An American Odyssey: The Life and Work of Romare Bearden

by Mary Schmidt Campbell

One of the most important and underappreciated visual artists of the twentieth century, Romare Bearden started as a cartoonist during his college years and emerged as a painter during the 1930s, at the tail end of the Harlem Renaissance and in time to be part of a significant community of black artists supported by the WPA. Though light-skinned and able to "pass," Bearden embraced his African heritage, choosing to paint social realist canvases of African-American life. After World War II, he became one of a handful of black artists to exhibit in a private gallery-the commercial outlet that would form the core of the American art world's post-war marketplace. Rejecting Abstract Expressionism, he lived briefly in Paris. After he suffered a nervous breakdown, Bearden returned to New York, turning to painting just as the civil rights movement was gaining ground with the 1954 Brown v. Board of Education and the Montgomery bus boycott. By the time of the March on Washington in 1963, Bearden had begun to experiment with collage-or Projection, as he called it-the medium for which he would ultimately become famous.

In An American Odyssey: The Life and Work of Romare Bearden, Mary Schmidt Campbell offers readers an enlightening analysis of Bearden's influences and the thematic focus of his mature work. Bearden's work provides an exquisite portrait of memory and the African American past; according to Campbell, it also offers a record of the narrative impact of visual imagery in the twentieth century, revealing how the emerging popularity of photography, film and television depicted African Americans during their struggle to be recognized as full citizens of the United States.

Genres: Art, Biography, African American, History, Biography Memoir

464 pages, Hardcover

Published September 3, 2018

About the author

Mary Schmidt Campbell is President of Spelman College and Dean Emerita of the Tisch School of the Arts. She served as the vice chair of the President's Committee on the Arts and Humanities under former President Barack Obama.

Reviews

[Barbara · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very well researched and informative of not only Romare Bearden’s art and family life, but also the times in which he worked.

[sslyb · Rating 3 out of 5]

I read the Kindle version of this book. It really, really needed to have a links to the plates in the back, the same way Kindle books have links to footnotes.

[David Radavich · Rating 5 out of 5]

Mary Schmidt Campbell, President of Spelman College in Atlanta, has written an impressive biography of the great American artist Romare Bearden. It is clear-sighted and honors Bearden's many accomplishments without hagiology. At the same time, she provides a magisterial overview of African-American and larger American culture and social change over the main decades of the twentieth century. Personally, I love Bearden's glorious collage landscapes of the mid- to late 1970s, which receive minimal mention here. But there's so much ground to cover, and this book succeeds in so many dimensions. A real tour de force that I thoroughly enjoyed reading and will keep on my shelves with pride.

[Lauren · Rating 5 out of 5]

The life and works of this artist held my interest. As does his artworks this book is a collage of history and life. It took me longer to read this book than I anticipated due to the level of details. Still there was and is much to learn about this artist and the historical context of his work. It was worth the time it took to read this book.

[James G. · Rating 5 out of 5]

Here's what I wrote a friend: "Yes 🙇🏻‍♂️ Everything now is there: KKK, artist responses 😭😭😭And Dr MSC words 😮Sweeping elegance of vision and language, then the whole mess of "I am the only human on earth who could have written this, here's some primary source" stuff 🤗 well."

[Ann Pearlman · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very well researched book with strong focus on his art, place in history, and Black art in the 20th century. However, I didn't get a feeling for the man. And I kept returning to the images off the paintings which were separated by the prose about them.

[Edward Sullivan · Rating 4 out of 5]

An admiring, informative, and perceptive biography.

[Mariana Kramer · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great book. I have always loved his art and he is one of my muses. We met the author last year at the Decatur (GA) Book Festival. She gave a very interesting talk about him.

[brightredglow · Rating 5 out of 5]

Topic and time engrossing. Loved it.

[Janet · Rating 4 out of 5]

Came to this book after learning the artist spent some of his childhood in Pittsburgh. Learned so much about him--brilliant, talented, but down to earth and a for-the-people guy.