ROMARE BEARDEN

The first publication to focus on a rarely seen series of jazz-infused collages that explore the African American experience and the artist’s lifelong relationship to jazz music, by one of the most important and influential visual artists of the twentieth century.

Bearden (1911–1988) was a prominent African American artist often described as the consummate jazz painter, known for his innovative collages that explored themes of Black American culture, history, and personal experiences. This publication reexamines Bearden’s life and work in the context of jazz, tracing the musician’s impact from the artists’ earliest oil paintings to his iconic collages.

In 1981, Bearden created nineteen collages that the artist called his “Paris Blues,” or simply “Jazz,” series. Conceived as pages for an oversized book that would be a response to the Hollywood movie Paris Blues (1961)—though featuring Harlem and New Orleans along with Paris—the series has been little known until now. Here the wildly colorful illustrations are set alongside Bearden’s encounters with iconic jazz musicians, clubs, and cities. Examined for the first time in depth, the Paris Blues series makes a major statement on the relationships between visual art, jazz music, and urban spaces. The book also includes poignant photographs of Bearden and musicians in the 1950s–70s, such as Duke Ellington and Louis Armstrong.

Robert G. O'Meally is Zora Neale Hurston Professor of English at Columbia University and founding director of Columbia's Center for Jazz Studies. Mickalene Thomas is a New York–based artist known for her mixed-media paintings, particularly portraits of Black women, often incorporating rhinestones, glitter, and other nontraditional materials, which challenge conventional notions of beauty and identity.