Romare Bearden – Let’s Walk the Block

After looking through the first few pages and hearing the beginning of guided tour on the website I couldn’t help but think of Philadelphia. There is a picture attached of South Street, Philadelphia, called South Street Sizzle. I’ve always loved this painting and the colors and style reminded me a lot of Romare Bearden’s paintings. In “The Block” Bearden described Harlem as a young boy with energy. This continued to help me making connections. After thinking about South Street I started to think about boathouse row in Philadelphia, which would make such an incredible painting through Bearden’s eyes, I also thought about a colorful fisherman’s row that is in Italy. Bearden drew The Block from a memory and every single place has its own memory. Every person who keeps that memory sees it through a photograph, visual, song, image, etc. Memories like Harlem or South Street are seen through personal perspectives, experiences and most importantly imaginations. I believe that with a good imagination you can relive any memory or experience through the pictured painted in your mind. And like Beardens painting, each part and segment has its own representation that when put together makes the big picture clear.