The Influence of Jazz in Romare Bearden's work
Romare Bearden was one of the most influential African American artists of the
twentieth century. He grew up in New York and contributed largely to the progressive art of the Harlem Renaissance. He captured lively scenes of everyday life in his former
hometowns of North Carolina, Pittsburgh and Harlem. Some of his most highly regarded works take on the subject of music, jazz and blues in particular. He even composed music and played in various jazz bands. It is clear Romare Bearden's artwork from the Of the Blues series was highly influenced by the jazz and blues music of Harlem.
In 1975, Romare Bearden created a series of nineteen collages that he titled Of the Blues. In that same year an exhibition was held at Cordier & Eckstrom Gallery in New York to feature these works. The gallery was filled with collages featuring New York clubs and other music scenes. This series explored jazz and from every angle. Schwartzman says," both series traced jazz from its folk sources, sacred and secular, to the cities in which its major styles evolved (New Orleans, New York, Chicago, Kansas City), then to its performers, and finally to its abstract sounds". The collages from this exhibition showed the extremely personal relationship and interaction that Bearden had with music. He shows us that in the clubs, loud and vibrant music was performed. The music can almost be felt and heard when viewing a depiction of those scenes.
A piece from 1974, entitled Of the Blues: Carolina Shout, was part of the series. It is a collage of what appears to be a baptism scene. One can assume that from the figures that stand above blue, watery forms that seems to be a body of water. The dark ...
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...ent ground. the background is bright red and has large graphic circles of yellows, pinks, and blues. They seem to mimic the idea of a musical notes. It is composed of flat figural forms cut from vibrant paper. This was not the only album cover that Romare Bearden ever created. He also did another album cover for Wynton Marsalis called J Mood.
One can see that Romare Bearden's artwork was highly influenced by music. It can be seen in the bright and lively New York club scenes with the dancing couples and band performances. It can also be seen in the collages that depict the gritty music culture outside of the performances in the Storyville. Aside from the imagery, Bearden even used the improvisational method of collage that he associated greatly with jazz. Bearden was certainly a genius at bringing us vibrant, upbeat scenes of life in the jazz and blues culture.
As the United States entered the 1920's it was not as unified as one might think. Not one, but two societies existed. The Black society, whose ancestors had been oppressed throughout the ages, and the White society, the oppressors of these men and women. After emancipation the Whites no longer needed the Blacks, but were forced to live with them. The Blacks despised the Whites, but even so they became more like them in every way. Even though these two races had grown so similar over the past century and a half, they were still greatly diversified. One aspect of this great diversity was the difference in music trends. The White society was still in love with the European classical music. The Blacks on the other hand had created something all their own. Jazz, Blues, and Ragtime originated in New Orleans in the 19th century, but by the 1920's it had become famous throughout America. The Whites tried to suppress the Blacks with new laws, but the power of this strengthened race was too great. The Negro music of the 20th century had a huge affect ...
Over all, I can honestly say that I never really had an appreciation for Jazz music until I read some of Langston Hughes’s work and was able to attend the Jazz Big Band performance. I really enjoyed seeing and listening to the different styles of Jazz music. By attending this performance I noticed that are parallels between Hughes work and some of the Jazz music herd today. Some of these comparisons consist of repetition, racial collaboration, and
Jazz is referred as “America’s classical music,” and is one of North America’s and most celebrated genres. The history of Jazz can be traced back to the early era of the 20th century of the U.S. “A History of Jazz” presents From Ragtime and Blues to Big Band and Bebop, jazz has been a part of a proud African American tradition for over 100 years. A strong rhythmic under-structure, blue notes, solos, “call-and response” patterns, and
In the studio of his mentor, Charles Alston, young Lawrence painted while the Harlem Renaissance was blooming with a generation of young artists and writers. He studied at the Harlem Art Workshop from 1932-1937 and at the American Artists School from 1937-1939. In the 1930's there were two main art groups,realism art and abstractionism art. Lawrence rejected both of them and made up his own style of art. His paintings are alive with human figures, usually African Americans, engaged in all different types of activities.
Trumpeter and band leader Maynard Ferguson once said that “change is always happening. That’s one of the wonderful things about jazz music.” Ferguson’s view of America’s most beloved and celebrated genre of music can refer to the main element in jazz, improvisation or the developing styles that emerged in different locations and eras in the United States. Jazz itself has no set time period or location where it was born and because of this many scholars, as well as, the public have various opinions in regards to the beginning of jazz. A popular lore is that Jazz was created in Storyville, a red-light district in New Orleans. However, research has shown that it developed from both African and European influences of the past. Since the combination
The rapid development of jazz in both the United States and Europe generated a number of diverse musical expressions, including musics that most listeners today would not recognize as “jazz” music. In order to remedy this situation, jazz musicians and critics after 1930 began to codify what “real” jazz encompassed, and more importantly, what “real” jazz did not encompass. This construction of authenticity, often demarcated along racial lines, served to relegate several artists and styles (those outside a “mainstream” to the margins of historiography.
