Patchwork Quilt 1970

Romare Bearden made this ‘Patchwork Quilt’ without a date, but with paper and fabric, piecing together something like a memory. I’m immediately drawn to the way he lets the materials speak, those jazzy, clashing patterns. It's like each piece has its own story, its own texture, and he’s just conducting a conversation between them. Look at the black of the figure against the busy quilt, how that bold form makes everything else vibrate. It's not just about what the image represents, but also about the physical act of putting it together, the cut and paste, the layering, the decisions made and remade. Bearden makes me think of Matisse, and his late-in-life turn to paper cut-outs, finding freedom in the directness of scissors and glue. It is like they both embraced a kind of joyous, improvisational approach, reminding us that art is always in process, always a conversation.