III. Bearden’s Philosophy and Theme of Art

III. Bearden’s Philosophy and Theme of Art

  

 

“Art Should be understood and loved by the people. ”
“Modigliani, Picasso, Epstein and other modern artists studied African sculpture to reinforce their own design concepts. This would be perfectly appropriate for any Negro artist who cared to do the same. The critic asks that the Negro stay away from the white man’s art, but true artist feels that there is only one art – and it belongs to all mankind.”

 

What is Art? and what is Bearden’s thought of art? If we look at below sentences written by Bearden himself we can understand better his theme of art. “I admit that at the present time it is almost impossible for the Negro artist not to be influenced by the work of other men. Particularly all the great artists have accepted the influence of others. But the difference lies in the fact that the artist with vision, sees his material, chooses, changes, and by integrating what he has learned with his own experiences, finally molds something distinctly personal. ” After this Bearden gave us two examples he thought the best – Rivera and Orozco. What does this mean? Above citation alludes the artist (the Negro artist) should have something unique differentiated from others in their art. And two examples – two naive Mexican artists – suggest the Negro artist should find their uniqueness in their own culture. (African American culture) This theme of art goes through in his entire works from the beginning to the end. It can support my idea that Bearden had depicted the African-American scenes as a main subject matter in his entire artistic life and expressed his thoughts and feelings in a social realistic manner. This – kind of sympathy for his clan, African American people - was the basic motif for a whole range of his works. 

 

And Bearden, as the citation on the top, strongly believe that art should be universal (quite understandable) and should be flavored by the general public.
These two themes are the core of Bearden’s philosophy and his belief of art.
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