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Romare Bearden, American, 1911–1988; Summertime (detail), 1967; collage on board; 56 x 44 inches; Saint Louis Art Museum, Museum Minority Artists Purchase Fund 22:1999; © 2024 Romare Bearden Foundation / Licensed by Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York

Romare Bearden: Resonances

This exhibition audio guide explores the many ways Romare Bearden served as a friend and mentor to his contemporaries. Hear from Museum staff, a Romare Bearden Graduate Museum Fellow, and the co-director of the Romare Bearden Foundation.

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    Large Print Labels

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    AUDIO GUIDE TRANSCRIPT

    The audio guide transcript is available to view on your own device.

Introduction

  • Speakers 
     
    Renée Brummel Franklin 
    Chief Diversity Officer 
    Saint Louis Art Museum 

    I am Renée Brummell Franklin, chief diversity officer and manager of the Romare Bearden Graduate Museum Fellowship.

    Romare Bearden: Resonances is an exhibition celebrating Romare Bearden and his relationship with artists who are part of the Museum’s permanent collection. His resonating influence was felt not only by contemporaries in New York, where he lived, but by artists as far away as the Netherlands. This exhibition highlights the way Romare Bearden’s legacy exists outside a singular time and place.

    The Romare Bearden Museum Graduate Museum Fellowship, named in honor of renowned artist Romare Bearden, is one of the oldest fellowships in the nation to give early-career professionals hands-on experience in museums. Fellows work with various departments within the museum to build their skills and explore their professional interests. In curating this exhibition, Charlie Farrell, the 2022–2024 Romare Bearden Fellow, collaborated with her colleagues throughout the Museum. What a perfect opportunity for Charlie to develop this exhibition and for you to engage with Romare Bearden and his contemporaries.

    The fellowship recently celebrated its 30th anniversary. Twenty-five of the 31 fellows returned to the Museum. This reunion of talent clearly showcased how impactful the fellowship is for so many.

    In the way that artist Romare Bearden was supporting his contemporaries, the fellowship provides its fellows opportunities to not only learn from colleagues, but also to contribute to the discourse of cultural and academic institutions across our country and indeed the world.

    Whether you are listening from home or in the gallery, I hope you enjoy this audio guide to Romare Bearden: Resonances.

  • Gallery Text

    Romare Bearden: Resonances 

    African American artist Romare Bearden’s (1911–1988) work and approach to artmaking resonated with his contemporaries and generations of artists that followed. This exhibition highlights Bearden’s associations with five artists in the Museum’s collection. The works on view were created over a 40-year-period, both nationally and internationally, with varied techniques and media.

    After completing his education degree at New York University in 1935, Bearden’s focus shifted from cartoonist to artist. This transition allowed Bearden to build networks with the writers and musicians of his day. Through these relationships, Bearden and others formed artist collectives and authored scholarly publications that continue to have an impact on a range of disciplines.

    Through his own collages, prints, watercolors, and paintings, Bearden sought “to reveal through pictorial complexities the richness of a life I know.” This legacy is evident from the artists and researchers who cite Bearden as a touchstone of contemporary art.

    The artist has to be something like a whale swimming with his mouth wide open, absorbing everything until he has what he really needs. 
    –Romare Bearden

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