Romare Bearden (1911 – 1988) was an African-American artist and writer. He worked in media including cartoons, oils, and collage.
Bearden was born in Charlotte, North Carolina. His family moved him to New York City as a toddler, and their household soon became a meeting place for major figures of the Harlem Renaissance.
He completed his studies at New York University (NYU), graduating with a degree in science and education in 1935.
He studied under German artist George Grosz at the Art Students League in 1936 and 1937. At this time his paintings were often of scenes in the American South, and his style was strongly influenced by the Mexican muralists, especially Diego Rivera and José Clemente Orozco.
He worked as a case worker for the New York Department of Social Services. During World War II, Bearden joined the United States Army, serving from 1942 until 1945. He would return to Europe in 1950 to study philosophy at the Sorbonne under the auspices of the GI Bill.
During the 1960s civil rights movement, Bearden started to experiment again, this time with forms of collage.[11] After helping to found an artists group in support of civil rights, Bearden's work became more representational and more overtly socially conscious. He used clippings from magazines, which in and of itself was a new medium as glossy magazines were fairly new. He used these glossy scraps to incorporate modernity in his works, trying to show how not only were African American rights moving forward, but so was his socially conscious art.
Friday, March 22, 2013
Tuesday, March 19, 2013
Bonus points for attending Spitfire Grill musical @ Caddo Magnet HS Wed, Mar 20 - Sat, Mar 23
Get a signature on a program to prove attendance at Spitfire Grill for 6 pts bonus.
Write a paragraph evaluating the major student players - strengths and areas for improvement - and get up to 6 additional points.
Write a paragraph evaluating the major student players - strengths and areas for improvement - and get up to 6 additional points.
Sunday, March 17, 2013
Collage comprising images and info on composers Bach, Mozart and Beethoven
In-class collage project - to be completed at home, if needed:
12 pts. Due Wed/Th.
Across 2 pages in your notebook:
Sketch and Color or cut and paste representations of
Bach, Mozart and Beethoven.
Surrounding each, add 5 items of information (see below) and 3 graphic symbols (organ, violin, chorus, carriage, wig, waistcoat, candelabra, sheet music, phrase in Italian or German, ship).
- life dates.
- 3 cities plus nations in which they lived or to which they traveled.
- instruments played.
- titles of 3 famous works.
12 pts. Due Wed/Th.
Across 2 pages in your notebook:
Sketch and Color or cut and paste representations of
Bach, Mozart and Beethoven.
Surrounding each, add 5 items of information (see below) and 3 graphic symbols (organ, violin, chorus, carriage, wig, waistcoat, candelabra, sheet music, phrase in Italian or German, ship).
- life dates.
- 3 cities plus nations in which they lived or to which they traveled.
- instruments played.
- titles of 3 famous works.
Tuesday, March 12, 2013
Notebook work for up to 10 pts: Homage to Pollock, Homage to Mark Rothko
Across 2 sheets of paper in your notebook make a swirling, repeating pattern comprised of small variations in the swirl - in several colors. Make track after track of swirls in different heights. Add as many colors as you can find. The more colors, the closer students will get to the Pollock effect.
This motif is based on his 1941 piece for Peggy Guggenheim's foyer.
Add notes on the life of Jackson Pollock.
On 1 page - but filling the page - use 2 colors to imitate the huge color field paintings of Rothko. Color and re-color and re-color the blocks to get a suggestion of the depth that Rothko brought to his canvasses after decades of painting.
Add notes on the life of Rothko.
Up to 10 pts.
This motif is based on his 1941 piece for Peggy Guggenheim's foyer.
Add notes on the life of Jackson Pollock.
On 1 page - but filling the page - use 2 colors to imitate the huge color field paintings of Rothko. Color and re-color and re-color the blocks to get a suggestion of the depth that Rothko brought to his canvasses after decades of painting.
Add notes on the life of Rothko.
Up to 10 pts.
Friday, March 8, 2013
Field trip to RW Norton Foundation during class on Tues, Mar 12; parents invited
Visits to the Norton must include an adult for every 10 students. Thus - with some 30 students - several parents are needed on the Tues visit to the gallery.
