Works from "Romare Bearden: A Black Odyssey"

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Works from "Romare Bearden: A Black Odyssey"

Photos: Selections from the exhibit “Romare Bearden: A Black Odyssey," on display at the Carlos Museum at Emory University in Atlanta, Georgia, 2013.

"Fall of Troy" -- From Romare Bearden's 1970s series interpreting Homer's epic poem "The Odyssey."

"Odysseus Leaves Circe" -- From Romare Bearden's 1970s series interpreting Homer's epic poem "The Odyssey."

Bearden came on a pilgrimage of sorts to meet Hale Woodruff, then on faculty at Atlanta University. “In that one visit, Bearden saw that there was a legitimate, creative environment around what Woodruff and the others were doing, this expression of black artistic and intellectual thought, and he maintains his relationship with Woodruff,” said Amalia Amaki (above), co-curator, with Amanda Hellman, of “Southern Connections.” - Text by Rosalind Bentley, AJC

"Battle with Cicones" -- From Romare Bearden's 1970s series interpreting Homer's epic poem "The Odyssey."

"Cattle of Sun God," from Romare Bearden's 1970s series interpreting Homer's epic poem "The Odyssey." Bearden originally did the works as collages and later rendered them in watercolor. The show opens Dec. 14, 2013, at the Carlos Museum at Emory University.

"Circe" -- From Romare Bearden's 1970s series interpreting Homer's epic poem "The Odyssey."

Ed Spriggs is former director of the Hammonds House Museum in Atlanta and a longtime associate of Romare Bearden. Spriggs worked with Bearden in Harlem and kept up the association once Spriggs moved to Atlanta.

"Home to Ithaca" -- Homer’s “The Odyssey" is one of Bearden's favorite texts.

"Iliad-BEAR" -- From Romare Bearden's 1940s series based on Homer's epic poem "The Iliad."

"Poseidon The Sea God"

About Romare Bearden: The artist who began his life in Mecklenburg County, N.C. and later moved with his family to Pittsburgh, Pa., and later Harlem, began his associations with Atlanta back in the 1940s. Bearden died in 1988. - Text by Rosalind Bentley, AJC

"Sea Nymph"

Susan Ross, local photographer of Atlanta's black cultural and political elite for the past 30 years, sometimes played host to Romare Bearden and his wife, Nanette when they would visit Atlanta.

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"Fall of Troy" -- From Romare Bearden's 1970s series interpreting Homer's epic poem "The Odyssey."

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