Romare Bearden (American, 1911-1988). "Artists - 79 [full title: Artists - 79: International Play Group Celebrates the International Year of the Child. United Nations, New York City, May 24 - June 14, 1979]". Color silkscreen. 1979. Signed in ink beneath the image, lower right. Numbered and editioned in ink, lower left. Signed in the screen, lower left. Print #89 from the edition of 100. Silver metallic foil paper. The full sheet. Fine impression. Good condition overall; please note that the attached image evidences reflections off of the foil paper and the "shines" are not in the actual object; several unobtrusive handling marks in the margins; creasing at top right corner and bottom right corner. Provenance: The Del Rio Collection, Southampton, NY. An extremely rare Bearden image. No auction records located. Until our example, unknown to Janet Wall (Jerald Melberg Gallery, Charlotte, North Carolina), author of the forthcoming catalogue raisonne on Bearden's work. According to the Bearden Foundation, this screenprint poster was undoubtedly derived from a collage created by Bearden in the late 1970s. Four years later, the same collage was used to create the screenprint "Easter Procession" also offered in the present auction. Close inspection reveals subtle differences between the poster and the print: the absence of the blue color above and below the wrists of the second figure from the left; the tan color extending to the top of the foot on the first figure to the left in the poster, not so in the print, etc. So while the images are substantially similar, they are not identical. Dimensions: image 20 1/16 x 16 1/8 in.; image with letters: 27 1/2 x 16 1/8 in.; sheet: 28 x 20 1/8 in. Image copyright © Licensed by VAGA, New York, NY. Overall size: 28 x 20 in. (711 x 508 mm). [24400] |1000| {R100}