Luscious Life

cavetocanvas:

Romane Bearden, The Street, 1964

From the Milwaukee Art Museum:

Because Romare Bearden intentionally set out to portray the daily life of black Americans, his own African-American heritage must be taken into account in order to fully appreciate his work. Following Martin Luther King Jr.’s landmark “I Have a Dream” speech in 1963, Bearden and 13 other African-American artists met to discuss “the Negro image” in art. Failing to persuade the group to produce a collaborative work, Bearden struck out on his own, creating a series of 21 collages that were exhibited together in 1964. This Harlem street scene captures Bearden’s own neighborhood in a rhythmic composition that demonstrates the loose, improvisational structure that marked the jazz and blues permeating the New York that he knew. Here life is happening on the front stoops and sidewalks as people sit and watch or hustle on their way.