Paintings & Drawings

Romare Bearden Group, ca. 1978

Appraisal: Romare Bearden Group, ca. 1978

Transcript

GUEST: They were gifted to us directly from Romare Bearden. My husband was an artist's assistant, and worked for him, and along the way, they got a-bonding, and he was very generous. He gave us prints.

APPRAISER: Oh, that's fantastic. So we'll start with the sketch. And how did that come about?

GUEST: Okay. This is a six-by-nine pencil sketch that, it was about 1980. My husband, Bob, was at Romare's studio, and Romare was drawing.

APPRAISER: Yeah.

GUEST: And flipped it into re, into the receptacle, and Bob said, "Can I have it?"

APPRAISER: So… So he basically chucked this in the trash.

GUEST: He choke, chucked it in the trash.

APPRAISER: That's right.

GUEST: It's a sketch that's not signed, but it's so natural. Having a woman sitting by the wood-burning stove was very common theme with his work.

APPRAISER: Yes, and how about this piece here?

GUEST: Ah, that's my special one.

APPRAISER: Ah.

GUEST: This is one that was a birthday present from Romare.

APPRAISER: Okay.

GUEST: It was in 1979, and Romare had asked my husband if he wanted to go for dinner, and he said, "I can't. I have to take Marilyn for dinner. For her, it's her birthday." So Romare excused himself and brought this out to be given to me, and it says "Woman in the Garden– for Marilyn," and it's signed. But the one thing that I've discovered recently, Woman in the Garden is only Romare's title. It had gone public as Girl in the Garden.

APPRAISER: Yes. Tell me about this one.

GUEST: That is an exciting one– in the exhibit shops, Romare was working on a larger piece, and it's called Forest Pool, and it was part of the Caribbean series. And he cut an inch-and-a-half off the top. And so as a thank you, he said to Bob, "I've got something for you." It's probably the smallest collage he's ever done.

APPRAISER: (chuckles) Yes. As you mentioned, this is a sketch.

GUEST: Yes.

APPRAISER: And the cool thing about sketches is, it's almost like getting

a writer's, uh, notebook...

GUEST: Yes, yes, yes.

APPRAISER: ...and kind of seeing some of their ideas jotted down. Even though it's not signed, it's clearly in the style, and it's a theme that he revisited numerous times.

GUEST: Yes. Yes.

APPRAISER: And in the middle here, this piece, as you mentioned, it's, if you look it up, it's mentioned as “Girl in the Garden," right? But this is titled Woman in the Garden. And then a "For Marilyn" down here. And he signed it "Romare Bearden."

GUEST: Yes.

APPRAISER: It's interesting, too, because it's also recorded as "In the Garden,” without either "woman" or "girl" in the front.

GUEST: Interesting.

APPRAISER: So it's recorded in numerous ways.

GUEST: Interesting, but this is the way Romare wanted it to be, I assume.

APPRAISER: Yes-- yes.

GUEST: It's actually silk-screened on newsprint, because this was an artist's

print from the printer himself.

APPRAISER: What you're describing is what's called a B.A.T., a bon à tirer.

GUEST: Ooh! Ooh!

APPRAISER: And that's a term...

GUEST: Yes.

APPRAISER: ...used for the print that the artist makes and is, approves...

GUEST: Yes.

APPRAISER: ...and, and, and is used by the printer...

GUEST: Mm-hmm.

APPRAISER: ...to make sure that he gets it right.

GUEST: Mm-hmm, mm-hmm.

APPRAISER: And as you said, it's on, uh, newsprint. It's actually a color lithograph, but because it's on newsprint, it's a little more delicate in that sense.

GUEST: Very much so.

APPRAISER: Bearden was born in North Carolina.

GUEST: Mm-hmm.

APPRAISER: And when he was a small child, his family moved to New York, eventually settling into Harlem.

GUEST: Mm-hmm.

APPRAISER: But his grandparents and great-grandparents remained in North Carolina. This is more than likely his grandmother.

GUEST: Ah!

APPRAISER: Uh, and the reason I say that is because Bearden himself wrote a poem called "Sometimes." And in the poem, he talks about his grandmother being in the garden...

GUEST: Mm-hmm.

APPRAISER: ...with tiger lilies, which is what's inside this basket.

GUEST: Didn't know that, yes.

APPRAISER: Waving at passing trains, so it's kind of cool in that respect. This is a s, is a nice, uh, small collage. As you say, it's small, but it is a collage. And he's famous to, as a collage artist.

GUEST: Yes.

APPRAISER: It's hard to see, but it's signed "Romare" in pencil right here.

GUEST: Mm-hmm.

APPRAISER: And so about when did you, did you get all of these items, or did he get them?

GUEST: Well, let me see, the first was, um, that one was in 1975.

APPRAISER: Okay.

GUEST: These were in '79 and '80.

APPRAISER: Ah, so by then, he's in his studio in Long Island City, right?

GUEST: Yes, yes.

APPRAISER: And by the way, even though he's known as a collage artist, he was a very active printmaker.

GUEST: Hm!

APPRAISER: So there's nothing, uh, to take away from the fact that this is a color lithograph. And so this is from an edition of 150, and then there was a deluxe edition of 50.

GUEST: Mm-hmm.

APPRAISER: But because of the fact that it's unique, in the sense that it was the standard by which all the other prints were held against...

GUEST: Mm-hmm.

APPRAISER: ...I would say this is gonna be worth between $8,000 and $10,000 at auction. If it was just the print, as you mentioned it before...

GUEST: Mm-hmm, mm-hmm.

APPRAISER: ...one of the edition, or the deluxe edition, even...

GUEST: Mm-hmm.

APPRAISER: ...it would be somewhere in the neighborhood of $4,000 to $6,000, So… The sketch, I would say– it's not signed– but I would say it's still worth anywhere between, say, $800 and $1,200.

GUEST: Mm-hmm, mm-hmm.

APPRAISER: And then this collage, it's small. I would still say that it's probably worth, at auction, between $10,000 and $15,000.

GUEST: Wow.

APPRAISER: Yeah.

GUEST: So it's the whole story and the whole collage.

APPRAISER: It's the story, the fact that he's famous as a collage artist...

GUEST: Mm-hmm.

APPRAISER: ...and we should add, by the way, I mean, he has the distinction of being the first, and probably only, African American artist to have had a serious solo exhibition at the National Gallery of Art.

GUEST: He's incredible, yes.

APPRAISER: That was, that was in 2003. Unfortunately, he, he died in 1988.

GUEST: Mm-hmm, mm-hmm.

APPRAISER: So he wasn't around to, to, uh, experience that.

GUEST: Mm-hmm, mm-hmm, mm.

APPRAISER: But at least he got the recognition that he deserved.