After serving in the U.S. Army during World War II, Bearden began
to paint in a semi-abstract style, applying paint flatly. During this
period of his career Stuart Davis, Walter Quirt, and Paul Burlin were
among his closest associates. In 1950, while studying in Paris on
the G.I. bill, Bearden came into contact with Georges Braque, Fernand
Leger, Helion, and Brancusi.
After returning to the United States, Bearden worked for a brief period
as a professional songwriter and then for the Welfare Department.
He began to exhibit his paintings again in 1960, and received much
critical success. He first showed his collage projections in 1964
and says of them that they are the response to a need he felt to "redefine
the image of man in terms of the Negro experience I know best ...
the Negro was becoming too much of an abstraction, rather than the
reality that art can give a subject." Critical opinion of Bearden's
work places him among the great contemporary painters.
His color has been called "sumptuous and subtle;" luminous in its
grays, brick reds, and blues. His paintings are poetic syntheses,
full of a restrained tension. The projections are composed in mosaic
fashion, the squares alternately seeming to leap forward or retreat
in patterns mingling thought and emotion. Bearden has had important
one-man shows at the Corcoran Gallery in Washington, D.C., and at
the Carnegie Museum in Pittsburgh. He received the National Academy
of Arts and Letters Award for painting in 1967. Along with Carroll
Greene, Bearden co-directed an exhibition held at City College of
New York, called "Evolution of Afro-American Art". He did
covers for "Fortune" and "Time" magazines, and showed
his posters at various international festivals. Carl Hotly and Bearden
co-authored a book called "The Painter's Mind".
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