The Jazz Age was one of the many highlights of the 1920’s before the stock market crash that triggered the start of the Great Depression in 1929. Because of the distress that the American soldiers faced during World War 1, many of them returned questioning the true meaning of life. Their solution was to recklessly enjoy their lives since you only live once. A completely new culture bloomed during the decade through it’s new music, crazy dancing and brand new atmosphere. While the country seemed to be rather optimistic as a whole during the 1920’s, this decade actually had quite a few issues. Although the United States demonstrated confidence throughout the decade, there were many situations in which the country experienced disillusionment and isolation.
During the 1920's and 30’s, America went through a period of astonishing artistic creativity, the majority of which was concentrated in one neighborhood of New York City, Harlem. The creators of this period of growth in the arts were African-American writers and other artists. Langston Hughes is considered to be one of the most influential writers of the period know as the Harlem Renaissance. With the use of blues and jazz Hughes managed to express a range of different themes all revolving around the Negro. He played a major role in the Harlem Renaissance, helping to create and express black culture. He also wrote of political views and ideas, racial inequality and his opinion on religion. I believe that Langston Hughes’ poetry helps to capture the era know as the Harlem Renaissance.
John Taylor’s picture of the signing is very realistic, especially when compared to Wolf’s picture, which is in a much more abstracted form. In Taylor’s picture the viewer can easily recognize natural objects shown in their true form. For example, the landscape in the background of the piece is easily recognizable as a forest. The layout is filled with tall trees and wavy grass. The
The Blues is a music genre also known as a uniquely American art form.The main influences of the Blues music genre were the economic structures of the USA that kept African Americans for majority locked in illiteracy and poverty, especially in the dusty corners of the Deep South of the United States. It was the endless struggle that helped shape much of the Early blues tradition. The blues style was developed from African American roots and traditions.
The first jazz was played in the early 20th century. The work chants and folk
This is an image that I think of when I consider Japanese culture. They love gardens like this and you see similar images often when considering their culture. It is difficult to tell for sure, but the people in the distance appear to be dressed up. It is as though they have put on their best clothes to step out and enjoy this relaxing setting. I believe that this print is successful at capturing a moment in the mid 1800’s very well. It causes me to sense and experience what the artist was trying to capture. This print seems to conform to the formal theory of art. The print has only images of each object. None of them are particularly detailed or real to life but they do a very good job of organizing and describing the basic elements of the scene. It uses similar colors, shapes, and lines to those one might find in this garden in
What is Jazz? According to the dictionary, jazz is defined as, "A kind of syncopated, highly rhythmic music originated by Southern blacks in the late 19th century" ("Jazz" 232). But, everyone should at least agree that jazz is the mother of all music, and is referred to as the only art form originating in the United States ("History 101" 2). America was home to immigrants from all over Europe and beyond who wished to build a new life, or just needed to escape from the old. These people, often thought of as second-class, brought their culture with them to America, expressed it musically, and changed the music world as we know it today.
The Harlem Renaissance refers to a prolific period of unique works of African-American expression from about the end of World War I to the beginning of the Great Depression. Although it is most commonly associated with the literary works produced during those years, the Harlem Renaissance was much more than a literary movement; similarly, it was not simply a reaction against and criticism of racism. The Harlem Renaissance inspired, cultivated, and, most importantly, legitimated the very idea of an African-American cultural consciousness. Concerned with a wide range of issues and possessing different interpretations and solutions of these issues affecting the Black population, the writers, artists, performers and musicians of the Harlem Renaissance had one important commonality: "they dealt with Black life from a Black perspective." This included the use of Black folklore in fiction, the use of African-inspired iconography in visual arts, and the introduction of jazz to the North.[i] In order to fully understand the lasting legacies of the Harlem Renaissance, it is important to examine the key events that led to its beginnings as well as the diversity of influences that flourished during its time.
..., where his paintings grew even more popular due to their religious themes. His study in drawing and painting became beneficial to becoming friends with a renowned mentor, Stuart Davis. “In the early 1930’s, he joined the Harlem Artists Guild and was responsible for the drawing of cartoons that were to be published in Baltimore Afro-American. He formed the spiral group that dealt with the promotion of the black artists’ works, as well as, exploring ways for contributing to the civil rights movements at that time” (edu, 2014). His lifelong commitment to African Art, helped shape the way that African American art was viewed.