Charles Alston and Romare Bearden, American Artists

Sgt. Romare Bearden (right) discussing one of his paintings, Cotton Workers, with Pvt. Charles H. Alston, his first art teacher and cousin. Both Bearden and Alston are members of the 372nd Infantry Regiment stationed in New York City, February 1944. Romare Bearden (September 2, 1911 E?? March 12, 1988) was an African-American artist. He worked with many types of media including cartoons, oils and collages. He began his artistic career creating scenes of the American South. Bearden was a founding member of the. His lifelong support of young, emerging artists led him and his wife to create the Bearden Foundation to support young or emerging artists and scholars. In 1987, Bearden was awarded the National Medal of Arts. He died in 1988, at the age of 76, due to complications from bone cancer. Charles Henry Alston (November 28, 1907 - April 27, 1977) was an American painter, sculptor, illustrator, muralist and teacher who lived and worked in the New York City neighborhood of Harlem. Alston was active in the Harlem Renaissance Alston was the first African-American supervisor for the Works Progress Administration's Federal Art Project. Alston designed and painted murals at the Harlem Hospital and the Golden State Mutual Life Insurance Building. He died after a long bout with cancer in 1977 at the age of 69. Photographed by Carl Van Vechten, April 15, 1944

Picture No

12697096

Media ID

47686726

Size

4350px x 3171px (2.1MB)

Credit

NARA/Science Source/Mary Evans

Usage Restrictions

No Model Release