The Block is a tribute to Harlem, a neighborhood in New York City that nurtured both the life and work of artist Romare Bearden. Although he was born in Charlotte, North Carolina, Bearden spent part of each year in New York throughout his childhood. In 1940 he established his first studio in Harlem, at 33 West 125th Street, in the same building as the artist Jacob Lawrence and the poet novelist Claude McKay. During the 1940s Bearden was active in the Harlem cultural community as part of the informal artists' organization known as the 306 Group and as a member of the Harlem Artists Guild.
Each of the six panels of The Block presents an aspect of life in Harlem, depicting such neighborhood institutions as the Evangelical church, the barbershop, and the corner grocery store. Bearden took artistic license in revealing the private moments of tenement life as well as the exuberant humanity that existed in the prototypical city block. His concern with social issues reflects the influence of the German artist George Grosz, with whom Bearden had studied at the Art Students League in the 1930s. The "Cubist" character of Bearden's cut-paper collage, a technique with which he is associated, resulted from formal experimentation, the documentary impulse of Dadaist photomontage, and Bearden's own modern vision, which matured during the 1940s and 1950s.
The original installation of this work included a tape recording of street sounds to enhance the viewer's visual experience of the work, but even without this accompaniment the vitality of the scene is palpable.
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Left panel of six (1978.61.1)
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Second panel from left of six (1978.61.2)
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Third panel from left of six (1978.61.3)
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Fourth panel from left of six (1978.61.4)
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Fifth panel from left of six (1978.61.5)
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Right panel of six (1978.61.6)
Artwork Details
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Title:The Block
Artist:Romare Bearden (American, Charlotte, North Carolina 1911–1988 New York)
Date:1971
Medium:Collage of cut and torn printed, colored, painted and metallic papers with graphite, porous-point pen, watercolor, opaque watercolor, and ink on Masonite
Dimensions:48 in. × 18 ft. (121.9 × 548.6 cm) Other (Individual panel): 48 × 36 in. (121.9 × 91.4 cm)
Classification:Drawings
Credit Line:Gift of Mr. and Mrs. Samuel Shore, 1978
Inscription: Signed (panel 1, upper right, in black pen): Romare Bearden; (panel 4 upper left, in black pen): Romare Bearden; (panel 6, lower left, in red pencil): Romare Bearden
Shorewood Publishers, New York (1971–77); Mr. and Mrs. Samuel Shore, Bridgehampton, N.Y. (1978; their gift to MMA)
Museum of Modern Art, New York. "Romare Bearden: The Prevalence of Ritual," March 25–June 7, 1971, no. 56 (lent by Shorewood Publishers, New York).
Washington, D.C. National Collection of Fine Arts. "Romare Bearden: The Prevalence of Ritual," July 16–September 12, 1971, no. 56.
Berkeley. University Art Museum. "Romare Bearden: The Prevalence of Ritual," October 25–December 5, 1971, no. 56.
Pasadena Art Museum. "Romare Bearden: The Prevalence of Ritual," December 20, 1971–January 30, 1972, no. 56.
Atlanta. High Museum of Art. "Romare Bearden: The Prevalence of Ritual," February 27–April 9, 1972, no. 56.
New York. Andrew Crispo Gallery. "Twelve Americans, Masters of Collage: Bearden, Cornell, Courtright, Dole, Dove, Krasner, Motherwell, Rauschenberg, Reinhardt, Ryan, Stella, Wesselmann," November 17–December 30, 1977, no. 13 (lent by Shorewood Publishers, New York).
New York. Goddard-Riverside Community College. "Collage exhibition," April 21–May 9, 1978, no catalogue.
Albany. New York State Senate. "Twelve Americans from the Metropolitan Museum of Art," May 5–June 20, 1980, unnumbered cat. (p. 7) [panels .2 and .6 exhibited only].
Charlotte, N. C. Mint Museum of Art. "Romare Bearden: 1970–1980," October 12, 1980–January 4, 1981, no. 9.
Baltimore Museum of Art. "Romare Bearden: 1970–1980," April 28–June 14, 1981, no. 9.
Brooklyn Museum. "Romare Bearden: 1970–1980," September 26–November 29, 1981, extended to January 3, 1982, no catalogue.
Bronx Museum of the Arts. "The Artist Celebrates New York: Selected Paintings from The Metropolitan Museum of Art," February 2–March 24, 1985, unnum. brochure.
Long Island University, Brooklyn Campus. "The Artist Celebrates New York: Selected Paintings from The Metropolitan Museum of Art," April 17–June 2, 1985, unnum. brochure.
Queens. Jamaica Arts Center. "The Artist Celebrates New York: Selected Paintings from The Metropolitan Museum of Art," June 15–July 27, 1985, unnum. brochure.
Staten Island Museum. "The Artist Celebrates New York: Selected Paintings from The Metropolitan Museum of Art," September 8–October 20, 1985, unnum. brochure.
New York. City College of New York. "The Artist Celebrates New York: Selected Paintings from The Metropolitan Museum of Art," October 25–December 13, 1985, unnum. brochure.
