Martin Luther King Memorial 1968

• Date:1968
• Type:

  print

• Medium:

  offset serigraph

• Size:

  29.75 in. x 19.5 in. (75.57 cm x 49.53 cm)

• Credit:

  Purchased through HKL Ltd. (?)

Bearden’s painterly importance both to American and African-American art is undisputed.  Though his Southern roots are frequent themes in his work, Bearden arrived in New York at a young age, first earning a degree in mathematics in 1935 from NYU, and then going on to study under George Grosz at the Art Students League of New York. Though surrounded by the avant-garde art scene in New York, Bearden was able to incorporate his classical art training with new styles of the times.  His work often bore tinges of collage, a characteristic stemming from his association with Grosz and the political cartoonist/collagist, John Heartfeld, as well as influenced by early-20th century cubism. Bearden’s work brings cohesively together photographic images with more painterly landscapes or figures.  Martin Luther King Memorial  (1968) and Untitled (1968) are excellent examples of Bearden’s ability to fuse the real and the painterly into a powerful evocative image; in this case, Bearden has chosen to focus on an important African-American political figure, a tendency that continued throughout his life.   Through his use of collage, Bearden was also able to deal with issues of color and form, often creating landscapes or images that border on the abstract.