Romare Bearden in the Homeland of His Imagination

“Glenda Gilmore has given us a miracle of scholarship and insight: the historical Romare Bearden, in place(s), ancestry, and varied influence. The depth of research here is devotional, revealing a profound understanding of the artist’s imagination as it emerges from—and riffs on—his lived experience and that of the people he comes from. Gilmore has given us the gift of deeper understanding of how Bearden’s origins manifest in his work, spark his invention, and complicate his genius.”—Elizabeth Alexander, President, The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation

“This book tells of two lives in one. One life is Bearden’s, which Glenda Gilmore tells in sublime detail. The other is the one that exists purely on the page, the work of Gilmore’s historical art—a rare blend of archival curiosity and ethical commitment.”—Alexander Nemerov, author of Fierce Poise: Helen Frankenthaler and 1950s New York

“Inspiring. . . . An insightful biography of one of the twentieth century’s most preeminent artists, whose powerful, intimate work illuminates the beauty and resilience of the human spirit.”—Foreword Reviews

“A thoughtful, illuminating investigation of Bearden’s place in—and shaping of—20th-century American art. . . . Incisive.”—Kirkus Reviews

“Like Bearden’s art, Gilmore’s biography pulses with energy and will resonate with readers of Isabel Wilkerson’s The Warmth of Other Suns: The Epic Story of America’s Great Migration.”—Library Journal

“A powerful volume. . . . Bearden’s work is evidence that one can go home, if only in memory.”—INDY Week

“To say that I was completely enchanted by Glenda Gilmore’s new book on the late artist Romare Bearden is an understatement . . . [Gilmore] invites the reader to consider the ways in which we all construct our past by some strange alchemy of memory and creativity, filling in the gaps with stories we have heard or things we have dreamed or imagined. Does this make the past any less real? Does it make the people who inhabit it any less alive?”—Wiley Cash, The Assembly

“[In this] careful study [that feels] like a poignant dedication...Gilmore sets a timeline, critiques some striking artworks, and leaves the reader wondering why hardly anyone writes about art this succinctly...By contextualizing Bearden’s art within larger critiques of a bourgeois industry, she does what all great art writing should do: re-politicize what has always been political.”—Billie Anania, Jacobin

“Ultimately, this . . . volume packs a punch. It is simultaneously a meticulous biography of Bearden, an inspired interpretation of this work, and an expertly crafted primer on the practice of history.”—Journal of Southern History

“Well-illustrated with color images, written in a cogent and clear style, and relying on archival history, biography, and the visual arts, Gilmore’s study weaves a compelling narrative of Bearden’s complicated ties to his North Carolina origins and heritage through the rich visual symbolism of his works that illustrate the complexity of the African American diasporic experience.”—North Carolina Historical Review