Pleasantville, N. Y. Reader's Digest. "Faces and Figures: Selected Works by Black Artists from The Metropolitan Museum of Art," February 12–April 1, 1988, brochure no. 5 (panel .6 exhibited only as "Mirror Barbership").
New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "14 Americans," July 16, 1990–January 2, 1991, no catalogue.
New York. Studio Museum in Harlem. "Memory and Metaphor: The Art of Romare Bearden, 1940–1987," April 14–August 11, 1991, no. 79.
New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "New York," September 1995–January 1996, no catalogue.
New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "Romare Bearden at the Met," October 19, 2004–March 6, 2005, no catalogue.
New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "Romare Bearden's 'The Block'," January 15–August 8, 2010, no catalogue.
New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "Romare Bearden (1911–1988): A Centennial Celebration," August 30, 2011–March 4, 2012, no catalogue.
New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "The Harlem Renaissance and Transatlantic Modernism," February 25–July 28, 2024, unnumbered cat. (pl. 133).
Charles Allen. "'Have the Walls Come Tumbling Down?'." New York Times (April 11, 1971), p. D28.
Grace Glueck. "Works of Bearden and Hunt Are Displayed." New York Times (March 24, 1971), p. 50.
John Gruen. "Galleries & Museums: The Rhythms of Life." New York (April 12, 1971), p. 61.
M. Bunch Washington. The Art of Romare Bearden : The Prevalence of Ritual. New York, [1972], p. 194, colorpl. 81.
Calvin Tomkins. "Profiles: Romare Bearden. Putting Something Over Something Else." New Yorker 53 (November 28, 1977), pp. 75–76.
Carol Lawson. "Weekender Guide: Street Art Indoors." New York Times (April 28, 1978), p. C24.
Henry Geldzahler. Twelve Americans from the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Exh. cat., New York State Senate, Albany. New York, 1980, pp. 6–7, ill. (panels .2 and .6).
Avis Berman. "Romare Bearden: 'I Paint out of the Tradition of the Blues'." Art News 79 (December 1980), pp. 64–65, ill.
William S. Lieberman inTwelve Americans from The Metropolitan Museum of Art. Exh. cat., New York State Senate, Albany. New York, 1980, p. 3.
Albert Murray inRomare Bearden: 1970–1980. Ed. Jerald L. Melberg and Milton J. Bloch. Exh. cat., Mint Museum. Charlotte, N.C., 1980, pp. 27, 35, no. 9, ill. pp. 50–51 (color).
Jane McKinnon inRomare Bearden: 1970–1980. Ed. Jerald L. Melberg and Milton J. Bloch. Exh. cat., Mint Museum. Charlotte, N.C., 1980, p. 100, no. 50.
John Russell. "Jazzy Collages By Romare Bearden at The Brooklyn." New York Times (October 2, 1981), p. C14.
Lowery S. Sims. The Artist Celebrates New York: Selected Paintings from The Metropolitan Museum of Art. Exh. brochure, Bronx Museum of the Arts. New York, 1985, unpaginated.
Richard F. Shepard. "Discovering Hidden New York: A City Album." New York Times (November 1, 1985), p. C30.
Lowery S. Sims in20th Century Art: Selections from the Collection of The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York. Vol. 2, Painting: 1945–1985. New York, 1986, pp. 46–47, ill. (color).
William S. Lieberman in20th Century Art: Selections from the Collection of The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York. Vol. 2, Painting: 1945–1985. New York, 1986, p. 7.
Michael Brenson. "Large Spaces, Large Questions at The Met." New York Times (March 15, 1987), pp. 35–36.
Maureen Mullarkey. "Tuesday at the Met." Hudson Review 40 (Summer 1987), pp. 204–5.
Richard F. Shepard. "Seeing the Evolution of New York City Through Artists' Eyes." New York Times (March 20, 1987), p. C26.
Theodore F. Wolff. "Metropolitan Museum of Art: Big Lift from a New Wing." Christian Science Monitor (February 2, 1987), p. 25.
Paul Richard. "Mixing It Up At the Metropolitan: Standards & Surprises at the Museum's New Wallace Wing." Washington Post (February 1, 1987), p. F9.
Helen Kohen. "Metropolitan Goes Modern With New Wing." Miami Herald (February 1, 1987), p. 8K.
Lowery S. Sims. Faces and Figures: Selected Works by Black Artists from The Metropolitan Museum of Art. Exh. brochure, Reader's Digest, Pleasantville, N.Y. 1988, unpaginated, no. 5.
Matthew S. Witkovsky. "Experience vs. Theory: Romare Bearden and Abstract Expressionism." Black American Literature Forum 23 (Summer 1989), p. 280.
Myron Schwartzman. Romare Bearden: His Life and Art. New York, 1990, pp. 53, 56, 228, 230, 277, 280, ill. pp. 52–53 (color), 279 (installation photo, Exh. Charlotte 1980–81).
Sharon F. Patton inMemory and Metaphor: The Art of Romare Bearden 1940–1987. Exh. cat., Studio Museum in Harlem. New York, 1991, pp. 50, 121, no. 79, fig. 45 (panel .6).
