Falling Star
Date1979
MediumLithograph on paper
DimensionsPlate: 23 × 18 inches (58.4 × 45.7 cm)
Sheet: 28 3/16 × 21 1/2 inches (71.6 × 54.6 cm)
Matted: 24 × 30 inches (61 × 76.2 cm)
Credit LineMuseum Purchase.
Object number1997.10.1
Copyright© 2024 Romare Bearden Foundation / Licensed by VAGA at Artists Rights Society (ARS), NY.
The images and text contained on this page are owned by Telfair Museums or used by the Museum with permission from the owners. Unauthorized reproduction, transmission or display of these materials is prohibited with the exception of items deemed “fair use” as defined by U.S. and international copyright laws.Label TextBorn in North Carolina, Romare Bearden moved to New York with his parents when he was 3. He spent summers in the South with his grandparents, and images and memories from the region figured prominently in his work as an artist. For decades Bearden was a social worker, painting in his spare time and gradually building a significant reputation as an artist, teacher, and humanist. He was a founding member of the Studio Museum in Harlem; Cinque Gallery, which promoted the work of young black artists; and Spiral, a group of African American artists who met to discuss potential contributions to the civil rights movement. Bearden’s work, often employing mixed media and collage, addressed subjects ranging from history to literature, music, urban life, and images from the South. To create Falling Star, he drew directly on the aluminum plates with lithographic crayon and in tusche (ink).