Bearden/Picasso: Rhythms and Reverberations

February 11 - May 21, 2023

Mint Museum Uptown

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About

Bearden/Picasso: Rhythms and Reverberations examines the impact of Pablo Picasso’s rich artistic practice on Romare Bearden and his work. The exhibition is divided into four sections: Bulls & Bullfights; Music & Rhythm; Doors & Windows; and Line & Color. Each section will feature works by Pablo Picasso and Romare Bearden.

Admission to Picasso Landscapes: Out of Bounds includes admission to Bearden/Picasso: Rhythms and Reverberations.

While various aspects of Bearden’s engagement with Picasso and Cubism have been occasionally explored, this is the first museum exhibition organized to explore the parallels between the artists. The works in the exhibition are drawn from the Mint’s deep holdings of Bearden’s art, as well as from both private and museum collections.

Bearden was an ardent scholar of art history who saw many examples of Picasso’s work in New York in the 1940s. Bearden wrote about various aspects of Picasso’s work during that time and also met Picasso in Paris in the 1950s. The influence of Cubism, and of Picasso’s work in particular, can be seen across Bearden’s career, from his early oils and watercolors of the 1940s in which his subjects are presented in abstracted planes of color. In the 1950s, Bearden’s experimentations with pure abstraction and Cubism can be seen at play. Bearden’s later collages reveal the impact of various aspects of Picasso’s work, ranging from the way in which he constructed pictorial space to his use of silhouetted figures and African masks. 

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We are thrilled to build upon our long history of exploring and celebrating the work of Romare Bearden with this exhibition, which is the first to examine shared subjects, themes, and artistic strategies of these two masters of twentieth century art.

– Jonathan Stuhlman, Senior Curator of American Art

*Members-only access to “Picasso Landscapes: Out of Bounds” and “Bearden/Picasso: Rhythms and Reverberations.”

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Exhibition Keepsake

Author Glenda Gilmore deepens our appreciation of Bearden’s place in the artistic canon and our understanding of his relationship to southern, African American, and American cultural and social history. Pick up a copy when you visit!

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Thank You to our Sponsors

Picasso Landscapes: Out of Bounds and Bearden/Picasso: Rhythms and Reverberations are generously presented in Charlotte by Bank of America, the City of Charlotte, Duke Energy, Mecklenburg County, M.A. Rogers, Ann and Michael Tarwater, North Carolina Arts Council, and Moore & Van Allen. Additional generous support is provided by: Leigh-Ann and Martin Sprock; Robin and Bill Branstrom, Sally Cooper, Laura and Mike Grace, Marshelette and Milton Prime; Posey and Mark Mealy, Chandra and Jimmie Johnson; Marty and Weston Andress, Mary and Walt Beaver, Betsy and Alfred Brand; Sarah and Tim Belk, toni and Alfred Kendrick, Beth and Drew Quartapella, Rocky and Curtis Trenkelbach, Charlotte and John Wickham; Mary Lou and Jim Babb, and Jo Ann and Joddy Peer. In-kind exhibition support provided by World Affairs Council of Charlotte. The Mint Museum is supported, in part, by the Infusion Fund and its generous donors.

Picasso Landscapes: Out of Bounds is organized by the American Federation of Arts with guest curator Laurence Madeline, with the exceptional support of the Musée national Picasso-Paris. The exhibition is generously supported by Monique Schoen Warshaw. Additional support has been provided by Betsy S. Barbanell, Lee White Galvis, Clare E. McKeon, and Stephanie R. La Nasa. Support for the accompanying publication provided by Furthermore: a program of the J.M. Kaplan Fund. Picasso Celebration 1973-2023: 50 exhibitions and events to celebrate Picasso. Bearden/Picasso: Rhythms and Reverberations is organized by The Mint Museum. 

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