Card Players, 1982 - Romare Bearden - Framed art Print

Romare Howard Bearden, a distinguished African-American artist and author, gained fame for his exceptional work with collages and photomontages, a skill he refined from the 1950s. His artistic process was improvisational and spontaneous, often compared to the crafting of jazz and blues compositions. Bearden was born in 1911 in Charlotte, North Carolina, but moved to New York City at the age of three. After his education at Lincoln University, Boston University, and finally, New York University, where he obtained an education degree, he studied drawing and painting under George Grosz at the Art Students League of New York.

His early career was peppered with interactions with influential artists like Stuart Davis, a significant mentor, and his work as a political cartoonist for the Baltimore Afro-American after joining the Harlem Artists Guild in 1935. Post the 1950s, Bearden shifted focus towards photomontage and collage, cementing his status as a prominent contemporary artist. Joining the Cordier & Ekstrom gallery in 1961, he became a lifelong member. Furthermore, in 1963, Bearden, along with Hale Woodruff, Charles Alston, and Norman Lewis, formed the Spiral group to champion black artists and their role in the civil rights movement.