12 Anniversary Preview

12th Anniversary 18 www.antiquesandfineart.com HIGHLIGHTS Impressions and Improvisations: The Prints of Romare Bearden The Taft Museum of Art, 316 Pike Street, Cincinnati, Ohio January 27–April 29, 2012 For information call 513.241.9343 or visit www.taftmuseum.org A master of collage and printmaking, Romare Bearden (1911–1988) is consid- ered one of the twentieth century’s most influential African American artists. Impressions and Improvisations is the first exhibition to focus exclusively on his print- mak i ng . Th i s exhi b i t i on includes seventy-five vividly colored graphic works — including etchings, engravings, aqua- tints, lithographs, and screenprints — all created over a span of thirty years. Also fea- tured are working print plates and proofs that reveal the artist’s creative process. Bearden became a cultural hero because of his influential writings as an art critic, his work as an arts organizer, and his role as spokesman for African Americans during the Harlem Renaissance. Well acquainted with abstract modern art, Bearden chose to retain recognizable compositions for his preferred subjects: rural life in North Carolina, urban New York, Caribbean scenes, jazz culture, modern family life, and allegorical themes. Through such Romare Bearden (1911–1988), In the Garden , 1974 (from the Prevalence of Ritual Suite ). Screenprint (edition 100), 36 x 29 inches (image). Romare Bearden (1911–1988), Jamming at the Savoy , 1980-1981. Etching and aquatint (edition 180), 16⅜ x 21½ inches (image). Romare Bearden (1911–1988), Falling Star , 1980, Lithograph (edition 175), 23½ x 18 inches (image). Continued on page 20