< Previous Image | Back to Subjects | Image List | Next Image >

Romare Bearden, Reclining Nude, c. 1977
collage of various papers with ink and graphite on fiberboard
Billie Allen
© Romare Bearden Foundation/Licensed by VAGA, New York, N.Y.

The beauty of the black woman was essential to Bearden's art. She is seen here in a minimalist composition that suggests Bearden's admiration for Henri Matisse (French, 1869-1954), whose paper cutouts from the 1930s through the 1950s would have been inspirational for a piece such as this.

Copyright © National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.