Weather will be excellent, says weather.com. Thus I recommend everyone bring a sack lunch and a drink and we will eat on the Norton grounds.
The bus will be boarded at the beginning of the period - 11:50. We should arrive at Norton about 12:10.
Leaving at 1:35 will be adequate to get us back to campus in time for the 1:55 bell to go to the next class.
30 mins for eating.
10 mins campus tour.
12:50 - 1:35 museum time.
Students must take notes and photos.
- 3 works from the Guild Hall, Long Is, exhibit.
- 3 works from the museum proper.
- Snap the art and immediately snap the info tag adjacent to the work.
A brief lecture on the Guild Hall exhibit will be presented by teacher Robert Trudeau.
In the next class students will write an essay - reportage or critical essay -
on the examples collected.
Weather will be excellent, says weather.com. Thus I recommend everyone bring a sack lunch and a drink and we will eat on the Norton grounds.
The bus will be boarded at the beginning of the period - 11:50. We should arrive at Norton about 12:10.
Leaving at 1:35 will be adequate to get us back to campus in time for the 1:55 bell to go to the next class.
30 mins for eating.
10 mins campus tour.
12:50 - 1:35 museum time.
Students must take notes and photos.
- 3 works from the Guild Hall, Long Is, exhibit.
- 3 works from the museum proper.
- Snap the art and immediately snap the info tag adjacent to the work.
A brief lecture on the Guild Hall exhibit will be presented by teacher Robert Trudeau.
In the next class students will write an essay - reportage or critical essay -
on the examples collected.
Tuesday, March 5, 2013
Pollock: so-called "action painting"
1. Pollock begins his NYC career in a neighborhood friendly to struggling artists in the 1940's: a) Upper West Side b) SoHo c) Harlem d) Lower East Side.
2. The ethnicity of Pollock's girlfriend, Lee Krassner: a) Puerto Rican b) Jewish c) Italian d) French.
3. Pollock's mental bete noire ("black beast"): a) Willem de Kooning b) Peggy Guggenheim c) Clement Greenburg d) Pablo Picasso.
4. As an impoverished, emotionally unstable and alcoholic painter, Pollock's survival is aided by
a) his mother b) his brother c) various artist-addicted women d) art patrons.
5. Symbolic of his troubled state is his 1-A draft classification in regards military service in WWII. T / F
6. Peggy Guggenheim pays Pollock a steady fee to enable his painting to continue. That is called a
___. a) debt agreement b) stipend c) trust fund d) indentureship.
7. Guggenheim commissions Pollock to create a large painting for her a) living room
b) summer house c) bedroom d) foyer.
8. Pollock and Krassner leave the city but New York. They find a farmhouse near the easternmost peninsula of __ Island.
9. Pollock and Krassner remain together but do not marry. T / F
10. As he moves toward a breakthrough in style, Pollock changes his type of paint. He moves from oils to paint based on a) chalk b) sand c) enamel d) water color.
2. The ethnicity of Pollock's girlfriend, Lee Krassner: a) Puerto Rican b) Jewish c) Italian d) French.
3. Pollock's mental bete noire ("black beast"): a) Willem de Kooning b) Peggy Guggenheim c) Clement Greenburg d) Pablo Picasso.
4. As an impoverished, emotionally unstable and alcoholic painter, Pollock's survival is aided by
a) his mother b) his brother c) various artist-addicted women d) art patrons.
5. Symbolic of his troubled state is his 1-A draft classification in regards military service in WWII. T / F
6. Peggy Guggenheim pays Pollock a steady fee to enable his painting to continue. That is called a
___. a) debt agreement b) stipend c) trust fund d) indentureship.
7. Guggenheim commissions Pollock to create a large painting for her a) living room
b) summer house c) bedroom d) foyer.
8. Pollock and Krassner leave the city but New York. They find a farmhouse near the easternmost peninsula of __ Island.
9. Pollock and Krassner remain together but do not marry. T / F
10. As he moves toward a breakthrough in style, Pollock changes his type of paint. He moves from oils to paint based on a) chalk b) sand c) enamel d) water color.
Understandng and using Pollock's success in your communications
Appreciating the quiet lurch taken by Americans in the post-WWII period will make you a smart communicator.
