backstory: “River Mist”
Some of you may be familiar with River Mist. It was on view here as part of the Romare Bearden: Abstraction exhibition I curated in 2017. It is a striking collage that combines oil on unprimed linen, and oil, casein, and colored pencil on canvas, cut, torn, and mounted on painted board. Bearden created the collage during an experimental period in his career that paved the way for the collages and photomontages that established his reputation as a leading contemporary artist.
River Mist was purchased by the Friends in honor of its recently retired chair, Susan Dubin, and her husband, Jim. It is among the Museum’s most significant acquisitions. We will have River Mist on view again when it returns from a three-stop national tour organized by the American Federation of Arts that concludes in September 2022 after being at the Frye Art Museum in Seattle.
Tracy Fitzpatrick
Director, Neuberger Museum of Art
Find me on Twitter @tracyfitzart