This beautiful quilt is the handiwork of the late American artist, activist and writer Romare Bearden. Best known for his pioneering paintings, prints and collages, Bearden’s work combines aspects of black American culture with religious and classical iconography, and pop cultural references. This piece—part of the private collection of Oprah Winfrey—is a rare example of his work in fabric. A celebration of the quilt-making and jazz music traditions he so loved, it blends “personal memories from Bearden’s youth” in the South, with a stylistic nod to the artist’s “ongoing interest in Picasso and European modernism”. (Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art)
