Something Over Something Else: Romare Bearden’s Profile Series reunites for the first time thirty vibrant collages from this renowned series. In 1977, a “Profile” of Bearden by Calvin Tomkins in the New Yorker provoked the artist to reflect upon his childhood and maturity during the 1920s and 30s. The result was a two-part series that traces his journey from rural Mecklenburg County, North Carolina, to working-class Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, and culminates with his treasured first studio in Manhattan’s Harlem neighborhood. Yet transcending autobiography, Bearden’s Profile Series, accompanied by evocative texts co-written by Bearden and his friend the author Albert Murray, expresses a deep reverence for humanity and the struggles and triumphs of African Americans.

This exhibition is organized by the High Museum of Art, Atlanta. This project is supported in part by an award from the National Endowment for the Arts. Additional support is provided by the Andrew Wyeth Foundation for American Art.