PITTSBURGH, PA.- The Frick Pittsburgh is presenting Romare Bearden: Artist as Activist and Visionary, an exhibition of original artworks, limited edition prints, and archival materials through which innovative artist Romare Bearden (1911-1988) celebrated African American subjects, beginning Saturday, April 30 at The Frick Art Museum. Drawing on his own experiences, Bearden created narratives that reflect both the nostalgic rural North Carolina of his childhood and the vibrant urban life of places like Pittsburgh and Harlem. Bearden spent portions of his youth with his grandparents in Pittsburgh, and his 1984 mural Pittsburgh Recollections, installed at the Gateway T station, honors the city’s history and its residents’ work ethic. The artist’s work layers themes from art history, literature, and religion with everyday rituals like family dinners to create visual stories that depict and elevate the Black experience while agitating for social change.
Manager of Exhibitions and Registrar, Melanie Groves, curator of the Frick's presentation of this exhibition, commented, “The opportunity to present Romare Bearden: Artist as Activist and Visionary not far from where the artist first took up drawing in his early years, and in a city that inspired and informed much of his work, is an honor for the Frick.” Elizabeth Barker, Ph.D., executive director of The Frick Pittsburgh remarked, “This exhibition, in conjunction with SLAY: Artemisia Gentileschi & Kehinde Wiley, and Vanessa German’s Reckoning: Grief and Light, represents a celebration of Black creative excellence not previously seen at the Frick on this scale.
For over 50 years, Romare Bearden depicted, defined, and celebrated the life that surrounded him. The exhibition begins by looking at Bearden’s early work—editorial cartoons of the 1930s, Soup Kitchen, a rare surviving painting, and commercial work—examples that highlight Bearden’s interest in issues of politics, race, and social justice. A major section of the exhibition, Visualizing the African American Landscape, emphasizes Bearden’s efforts to depict a layered vision of Black America, held together by history, ritual, and a pursuit of justice. A section titled Bearden and Women features powerful images of women, who appear as healers, protectors, goddesses and conjurers in the world Bearden created, undoubtedly inspired by the strong influential women in his life. The last section of the exhibition, Li’l Dan: the drummer boy, A Civil War Story, presents original illustrations in collage and watercolor from the only children’s book written and illustrated by Romare Bearden. The rediscovered story, published by Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers in 2003, tells the story of Li’l Dan, an enslaved drummer boy who uses his art to save a company of Union soldiers.
Unique to the Frick’s presentation of the exhibition is a focus on Bearden’s connection to Pittsburgh. Bearden spent a significant portion of his childhood in Pittsburgh, staying with his maternal grandparents, who operated a boarding house for migrant workers employed in the steel mills. Over dinners with tired steel workers, the artist developed an appreciation and fascination with labor, and Pittsburgh appears frequently in his work.
The exhibition includes 50 works of art and is made possible by generous loans from the Romare Bearden Foundation, the Estate of Nanette Bearden, and the DC Moore Gallery, NY. Additional works were kindly loaned by local collectors.
