Romare Bearden's art is the riffing of a bluesy cornet to the midcult art world's ubiquitous Bach suite. It lacks the chilled fragility of landscapes or portraiture; it surpasses the folksy kitsch of idiomatic primitives.
Just as there was nothing delicate about the rotund and affable Bearden, a preeminent African American artist at the time of the Harlem Renaissance, there is nothing dainty about his oeuvre. His drawings, lithographs, watercolors and, most prominently, collages do not simply sing-they belt out a confluence of Bearden's life experiences, from his rural Southern roots to his days spent on the Caribbean islands.
"Conjuring Bearden," a four-month exhibition opening Saturday at the Nasher Museum of Art, captures that throaty and reverberating voice, one of a master. Yet the display goes beyond the physical art; it showcases the research and work of Professor of Art History Richard J. Powell and four students, who together curated the show.
Preparations began in the summer of 2005, when Powell taught a first-session course on Bearden's life and works designed to culminate in an exhibit. And although student-curated exhibition is a course offering every year, the resources of the new Nasher museum elevated the status of the show.
"When we conceived this project, it was important to us to have this exhibition stand on the same level as every other exhibition at the Nasher," senior Victoria Trout said, who with fellow seniors Margaret Di Giulio, Alicia Garcia and Christine Wang made up the student team. "We should be held to the same standard."
But without the support of the Nasher, Trout said, the show would have never materialized. Associate Curator Anne Schroder, the coodinating curator for the event, acted on behalf of the Nasher as guru for all things technical. Since the inception of "Conjuring Bearden," she has written letters requesting the loans, arranged for the art's shipment to Durham and worked to devise the special events slated to accompany the show.
The students were not physically in the museum during the process, so the task fell to museum staff to bring everything together, Schroder said. "You have to have a professional staff person overseeing production."
But the students' work extended far beyond research assistance, beyond simply scouring the library for biographical information. They penned scholastic essays for the exhibition catalogue and wrote display text to hang next to pieces.
"So much energy has gone into this-it's a contribution to scholarship," Schroder said. "They've done some very creative work."
As part of the process, the team traveled to New York to speak with Bearden's family and scholars at the Bearden Foundation.
"There have been so many shows done on Bearden generally, I think it was great for the family to see a new perspective-student interest on a grassroots level," Garcia said.
The show features a few pieces yet unseen by the public, including several watercolors the group found unframed at the Bearden Foundation.
Garcia said finding those works was a thrill for the entire curatorial team.
"They laid this folder flat on the floor and showed us [the watercolors]. The colors were so explosive-it was such a rush to see them," she said. "As they were pulling each of the boards out of the envelopes, we were just gasping."
Garcia's essay for the catalogue focuses specifically on the watercolor series, done while Bearden was living in the Caribbean.
"It's a change of form, because everyone knows [Bearden] for his collages," she said. "The local influence really echoes the subject very well-you have these amazing swirling women, showing a spiritual possession."
Bayou Fever, another series the group discovered in New York, is a collage-on-cardboard storyboard for a ballet. Comprised of more than a dozen works, it contains pieces that were kept in manila envelopes at the foundation headquarters until they were framed for "Conjuring Bearden."
Neither the watercolors nor Bayou Fever were included in the National Gallery of Art's 2003 exhibition on Bearden, now on a nationwide tour.
"Conjuring Bearden" will also contribute the exhibit catalogue, another student-staff hybrid work. The four students spent the fall semester working on their catalogue essays under Powell's tutelage.
"This is an opportunity for the students to work closely with someone who has a lot of experience and a lot of connections," Schroder said, calling the final product exquisite. "It's just astounding what they've been able to achieve in such a short period of time."
The show will share gallery space with another exhibition celebrating African American artists. The exhibit, "Something All Our Own," is made up of pieces from former Duke basketball player Grant Hill's personal art collection. Because the two shows are of the same genre, several of the works in "Something All Our Own" are also by Bearden.
Trout said her catalogue essay, focusing on themes of urbanity in Bearden's work, actually highlights a piece found not in "Conjuring Bearden," but in "Something All Our Own."
Trout said that the entire experience, from researching the works to writing the essay, was unlike anything most college students get to experience.
"It culminated when we walked into the gallery the other day and all the pieces were just sitting there," she said. "We did this work, and there it is, ready to go on the wall."
Conjuring Bearden will be on display at the Nasher Museum of Art from March 4 until July 16. Admission is free for Duke students, faculty and staff, $4 for seniors and alums, and $5 for all others. Call (919) 684-5135 or visit www.nasher.duke.edu for more information.
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