Arcadia Art Consultancy is pleased to offer “Gathering,” c. 1964, by Romare Bearden for private sale.
Gathering, c. 1964
Collage on paperboard
Image: 8 3/8 x 5 5/8 in., Framed : 21 3/4 x 18 in.
Signed to lower right, “Romare Bearden”
Provenance
Acquired from Jerald Melberg Gallery in 1995
Private Collection, NC
Exhibition History
Charlotte, NC, The Mint Museum of Art, Charlotte's Own: Romare Bearden, August 24 - October 27, 2022
Charlotte, NC, The Mint Museum of Art, Romare Bearden: Southern Recollections, September 2011 - January 2012;
Tampa, FL, Tampa Museum of Art, January 2012 - May 2012;
Newark, NJ, Newark Museum of Art, May 2012 - August 2012.
Literary References:
Romare Bearden: Southern Recollections, Hanzal, Carla M., et al, pg. 66
Romare Bearden (American, 1911–1988) was one of the most influential American artists of the twentieth century. Best known for his groundbreaking collages, Bearden worked across a wide range of media, including watercolors, oils, photomontages, and prints. His work explored themes of identity, memory, community, and the Black experience in America. Deeply rooted in his Southern origins and shaped by his urban upbringing, intellectual curiosity, and musical background, Bearden’s art blended personal narrative with broader cultural history.
We are proud to offer Gathering (c. 1964), a pivotal work from a private collection, now available for private sale. This early collage exemplifies the visual and conceptual breakthroughs that defined Bearden’s transition to the medium that would become his signature. Created during the same year as his influential Cordier & Ekstrom debut, Gathering (c. 1964), reflects the convergence of personal memory, collective history, and social consciousness. In its layers, one sees the emergence of Bearden’s distinct voice—a voice that continues to resonate in the canon of American art.
Born in Charlotte, North Carolina, in 1911, Bearden moved with his family to Harlem, New York, in 1914 in search of greater opportunities and safety from the oppressive conditions of the Jim Crow South. Though he spent most of his life in New York City, the American South remained a profound and enduring influence on his work. He once remarked, “I never left Charlotte, except physically,” underscoring how memories of his birthplace—and regular visits back—continued to shape his visual language.
Romare Bearden was a man of extraordinary range—an educator, social worker, illustrator, and committed student of art. He studied under George Grosz at the Art Students League of New York, and also earned a degree in education from New York University, where his artistic interests flourished as art editor and lead cartoonist for The Medley, a student journal. Bearden immersed himself in a wide spectrum of visual traditions, drawing inspiration from European masters like Giotto, Cézanne, Matisse, and Picasso, as well as African sculpture, Byzantine mosaics, Japanese prints, and Chinese landscapes. This broad cultural vocabulary became a hallmark of his work.
Detail Image
From the mid-1930s through the 1960s, Bearden balanced a full-time career as a social worker with a deepening commitment to art. He joined the Harlem Artists Guild and mounted early solo exhibitions at Charles Alston’s Studio “306” in Harlem and the G Place Gallery in Washington, DC. His dedication extended beyond his studio practice: he co-founded Cinque Gallery with Norman Lewis and Ernest Crichlow to support emerging Black artists, and played key roles in the Harlem Cultural Council, the Studio Museum in Harlem, and the Black Academy of Arts and Letters. In 1972, he was elected to the National Institute of Arts and Letters, affirming his place as a vital force in American art and cultural life.
Though he explored many styles and materials, Bearden is most celebrated for his richly layered collages. Debuting in 1964 at Cordier & Ekstrom Gallery in New York, these works marked a turning point in his career as he shifted from painting and drawing to cut and assembled compositions using magazine clippings, photographs, and painted paper. Inspired in part by the Civil Rights Movement and his involvement with the Spiral collective—a group of Black artists exploring the relationship between art and activism—these collages gave form to the complexities of African American life, memory, and mythology. Gathering (c.1964) is an example of one of these works that captured the dynamic interplay between rural Southern heritage, urban Harlem life, and the broader diasporic experience.
In 1971, Bearden became only the second Black artist to have a solo exhibition at the Museum of Modern Art in New York. The show featured his monumental collage Patchwork Quilt, and helped elevate collage from a decorative technique to a powerful, narrative form. That same decade, his work was featured on the covers of Time and Fortune magazines, further cementing his cultural relevance.
Signed to lower right, “Romare Bearden”
Bearden's legacy has been honored through numerous retrospectives, including exhibitions at the Museum of Modern Art (1971); Mint Museum of Art, Charlotte (1980, 2012); Detroit Institute of the Arts (1986); Studio Museum in Harlem (1991); National Gallery of Art, Washington, DC (2003); Smithsonian Institution (2012); and most recently, the Long Island Museum (2023). His work is held in major public collections, including the Metropolitan Museum of Art, Museum of Modern Art, Whitney Museum of American Art, National Gallery of Art, Philadelphia Museum of Art, Museum of Fine Arts Boston, and the Studio Museum in Harlem.
For more information on Gathering, (c.1964), please email marie@arcadiaappraisals.com.