Bearden, Romare Howard
1911-1988 · Contribution: 1964-1988
Visual Arts
Pioneering collage artist whose layered, photomontage-based works became some of the most acclaimed depictions of African American life in 20th-century American art

Portraits are AI-generated interpretations, not photographs.
Quick facts
- Category
- Visual Arts
Impact on the world
Bearden turned collage into a serious vehicle for narrating African American history and memory, giving the civil-rights era some of its most enduring visual statements.
Sources
- Smithsonian American Art Museum
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