Grace Glueck. New York: The Painted City. Salt Lake City, 1992, pp. 10–11, ill. (color), calls it "The Block, the Fabric of Many Lives".
Sharon F. Patton. "A Divine Presence in the Art of Romare Bearden." Prism 15 (1992), p. 32, fig. 4 (panel .3).
Richard J. Powell. Jacob Lawrence. New York, 1992, unpaginated, suggests that this work was inspired by Jacob Lawrence, "This is Harlem," 1943 (Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden, Washington, D.C.).
Romare Bearden and Langston Hughes. The Block. New York, 1995, ill. (color, overall and details).
Stella Paul. Twentieth-Century Art at the Metropolitan Museum of Art: A Resource for Educators. New York, 1999, pp. 114–17, ill. (color detail, panel .1, and bw overall).
Ruth Fine inThe Art of Romare Bearden. Exh. cat., National Gallery of Art. Washington, D. C., 2003, pp. 8, 64, 67, 113, 260 n. 154.
Elizabeth Alexander. "The Genius of Romare Bearden." Something All Our Own: The Grant Hill Collection of African American Art. Ed. Alvia J. Wardlaw. Durham, N.C., 2004, pp. 67–68.
Kymberly N. Pinder. "Deep Waters: Rebirth, Transcendence, and Abstraction in Romare Bearden's Passion of Christ." Romare Bearden, American Modernist. Ed. Ruth Fine and Jacqueline Francis. Washington, D.C., 2011, pp. 158, 161, 163, fig. 20.
Jacqueline Francis. "Bearden's Hands." Romare Bearden, American Modernist. Ed. Ruth Fine and Jacqueline Francis. Washington, D.C., 2011, p. 135.
Holland Cotter. "A Griot for a Global Village." New York Times (December 9, 2011), p. C34, ill. p. C29 (panel .1).
David Yezzi. "Romare Bearden at 100." New Criterion 29 (May 2011), pp. 26–27.
The Metropolitan Museum of Art Guide. New York, 2012, pp. 432–33, ill. (color).
Lisa Mintz Messinger. "Romare Bearden's 'The Block': An American Story." Tretyakov Gallery Magazine 34, no. 1 (2012), pp. 107–9, ill. (color, overall and details).
Ayana Mathis. "Albert Murray." New York Times (January 25, 2015), p. A27.
Kymberly N. Pinder. "Deep Waters: Rebirth, Transcendence, and Abstraction in Romare Bearden's Passion of Christ." Beholding Christ and Christianity in African American Art. Ed. James Romaine and Phoebe Wolfskill. University Park, Penn., 2017, pp. 161, 163 [abridged version of Ref. Pinder 2011].
Mary Schmidt Campbell. An American Odyssey: The Life and Work of Romare Bearden. New York, 2018, pp. 245–51, 259, 266–68, 270, 289–90, 299, 301, 386 n. 49, p. 387 n. 55, p. 388 nn. 56, 58.
The Metropolitan Museum of Art Guide. New York, 2019, p. 432, ill. pp. 432–33 (color).
Calvin Tomkins. "Putting Something Over Something Else." The Romare Bearden Reader. Ed. Robert G. O'Meally. Durham, N.C., 2019, p. 51 [reprints Ref. Tomkins 1977].
Elizabeth Alexander. "The Genius of Romare Bearden." The Romare Bearden Reader. Ed. Robert G. O'Meally. Durham, N.C., 2019, p. 193 [reprints Ref. Alexander 2004].
Robert G. O'Meally. "'Pressing on Life Until It Gave Back Something in Kinship': An Introductory Essay." The Romare Bearden Reader. Ed. Robert G. O'Meally. Durham, N.C., 2019, p. 25 n. 17.
Max Hollein. Modern and Contemporary Art in The Metropolitan Museum of Art. New York, 2019, ill. pp. 138–39 (color).
Albert Murray. "Bearden Plays Bearden." The Romare Bearden Reader. Ed. Robert G. O'Meally. Durham, N.C., 2019, p. 251 [reprints Ref. Murray 1980].
Darryl Pinckney. "'Who Shall Describe Beauty?'." New York Review of Books 71 (May 9, 2024), p. 21.
Lauren Rosati. "The Sounds of 'The Block'." Perspectives. Online resource [metmuseum.org/perspectives/articles], February 22, 2024, ill. (color, overall and details).
Jasmine Weber. "Best New York Art City Shows of 2024: 'The Harlem Renaissance and Transatlantic Modernism'." hyperallergic.com. December 12, 2024.
Rachel Hunter Himes. "A Cosmopolitan Modernism." thenation.com. April 15, 2024.
Hilton Als. "The Art World: Harlem is Everywhere." New Yorker 100 (March 11, 2024), p. 72.
Nadja Sayej. "The Met Pays Tribute to New York’s Great Black Artists." observer.com. March 12, 2024, dates it 1970.
Karen Wilkin. "A Sprawling Survey." wsj.com (March 14, 2024).
Jerry Saltz. "The Art Review: The Met's Harlem Renaissance Mea Culpa." New York Magazine (February 26, 2024).
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Albert Murray (American, Nokomis, Alabama 1916–2013 New York)
ca. 1971
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