An Afternoon Salon: Romare Bearden and Modernism
March 18, 2:00 PM - 6:00 PM
Mint Museum Uptown
Learn about the life and works of Romare Bearden in a discussion with Richard Powell, PhD, Duke University professor and Romare Bearden Foundation advisor; and Denise Murrell, PhD, curator-at-large at the Metropolitan Museum of Art; moderated by Diedra Harris-Kelly, co-director of the Romare Bearden Foundation.
Following the salon talk, visitors are invited to join the guest speakers and members of the Romare Bearden Foundation at a reception with live music by local jazz vocalist Dawn Anthony and the Lovell Bradford Trio. Copies of Dr. Powell and Dr. Murrell’s books will be available, along with gift giveaways, at The Mint Museum Store.
“An Afternoon Salon: Romare Bearden and Modernism” is presented in coordination with The Mint Museum’s exhibition Bearden/Picasso: Rhythms and Reverberations. The salon event is free to attend, however, registration is encouraged.
Salon schedule:
2-4 PM: Richard Powell, PhD; Denise Murrell, PhD, and moderator Diedra Harris-Kelley present “An Afternoon Salon: Romare Bearden and Modernism.”
4-6 PM: Jazz reception with local jazz vocalist Dawn Anthony along with the Lovell Bradford Trio, and opportunity to meet guest speakers and members of the Romare Bearden Foundation.
About the speakers:
Richard J. Powell, PhD, is the John Spencer Bassett Distinguished Professor of Art and Art History at Duke University, where he has taught since 1990. After completing his undergraduate studies at Morehouse College and earning an master’s degree in fine art from Howard University, Powell earned a master’s degree in African American Studies, as well as a master’s degree in philosophy and doctorate in history of art from Yale University.
A recognized authority on African American art and culture, Powell has organized numerous art exhibitions, most notably: The Blues Aesthetic: Black Culture and Modernism (1989); Rhapsodies in Black: Art of the Harlem Renaissance (1997); To Conserve A Legacy: American Art at Historically Black Colleges and Universities (1999); Back to Black: Art, Cinema, and the Racial Imaginary (2005); and Archibald Motley: Jazz Age Modernist (2014).
Denise Murrell, PhD, holds the position of Merryl H. and James S. Tisch Curator-at-Large at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Murrell was previously the associate curator of 19th- and 20th-Century Art at the Met. Prior to that, she was the curator of the exhibition Posing Modernity: The Black Model from Manet and Matisse to Today (October 2018–February 2019) at Columbia University’s Wallach Art Gallery while serving as the Wallach’s Ford Foundation Postdoctoral Research Scholar (2014–19). She was a co-curator of the exhibition’s expansion at the Musée d’Orsay, Paris, as Le Modèle Noir de Géricault à Matisse (March–July 2019) and a guest lecturer for its final tour as Le Modèle Noir de Géricault à Picasso at the Memorial ACTe, Pointe-à-Pitre, Guadeloupe (September–December 2019).
Diedra Harris-Kelley is co-director of the Romare Bearden Foundation, the nonprofit organization perpetuating the legacy of Romare Bearden. She offers a unique perspective on Bearden’s work being a formally trained painter, and niece of the artist’s late wife, Nanette Rohan Bearden. For the last 10 years, she has been part of the team leading the foundation through a successful run of exhibitions, publications, and educational and celebratory programs around the life and art of Bearden. She also acts as its chief researcher.
An Afternoon Salon: Romare Bearden and Modernism
March 18, 2-4 PM program; 4-6 PM reception and giveaways
Mint Museum Uptown
Free