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The Woodshed

1969
Not on view
Inspired by the memories of his family in Mecklenburg County, North Carolina, Bearden created domestic scenes that reflect the strength of Southerners under challenging circumstances. Here, a family of four gathers in a run-down shed for a meal and some music. United by everyday rituals, they are also brought together by Bearden's carefully structured format of rectangles and squares. As the artist noted in 1969, such compositions were influenced by his study of seventeenth-century Dutch paintings by Johannes Vermeer and Pieter de Hooch: "I came to some understanding of the way these painters controlled their big shapes, even when elements of different size and scale were included within those large shapes….When I begin a work now…I try only to establish the general layout of the composition. When that is accomplished, I attempt ever more definite statements, superimposing other materials over those I started with."

Artwork Details

Object Information
  • Title: The Woodshed
  • Artist: Romare Bearden (American, Charlotte, North Carolina 1911–1988 New York)
  • Date: 1969
  • Medium: Cut and pasted printed and colored papers, photostats, cloth, graphite, and sprayed ink on Masonite
  • Dimensions: 40 × 50 in. (101.6 × 127 cm)
  • Classification: Drawings
  • Credit Line: George A. Hearn Fund, 1970
  • Object Number: 1970.19
  • Curatorial Department: Modern and Contemporary Art

More Artwork

More Artwork
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Yarn samples for tapestry, "Recollection Pond", Romare Bearden American, Wool
Yarn samples for tapestry, "Recollection Pond"
Romare Bearden
ca. 1990
Tapestry "Recollection Pond", Romare Bearden American, Wool and cotton
Tapestry "Recollection Pond"
Romare Bearden
Pinton S.A.
designed 1974; executed 1990
The Family, Romare Bearden American, Color aquatint and photo engraving
The Family
Romare Bearden
1975
Study for "The Block" [rows of buildings], Romare Bearden American, Color marker and graphite on paper
Study for "The Block" [rows of buildings]
Romare Bearden
ca. 1971
Study for "The Block" [row of buildings, liquor store sign], Romare Bearden American, Color marker with graphite on paper
Study for "The Block" [row of buildings, liquor store sign]
Romare Bearden
ca. 1971

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