The Art of Romare Bearden

Starring:Art of Romare Bearden
Studio: Homevision
Product Type: DVD

Description

Romare Bearden's art captures the diversity and richness of his life. With roots in North Carolina, Bearden migrated north at an early age, living in industrial Pittsburgh, vibrant Harlem, and, later in his life, on the Caribbean island of St. Martin. These four locales and his memories of their people, music, colors, and stories form the basis of Bearden's collages and paintings, whose style exhibits a unique blend of cultural influences from Harlem, Europe, and Africa.

This film traces Bearden's entire career, including his paintings and watercolors of the 1940s, experimental collages of 1964, mature collages of the next two decades, large-scale public murals, and late landscapes. The documentary also features commentary by art historians, artists, and others who knew Bearden, including Wynton Marsalis, Albert Murray, and Emma Amos. Narrated by Morgan Freeman with readings by Danny Glover.

Customer Reviews:

collage painter.......2004-09-17

This documentary would be great for classes in elementary, secondary, or tertiary schools.

Bearden really practiced DuBois' views on double consciousness. He blended African sculpture with cubism. He used pointilism and applied it to black American subjects. He portrayed the urban and rural landscapes.

Still, I have some questions. Danny Glover reads quotes from the artist. Bearden was not a Harlem Renaissance painter. He died in the 1980s. He was around after talkies. They show films of him in color. It's not like he was Shakespeare. Surely they could have shown clips of him speaking for himself. They never say he was mute or had problems in front of the media.

Mr. Bearden was so light-skinned that I didn't know that he was African American until well into the documentary. Eventually they show his parents and his mother looked white. One interviewee described him as "light-skinned" but then the subject is never brought up again. Why not? Malcolm X spoke often about what it was like to be light-skinned and have a white grandparent. Bearden had a light complexion but his subject matter always covered people of African descent in rich ebony and cocoa hues. One could ask why he never portrayed subjects of his own complection.

I'm sure that Bearden was a terrific artist. But anybody with a pair of scissors can make a collage. In a similar vein, I wonder why David Hockney is praised when anyone can take the photographs he has. I wish the documentary explored on a deeper level what was so special about Bearden's collages or what else did he make besides collages.

Charlie Rose with Ruth Fine, Frank Stewart & Branford Marsalis; Tadao Ando (January 22, 2004)

Average customer rating:

Charlie Rose with Ruth Fine, Frank Stewart & Branford Marsalis; Tadao Ando (January 22, 2004)

Manufacturer: Charlie Rose, Inc.
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

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Sketches of Frank Gehry by Sydney Pollack

ASIN: B000HBL1TQ
Release Date: 2006-08-15

Description

First, an appreciation of the work of artist Romare Bearden with exhibition curator Ruth Fine, photographer Frank Stewart and musician Branford Marsalis. Bearden is one of America's most renowned African American artists - especially for his photomontages and collages - and his work is being celebrated in a touring exhibition organized by The National Gallery of Art. Also, a conversation with Japanese architect and Pritzker Prize winner Tadao Ando regarding the completion of The Modern Art Museum of Fort Worth and his upcoming projects in the US.

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