative of Bearden’s life experience and reflects the fact that because of the mobility of his parents he went to school in many different places, Amaki said. “There is an element in all his paintings that is clearly a throwback to his youth and his birthplace in Mecklenberg, N.C.,” Amaki said. “This place was a bit out in the countryside, and appears in his work as an artistic and psychological backdrop.” The use of interweaving narrative in the texture of his art also is evident in Firebirds, a 1979 color litograph that brings to mind Pablo Picasso’s The Three Musicians, she said. “If you look at Firebirds, you see that parts of it read like a puzzle, composed of puzzle pieces,” Amaki said. “It does have his signature and also has the physical element and appearances of a quilt.” UD’s exhibition also features works of other African American artists, including Elizabeth Catlett, Jacob Lawrence, Henry Ossawa Tanner, James Van Der Zee, Carrie Mae Weems and Hale Woodruff. Also included are the works of emerging artists such as Aimee Miller, Cedric Smith, D.H. Caranda-Martin and Michael Ellison. “Many of these works are influenced by Bearden and Lawrence,” Amaki said. “What is great about this exhibit is that you can see Bearden’s work in the company of his peers and some of the artists that he influenced.” The Paul R. Jones Collection is among the world’s oldest, largest and most comprehensive collections of works by African American artists. In March 2003, Jones was named one of the Top 100 Collectors in America by the magazine Art & Antiques, and he also has received an honorary doctor of humane letters degree from the University. Regular hours are 11 a.m.-4 p.m., Tuesdays, Thursdays and Fridays; 11 a.m.-8 p.m., Wednesdays; and 1-4 p.m., Saturdays and Sundays. For more information on the exhibition, visit [www.museums.udel.edu/jones/index5.1html]. Article by Jerry Rhodes To learn how to subscribe to UDaily, click here. |
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