The Family (Around the Dining Table) 1975

Romare Bearden's "The Family (Around the Dining Table)" presents us with a vibrant tableau of domestic life rendered in collage. The table, laden with food, becomes an altar of sustenance. Note how the faces, mask-like, evoke ancient rituals of transformation and identity. These masks echo those found in various cultures, from African ceremonies to Greek theatre, where they serve to both conceal and reveal deeper truths about the human condition. They remind us of our shared ancestry, our collective unconscious. The arrangement of figures around the table echoes the composition of religious iconography depicting the Last Supper, and hints at ideas of community, sacrifice, and spiritual communion. Through this collage, Bearden invites us to reflect on how everyday life resonates with echoes of ancient myths and rituals, continually reinterpreted through cultural memory.