Style Imitating Art: “Conjunction” by Romare Bearden

About Style Imitating Art

Style Imitating Art is hosted by Salazar of 14 Shades of Grey, Terri of Meadow Tree Style, and Shelbee of Shelbee on the Edge. Style Imitating Art challenges us to draw style inspiration from pieces of art. Every other Monday, one of the hosts, acting as presenter, selects an inspiration image that they will each post on their blogs. The following Monday, each host shares her art inspired outfit. Participants are invited to submit their art inspired outfits to the presenter by 10:00 p.m. EST on the Tuesday following the hosts’ art inspired outfit posts. The following day, Wednesday, the presenter will share all of the submissions on her blog.

You don’t have to be a blogger to join either! In fact, you don’t even have to join but you can still use the art to inspire an outfit just for the sake of trying something different. If you want to share your inspired outfit, we invite you do so on Instagram or any other social media platform that you prefer. Just be sure to tag Salazar, Terri, and Shelbee or use #TeamLOTSStyle and #StyleImitatingArt so the hosts know you have joined. Go have some fun in your closets and join the SIA challenge next week!

This Week’s Presenter

That would be me! On our recent road trip to Asheville, North Carolina, Jeff and I spent a morning exploring the Asheville Art Museum. They currently are hosting a Romare Bearden exhibit, Ways of Working, until January 22, 2024. I was not familiar with this artist but I was really very emotionally moved by the works on display in Asheville. I learned what I could at the museum then I came home and learned some more. I am fascinated, moved, and inspired. So I knew that I was going to choose one of his works for this SIA challenge.

The Artwork

“Conjunction” by Romare Bearden

About the Artist: Romare Bearden

Romare Bearden was an American artist, songwriter, and author. He was born on September 2, 1911, in Charlotte, North Carolina, to African-American parents, Howard and Bessye Bearden. His father was a pianist and his mother was a civic activist who played a major role in the New York City Board of Education after the family moved to Harlem, New York, during the Great Migration when Romare was just a toddler. Bessye also went on to serve as founder and president of the Colored Women’s Democratic League.

As a child, Romare attended school within the New York City Public School System but moved to Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, with his grandparents when he was 16 years old. He remained in Pittsburgh until his graduation from Peabody High School in 1929. After graduation, he enrolled in Lincoln University, the second oldest historically Black college in the United States, near Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, but later transferred to Boston University in Massachusetts where he served as art director for the school’s student humor magazine. Bearden continued his post-graduate studies at New York University, shifting his focus away from athletics and more onto art, eventually becoming the art editor for The Medley, the monthly journal of the secretive Eucleian Society at NYU. He took classes in art, education, science, and mathematics, graduating in 1935 with a degree in science and education.

Descending from an eclectic heritage of Cherokee, Italian, and African, Romare Bearden had a very fair complexion which allowed him to cross certain societal boundaries of his time that other African-Americans were prohibited from even approaching.

During his high school years, Bearden was a talented athlete who participated in track and field, football, and baseball. When he transferred to Boston University, he was the starting fullback on the football team and then became the starting pitcher for the school’s baseball team. While attending BU, he also played for the Boston Tigers, a semi-professional, all Black team based in the Roxbury area of Boston. Bearden’s pitching eventually came to the attention of and impressed Philadelphia Athletics‘ owner, Connie Mack, prompting him to offer Bearden a position on the Athletics, fifteen years before Jackie Robinson became the first African-American player in major league baseball.

Historical sources conflict about whether Mack thought Bearden was white or he told Bearden that he would have to pass for white as a stipulation of his contract with the Athletics. Either way, Bearden decided that was bullsh*t and refused to hide his identity and heritage, ultimately rejecting Mack’s offer despite the Athletics’ World Series wins in 1929 and 1930. Bearden spent two more summers playing with the Boston Tigers, but after suffering an injury he shifted his focus primarily onto his art.

After completing his studies at NYU in 1935, Bearden remained in New York City where his family’s household had become a regular meeting place for prominent figures of the Harlem Renaissance. He continued studying art and supported himself as a political cartoonist for various African-American newspapers.

Bearden’s early art explored his personal life experiences in depictions of the American South with heavy influences from the Mexican muralists. In 1935, Bearden became a case worker for the New York City Department of Social Services in Harlem and continued working in this role off and on throughout his entire career. He joined the United States Army during World War II, serving in Europe from 1942-1945. After discharge from the Army, Bearden joined a commercial art gallery in New York City which inspired him to travel frequently to Europe to continue his study of art, which was financed by the newly passed G.I. Bill.

