Many Charlotteans may know the work of Romare Bearden, the acclaimed artist from Mecklenburg County, but not much about him or his life.
Bearden was born here, but his family’s story mirrors that of many Black Southern families of the early 20th century. Fleeing white supremacy and harassment, they relocated north for their safety when Bearden was a child.
Though he spent much of his life in New York and Pittsburgh, his Southern roots kept hold. Later in life, Bearden proclaimed that he “never left Charlotte, except physically.” The South deeply influenced his work and shows up in his distinctive paintings and collages.
His fascinating story is detailed in a new book by Glenda Gilmore, a historian whose work focuses on civil rights and the Jim Crow era. Guest host Erik Spanberg talks with her about “Romare Bearden in the Homeland of His Imagination: An Artist's Reckoning with the South.”
Guest
Glenda Gilmore, author of “Romare Bearden in the Homeland of His Imagination: An Artist's Reckoning with the South” and Peter V. and C. Vann Woodward Professor of History Emerita at Yale University.
Related links:
- See some of Romare Bearden's work at the Romare Bearden Foundation website.
- "Watching the Good Trains Go By," 1964, by Romare Bearden
