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When speaking of Romare Bearden, one is tempted to say, "A great Black American artist." The subject matter of Bearden's collages is certainly Black. Portrayals of the folk of Mecklenburg County, North Carolina, whom he remembers from early childhood, of the jazz musicians and tenement roofs of his Harlem days, of Pittsburgh steelworkers, and his reconstruction of classical Greek myths in the guise of the ancient Black kingdom of Benin, attest to this. In natural harmony with this choice of subject matter are the social sensibilities of the artist, who remains active today with the Cinque Gallery in Manhattan, which he helped found and which is devoted to showing the work of minority artists.
Then why not call Bearden a Black American artist? Because ultimately this categorization is too narrow. "What stands up in the end is structure," Bearden says. "What I try to do is amplify. If I were just creating a picture of a farm woman from back home, it would have meaning to her and people there. But art amplifies itself to something universal.
According to the passage, all of the following are depicted in Bearden's collages EXCEPT
A.workers in Pittsburgh's steel mills
B.scenes set in the ancient kingdom of Benin
C.people Bearden knew as a child
D.traditional representations of the classical heroes of Greek mythology
E.the jazz musicians of the Harlem Bearden used to
The author suggests that Bearden should not be called a Black American artist because
A.there are many collages by Bearden in which the subject matter is not Black
B.Bearden's work reflects the Black American experience in a highly individual style
C.through the structure of Bearden's art his Black subjects come to represent all of humankind
D.Bearden's true significance lies not so much in his own work as in his efforts to help other minority artists
E.much of Bearden's work uses the ancient Black kingdom of Benin for its setting
Beardens social sensibilities and the subject matter of his collages are mentioned by the author in order to explain
A.why one might be tempted to call Bearden a Black American artist
B.why Bearden cannot be readily categorized
C.why Bearden's appeal is thought by many to be ultimately universal
D.how deeply an artist's artistic creations are influenced by he artist's social conscience
E.what makes Bearden unique among contemporary Black American artists
The author of the passage is chiefly concerned with
A.discussing Bearden's philosophy of art
B.assessing the significance of the ethnic element in Bearden's work
C.acknowledging Bearden's success in giving artistic expression to the Black American experience
D.pointing out Bearden's helpfulness to other minority artists
E.tracing Bearden's progress toward artistic maturity