Bearden’s art began undergoing a major transition at this point as he started producing more abstract works representing experiences that he deemed “human.” Much of his work from this period is very spiritual in nature.

And then in the 1950’s, Bearden decided to try his hand at music. He co-wrote the 1959 hit song “Sea Breeze” recorded by Billy Eckstine and Dizzy Gillespie which is still considered a jazz classic today.

But art is where Bearden’s heart is. As his paintings became more abstract, he began experimenting with different ideas about space and composition which eventually led to the beginning of his collage work in the early 1960s. His collage techniques also shifted and changed over time as he added different components and materials and eventually used blown up photography, silk screens, and pieces of billboards to create large-scale collages.

In 1971, Bearden was commissioned by the city of Berkeley, California, to paint a 16 foot wide mural incorporating landmarks of the city in collage form. It was installed in 1973 to positive reception. The mural was taken down in 2003 to be part of a traveling retrospective of Bearden’s work and is currently in storage awaiting repairs on the City Hall building before reinstallation.

In 1954, at the age of 42, Bearden married 27 year old dancer Nanette Rohan who later became an artist herself and the couple one to develop the Bearden Foundation to assist young artists. On March 12, 1988, at the age of 76, Romare Bearden passed away due to complications from bone cancer. In his obituary, the New York Times described Bearden as “one of America’s pre-eminent artists” and “the nation’s foremost collagist.”

About the Art: “Conjunction”

“Conjunction” is a 1979 lithograph by Romare Bearden, measuring 18 3/4 x 15 in. (47.625 x 38.1 cm.). Being a social worker in Harlem for 29 years, many of Bearden’s works illustrate his passion for connecting people and helping one another. Conjunction shows three happy humans coming together in a joyful social interaction. Sending the message about the necessity of human connection (and conjunction) was incredibly important to Bearden. He made his message clear in both his social work and his art work. Conjunction was used on a series of USPS stamps in 2011 honoring the works of Bearden. 

The original lithograph belongs to the Harold A. and Ann R. Sorgenti Collection of Contemporary African-American Art but is currently on exhibit at the Asheville Art Museum.

Resources/References:

• Romare Bearden: Wikipedia
• Conjunction: PAFA
• Romare Bearden: Ways of Working-Asheville Art Museum

About My Outfit

I really thoroughly stumped myself by choosing this art work! I loved the vibrant colors and the message of connection and community but I did not think ahead at all. And then I had a lightbulb moment when I recalled these crazy pants that I picked up for a steal a few years ago. So I started with the trousers. And then I was stumped again. And again. And again. This was a hard one, y’all!

So I started digging through my sweater bins until I landed on this oversized and very cozy pumpkiny orange pullover. I just picked up the yellow tunic tee shirt for $1 at the thrift store and it was the perfect color for this art. I actually was going to cut up the yellow tee shirt to add into my latest rag curtain project. But after I washed it, I realized it was my favorite style of tunic from Torrid in my size and in a color I do not have so I kept it! And I have worn it about 5 times in the last two weeks. I completed my outfit with accessories in black, white, green, yellow, and orange to match all the colors in the lithograph.

I thought it was a rather silly outfit, but Jeff really loved it. I wore it all day running Sunday errands with the kids. It was comfortable and warm and I was certainly visible if my kids lost me in the mall! I was happy to rediscover these fun pants, too.

Speaking of my latest rag curtain project…I just completed this one for my dear friend Becca. It is called “Carolina on My Mind” and was inspired by the fall foliage on our October road trip to North Carolina. I absolutely love it and I am very excited to deliver it to her in February. Until then, I am enjoying looking at it every day. And the colors are actually perfect to represent this week’s art work, too!

If you want to join us with your own art-inspired outfit and be featured in my gallery post on Wednesday, November 22, 2023, please send your photos to me at shelbeeontheedge@gmail.com by Tuesday, November 21, 2023, at 10:00 p.m. EST. In the meantime, be sure to check out Salazar’s interpretation as well as Terri’s take on this artwork. 

Happy styling! 

Keeping it on the edge,

Shelbee

Linking up with these Fabulous Link Parties.

Outfit Details: Pants-Burlington Coat Factory / Sweater-Old Navy / Tunic-Torrid (Thrifted) / Boots-Thrifted / Hat-Kohl’s / Scarf-Handmade by an old friend / Crystal Necklace-Black Forest Trading Company / Horn Necklace-Traveling Chic Boutique / Earrings-Good Life Healing Arts & Gift Shop / Bag-Teddy Blake