Art News

Metropolitan Museum displays Romare Bearden’s The Block for centennial tribute to the artist

NEW YORK, N.Y.- On the occasion of the 100th anniversary of the birth of Romare Bearden, The Metropolitan Museum of Art will display Bearden’s The Block, a six-panel tableau that portrays one city block of the Harlem neighborhood that nurtured his career. On view at the Metropolitan Museum from August 30, 2011, through January 2, 2012, Romare Bearden (1911-1988): A Centennial Celebration is presented in conjunction with a multi-city centennial tribute to the life and work of this great American artist. Romare Bearden’s embrace of an unusual medium—paper collage—set him apart as an artist. Jazzy, syncopated compositions, made with found materials such as magazine clippings, old photographs, and colored papers elevated the medium to