Central Harlem in Manhattan in New York County, New York — The American Northeast (Mid-Atlantic)
Romare H. Bearden
September 2, 1911 - March 12, 1988
154 West 131st Street, Manhattan
Photographed by Devry Becker Jones (CC0), November 5, 2022
1. Romare H. Bearden Marker
Inscription.
Romare H. Bearden. September 2, 1911 - March 12, 1988. Born in Charlotte, N.C., Romare Howard Bearden moved to Harlem with his family ca. 1914. After he completed his B.S. in Education from NYU in 1935, he studied with George Grosz at the Art Students' League, and worked as a political cartoonist. From 1935 until 1966, Bearden worked intermittently as a caseworker for the NYC Department of Welfare. In his early years, Bearden was a social realist painter, with a frequent theme of Black life as he observed it. After World War II, he painted literary topics and large non-objective oils. In 1964, he became the first Art Director of the Harlem Cultural Council, and, during the Civil Rights movement, he returned to themes of Black life. He wove images and ideas from the rituals of everyday life, religion, African American folklore and history, jazz, blues, European and Classical Chinese painting, and African antiquity into vibrant collages, noted for an exuberant use of color and sophisticated incorporation of found imagery. In 1984, Bearden was awarded the NYC Mayor's Award of Honor for Art and Culture, and in 1987, President Reagan presented him with the National Medal of Arts.
Born in Charlotte, N.C., Romare Howard Bearden moved to Harlem with his family ca. 1914. After he completed his B.S. in Education from NYU in 1935, he studied with George Grosz at the Art Students' League, and worked as a political cartoonist. From 1935 until 1966, Bearden worked intermittently as a caseworker for the NYC Department of Welfare. In his early years, Bearden was a social realist painter, with a frequent theme of Black life as he observed it. After World War II, he painted literary topics and large non-objective oils. In 1964, he became the first Art Director of the Harlem Cultural Council, and, during the Civil Rights movement, he returned to themes of Black life. He wove images and ideas from the rituals of everyday life, religion, African American folklore and history, jazz, blues, European and Classical Chinese painting, and African antiquity into vibrant collages, noted for an exuberant use of color and sophisticated incorporation of found imagery. In 1984, Bearden was awarded the NYC Mayor's Award of Honor for Art and Culture, and in 1987, President Reagan presented him with the National Medal of Arts.
Erected by Historic
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Landmarks Preservation Center; medallion program created by Barbaralee Diamonstein-Spielvogel.
Location. 40° 48.744′ N, 73° 56.694′ W. Marker is in Manhattan, New York, in New York County. It is in Central Harlem. It is on West 131st Street just east of Adam Clayton Powell Jr. Boulevard, on the left when traveling west. Touch for map. Marker is at or near this postal address: 154 W 131st St, New York NY 10027, United States of America. Touch for directions.
Regionally, this marker is in New York City. It is also in the American Northeast, in the Mid-Atlantic, and on the Eastern Seaboard. Globally, it is in the North Atlantic Region, North America, the Western Hemisphere, the Western World, and the Anglosphere. Historically, it finds itself in what was once New Netherland and also one of the original Thirteen Colonies.
Other nearby markers. At
Photographed by Devry Becker Jones (CC0), November 5, 2022
Credits. This page was last revised on January 31, 2023. It was originally submitted on November 10, 2022, by Devry Becker Jones of Washington, District of Columbia. This page has been viewed 343 times since then and 29 times this year. Photos:1, 2. submitted on November 10, 2022, by Devry Becker Jones of Washington, District of Columbia.