The educated class of America will enjoy being asked to identify Realist art (Thomas Hart Benton) vs Abstract art (Pollock). Or being asked to identify Pollock vs Warhol. Or to differentiate between Picasso and Pollock.
Please be responsible for the basics on all the above, including photog Hans Namuth and the almost-Pollock status painter Mark Rothko.
The educated class of America will enjoy being asked to identify Realist art (Thomas Hart Benton) vs Abstract art (Pollock). Or being asked to identify Pollock vs Warhol. Or to differentiate between Picasso and Pollock.
Please be responsible for the basics on all the above, including photog Hans Namuth and the almost-Pollock status painter Mark Rothko.
Sunday, March 3, 2013
One more story from Magnet alumnus Renee Do, Shreveport
I wanted to talk about one more recent failure of mine that I thought you guys would really enjoy to hear about. At the beginning of medical school, I ran for class president. I threw a campaign party over the weekend and invited all 120 students to my house of just 1300 square feet (but only 30 people came).
I shared old test files and study materials with everybody on my class, and I even got up in front of everybody on the day of elections, took my guitar, and proceeded to embarrass myself by singing "Hey Ya!" by Outkast. You know, the usual deal to get them to vote for me.
And, when I got an email about "re-elections for class president," I saw that the ballot did not have my name on it. Rather, it had the other two people on it.
I lost. I lost to a guy who did absolutely nothing to campaign for president and to a girl who organized a can food drive.
I felt awful. I had just made a complete fool out of myself, all for nothing. I even had other people in my class made fun of me, calling me the loser who "worked too hard to run for president and didn't get it."
It was EMBARRASSING BEYOND BELIEF. But, it taught me that there are people out there who can be very mean to you, who will put you down constantly, who will discourage you from reaching your dreams. But it is up to you, it is up to you individually to make the most out of it.
And what did I decide? I decided that my class is a bunch of weirdos and that me not winning is actually a blessing in disguise. Because had I won, I would not have pursued St. Baldrick's Day. Had I won, I would not have had the opportunity to talk with all of you Friday. Had I won, I would not be standing here today, fighting pediatric cancer.
"Never confuse a single defeat with a final defeat, besides, there is much to be said for failure. It is more interesting than success, so try again. Fail again. Fail better."
Thank you so much for giving me 90 minutes of your time to hear me out and talk with me. Thank you for being so kind to me, as I shared my most vulnerable moments with you. I really appreciate it a lot, and I hope that you will consider making a difference in someone's life today by joining St. Baldrick's. Just search St. Baldrick's Day Shreveport on Facebook, message the page, and I'll be in contact with you there!
I shared old test files and study materials with everybody on my class, and I even got up in front of everybody on the day of elections, took my guitar, and proceeded to embarrass myself by singing "Hey Ya!" by Outkast. You know, the usual deal to get them to vote for me.
And, when I got an email about "re-elections for class president," I saw that the ballot did not have my name on it. Rather, it had the other two people on it.
I lost. I lost to a guy who did absolutely nothing to campaign for president and to a girl who organized a can food drive.
I felt awful. I had just made a complete fool out of myself, all for nothing. I even had other people in my class made fun of me, calling me the loser who "worked too hard to run for president and didn't get it."
It was EMBARRASSING BEYOND BELIEF. But, it taught me that there are people out there who can be very mean to you, who will put you down constantly, who will discourage you from reaching your dreams. But it is up to you, it is up to you individually to make the most out of it.
And what did I decide? I decided that my class is a bunch of weirdos and that me not winning is actually a blessing in disguise. Because had I won, I would not have pursued St. Baldrick's Day. Had I won, I would not have had the opportunity to talk with all of you Friday. Had I won, I would not be standing here today, fighting pediatric cancer.
"Never confuse a single defeat with a final defeat, besides, there is much to be said for failure. It is more interesting than success, so try again. Fail again. Fail better."
Thank you so much for giving me 90 minutes of your time to hear me out and talk with me. Thank you for being so kind to me, as I shared my most vulnerable moments with you. I really appreciate it a lot, and I hope that you will consider making a difference in someone's life today by joining St. Baldrick's. Just search St. Baldrick's Day Shreveport on Facebook, message the page, and I'll be in contact with you there!
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