Romare Bearden
1911-1988
American
The Family (Around the Dining Table)
1975
Color photo-etching and aquatint on paper
125/175 in series
15” h x 20 5/16″ w
This exceptional print is the work of iconic painter and collage artist Romare Bearden. Depicting a group gathered around a table, it takes a traditional subject matter and re-imagines it to fit a modern-day reality, in much the same way that the Romantic movement removed art from the lofty purview of royalty, religion and mythology and featured common people as subject matter. Who are these people? A central male figure gazes out at the viewer. Larger than the other figures, he sits while a standing figure looks on and two smaller children peer out shyly, with one even seeming to hide behind the other.
