The artwork of Romare Bearden, one of America’s most prolific artists, is featured on a set of four Forever stamps dedicated last week by the U.S. Postal Service during a First-Day-Of-Issue ceremony at the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture.
Bearden is celebrated for his groundbreaking approach to collage along with his work in watercolors, oils, and other media. The four collages by Bearden, depicted above, and as they appear on the stamp sheet from left to right are: Conjunction (1971), Odysseus: Poseidon, The Sea God—Enemy of Odysseus (1977), Prevalence of Ritual: Conjur Woman (1964) and Falling Star (1979). Art director Derry Noyes chose a different work by Bearden for each of the four stamp designs.
Among Bearden’s early paintings were figural works recalling his childhood roots in the South, done in gouache on brown paper. His paintings of the 1940s also were inspired by literary sources such as the Bible, Federico Garcia Lorca’s poetry, and Homer’s Iliad. Bearden turned to writing lyrics for songs, including the hit “Seabreeze.” Music, in particular jazz and the blues, was a strong influence on Bearden’s art. Bearden’s monumental cityscape, The Block, was exhibited at the Museum of Modern Art.
His art has also been praised for depicting African-American experience in its full dimensions and is in the permanent collections of major museums across the nation. Considered one of America’s greatest collagists, Bearden was awarded the National Medal of Arts in 1987 by then President Reagan.
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