The Street

Photography and Media

1964

Romare Bearden
American, 1911-1988

“The Street” is from Romare Bearden’s early “Projections” series, which documents the artist’s childhood in North Carolina and his migration to Harlem. These works began as small collages made with newspaper and magazine clippings, photographs, and paint, which were then enlarged using the Photostat copy process—which allowed Bearden to create large–scale reproductions on gelatin silver paper. Speaking later of the series, Bearden said, “What I’ve attempted to do is establish a world through art in which the validity of my Negro experience could live and make its own logic… . The medium I used was chosen intentionally because assemblage forges a variety of contrary images into one unified expression.

Status: Currently Off View
Department: Photography and Media

Artist: Romare Howard Bearden
Title: The Street
Place: United States (Artist's nationality:)
Date Dates are not always precisely known, but the Art Institute strives to present this information as consistently and legibly as possible. Dates may be represented as a range that spans decades, centuries, dynasties, or periods and may include qualifiers such as c. (circa) or BCE.: Made 1964
Medium: Photostat print
Edition: 1 of 6
Inscriptions: Unmarked recto; inscribed verso, on frame, upper center, upside-down, in black ink: 1551 . T ; verso, on frame, upper center, upside-down, in black ink: 2 ; verso, on backboard upper left, in graphite: T [encircled] / The Street / 2 ; verso, on frame, center, upside-down, in graphite: 1551 . T ; verso, on backboard, lower left, sideways, in graphite: 15 [encircled] ; verso, on backboard, lower right, upside-down, in graphite: T [encircled] ; verso, on frame, lower right, in black ink: 1651.T Verso, multiple labels: upper left: A.C.A. Galleries ; upper right (two times): DC Moore Gallery ; center left: "Cordier and Ekstom Inc."; center left: "A.C.A. Galleries ; center left: Council for Creative Projects : center right: Whitney Museum ; lower right: National Galler of Art ; lower right: University of Oklahoma Museum of Art
Dimensions: Image and mount: 78.7 × 101.6 cm (31 × 40 in.)
Credit Line: Purchased with funds provided by Artworkers Retirement Society
Reference Number: 2015.92

Golden, Thelma. 1997. “Romare Bearden in Black and White: Photomontage Projections 1964.” Exh. cat. Whitney Museum of American Art/Whimsical Wades., pp. 2-3.
Fine, Ruth. 2003. “The Art of Romare Bearden.” Exh. cat. National Gallery of Art. pl. 36, p. 36.
Matthew S. Witkovsky et al., “The Art Institute of Chicago Field Guide to Photography and Media,” eds. Antawan I. Byrd, Elizabeth Siegel, and Carl Fuldner, pl. 321, p. 328 (Chicago: Art Institute of Chicago, 2023).

New York, Cordier & Ekstrom, “Projections,” October 6-24, 1964.
Washinton, D.C., Corcoran Gallery of Art, “Projections,” October 1-31, 1965.
Albany, The Art Gallery State University of New York at Albany, “Romare Bearden Paintings and Projections,” November 25-December 22, 1968.
Norman, OK, University of Oklahoma Museum of Art, “Romare Bearden: Finding the Rhythm,” September 20-October 27, 1991.
Lee, MA, Council for Creative Projects, “The Painted Sounds of Romare Bearden,” 1994.
New York, New York, Whitney Museum of American Art at Phillip Morris, “Romare Bearden in Black and White: Photomontage Projections 1964,” organized by the Council for Creative Projects, Lee, MA, Januay 17-March 20, 1997; Traveled to Whitney Museum of Art, Stamford, CT, March 27-May 21, 1997; Madison Art Center, Madison, WI, August 23-November 16, 1997; Muscarelle Museum of Art, Williamsburg, VA, December 15, 1997-February 19, 1998; Mint Museum of Art, Charlotte, NC, March 7-May 8, 1998; Marietta/Cobb Museum of Art, Mariette, GA, May 22-August 10, 1998; Trout Gallery, Dickinson College, Carlisle, PA, September 4-October 31, 1998; Schneider Museum of Art, Ashland, OR, February 25-April 17, 1999; Museum of Abilene, TX, May 15-July 10, 1999.
Washington, D.C, National Gallery of Art, “The Art of Romare Bearden,” September 2003 - January 2004; Traveled to San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, San Francisco, CA, February 7-May 16, 2004; Dallas Museum of Art, Dallas, TX, June 20-September 12, 2004; Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, NY, October 14, 2004-January 9, 2005; High Museum of Art, Atlanta, GA, January 29-April 24, 2004.
Birmingham, AL, Birmingham Museum of Art, “Etched in Collective History,” August 18-November 17, 2013.
New York, NY, D.C. Moore Gallery, “Romare Bearden: Insight & Innovation,” March 20-April 19, 2014.
Art Institute of Chicago, Gallery 10 Permanent Collection Rotation, May 28-November 6, 2016.
Art Institute of Chicago, “A Field Guide to Photography and Media,” Nov. 10, 2022–Apr. 10, 2023.

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