The Cleveland Museum of Art

Collection Online as of December 17, 2025

Abstracted collage painted in streaking, blotchy color resembling a stage with an orchestra below and scalloped red curtain above. The stage separates into four quadrants. Geometric figures on our lower left in pink trousers and orange and yellow shirts against a dark blue background move single-file towards centerstage. Lower right, figures in bras and underwear dance against an orange background. All figures have dark purple or orange-red skin. Above, geometric green foliage extends over purple on our right and blue our left.

Wrapping It up at the Lafayette

1974

Romare Bearden

(American, 1912–1988)

America

collage, acrylic, and lacquer

Framed: 123.3 x 93.4 x 6.7 cm (48 9/16 x 36 3/4 x 2 5/8 in.); Unframed: 121.9 x 91.5 cm (48 x 36 in.)

Mr. and Mrs. William H. Marlatt Fund 1985.41

Location: Not on view

Description

Coming of age in New York in the 1930s, Bearden was immersed in the cultural revolution of the Harlem Renaissance. His home was located across the street from Harlem’s Lafayette Theatre, a hub for musicians such as Duke Ellington and Earl Hines. Bearden sought a way to translate the elements of jazz into visual art and discovered that collage was the ideal medium for capturing the spontaneity and improvisation of the genre, thus creating a lively visual rhythm.

1985
(Cordier & Ekstrom, New York, NY, sold to the Cleveland Museum of Art)
1985-
The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH
Turner, Evan H. “The Year in Review for 1985.” The Bulletin of the Cleveland Museum of Art 73, no. 2 (February 1986): 26–71. Reproduced: p. 60; Mentioned: p. 64, no. 62 www.jstor.org
Cleveland Museum of Art. Images of the Mind. Cleveland, Ohio: Cleveland Museum of Art, 1987. Reproduced: [p. 31]
Campbell, Mary Schmidt. An American Odyssey: The Life and Work of Romare Bearden. New York, NY: Oxford University Press, 2018. Reproduced: p. [9]; color plate section
Main Gallery Rotation (Gallery 229): April 14, 2014 -
The Persistence of Geometry: Form, Content and Culture in the Collection of the Cleveland Museum of Art. Museum of Contemporary Art Cleveland (MOCA), Cleveland, OH (June 9-August 20, 2006).
MOCA Cleveland (6/9/2006 - 8/20/2006): "The Persistence of Geometry: Form, Content and Culture in the Collection of the Cleveland Museum of Art", no. 111, p. 122.
The Art of Romare Bearden (1911-1988). National Gallery of Art, Landover, MD (organizer) (September 14, 2003-January 4, 2004); San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, San Francisco, CA (February 7-May 16, 2004).
National Gallery of Art (9/14/2003 - 1/4/2004) and San Francisco Musuem of Art (2/7/2004 - 5/16/2004): "The Art of Romare Bearden (1911-1988)" exh. cat. no. 71, p. 77.
"Memory and Metaphor: The Art of Romare Bearden: 1940 - 1987," Carnegie Museum of Art, Pittsburgh, PA, (May 30 - July 26, 1992), National Museum of American Art, Washington, D.C., (Oct. 2, 1992 - Jan. 3, 1993).
"Riffs and Takes, Music in the Art of Romare Bearden," North Carolina Museum of Art, Raleigh, NC, (Jan. 23 - April 2, 1988).
Images of the Mind. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (July 7-August 30, 1987).
"Images of the Mind," CMA (July 7 - Aug. 23, 1987).
The Year in Review for 1985. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (February 12-April 20, 1986).
{{cite web|title=Wrapping It up at the Lafayette|url=false|author=Romare Bearden|year=1974|access-date=17 December 2025|publisher=Cleveland Museum of Art}}

Source URL:

https://www.clevelandart.org/art/1985.41