The Romare Bearden Reader

“Robert G. O'Meally has curated an astonishing array of commentary on the work of one of the twentieth century's most innovative artists, the inimitable Romare Bearden. Whereas Bearden's status as one of the African American tradition's greatest artists has long been secure, this collection is indicative of a welcome surge in interest among scholars, critics, and biographers in Bearden's life, works, and place in the canon. O'Meally has done us a great service in assembling some of the most thoughtful reflections on the work of one of the geniuses of modernism.” - Henry Louis Gates Jr.

“The Romare Bearden Reader is for all those—both in and outside the academy—who continue to be enchanted by Bearden's art and are eager to see and learn more about the work of this tremendous artist. This volume is the definitive Bearden anthology.” - Margo Natalie Crawford, author of Black Post-Blackness: The Black Arts Movement and Twenty-First-Century Aesthetics

"Jazz music, politics, and black culture are the primary themes ofBearden's paintings and collages, while his writing-including the eight examples in this collection-lay bare his aesthetic values and practices. Essays by twenty contributors, from scholar Robert G. O'Meally to novelists Toni Morrison and Ralph Ellison, contextualize Bearden's oeuvre and assess his impact on twentieth-century African American culture." - Art in America

"The varied voices here make this a go-to resource for constructing Bearden's enigmatic, seductively structured art. . . . This is the finest overall consideration of Bearden's ouevre yet, and a fulsome tribute to a justly revered artist." - Douglas F. Smith, Library Journal

"Relatively few titles provide in-depth explorations of the intellectual lives of African American artists. This reader does so in a comprehensive–and compelling–manner, and should be considered an important addition to art and literary criticism collections, useful for artists, musicians, writers, and others." - Lynora Williams, ARLIS/NA

"A valuable resource for scholars and anyone interested in Romare Bearden, art history, art techniques, the Harlem Renaissance (which Bearden calls the Black Renaissance because not all participants were in Harlem), and black US history.… O'Meally draws together the major themes of Bearden scholarship, providing a useful jumping-off point for insight into Bearden and his work." - P.A. Mullins, African Arts