Past Exhibits: Romare Bearden: A North Carolina Original

Thursday, January 16 - Sunday, March 16, 2003

An Exhibition of Exceptional Lithographs and Monoprints

Born in Charlotte, North Carolina in 1911, Romare Bearden became one of the premiere artists of the Twentieth Century. The Chapel Hill Museum exhibit will feature information about Bearden's life as well as several prints from the collection of Jerald Melberg Gallery in Charlotte, North Carolina.

There will also be a series of lectures (see below) on Bearden's life and work over the period of the exhibit.

Special Events

Thursday, January 23rd at 7pm:

A lecture on Romare Bearden will be given by Jerald Melberg, former Curator of the Mint Museum and owner of the Jerald Melberg Gallery in Charlotte that worked closely with Bearden for the last eleven years of Bearden's life. The Melberg Gallery is lending the Museum Bearden's work for the show.

The Burial, 1964

Wednesday, January 29th at 6:30pm:

A reception for the art teachers of the Carrboro/Chapel Hill school system, with the art students and their parents, will be given. There will be a presentation and an opportunity to view the work of Romare Bearden.

Thursday, February 27th at 7pm

Professor Richard Long of Emory University, a Bearden Scholar, will speak at the Museum on the life and works of Romare Bearden. Professor Long's lecture has been arranged by Dr. Joseph Jordan the Executive Director of the Sonja Haynes Stone Center.

Special notes:

Museum director Morgan Kenney says, "The work of Bearden must be seen in person. It is the most moving and powerful work I have seen since viewing the woodcuts and lithographs of Edvard Munch at the National a few years ago."

Quilting Time, 1981

Many of Bearden's prints will be available for purchase through the Museum at the time of the exhibit.

Girl in the Garden, 1979

Links

Two Women, 1981

If you'd like to know a little more about Romare Bearden before coming to the exhibit, here are a couple of links:

A site called Artcyclopedia has some text and some good links, including links to representations of Bearden's art and some brief articles"
A brief bio of Bearden on a site about the great African-American migration ; this includes a link to several images of his work, some with discussion of the works. This is also linked from the Artcyclopedia page.