ROMARE BEARDEN (1911 - 1988) Obeah Woman with her daughter (La Sorcière avec sa fille)..
Watercolor on wove paper, circa 1984. 762x560 mm; 30x22 inches. Signed in faint watercolor and re-signed in pencil, lower left recto. Titled in pencil, lower right verso.
Provenance: Seth Taffae Fine Art, New York; private collection, Michigan; the estate of Allan O. Hunter, Jr., acquired at Swann Galleries, October 5, 2018
Romare Bearden's Obeah watercolors are an important series in the artist's late career. They represent both a culmination of his artistic freedom and expression in the medium, and his awareness of the traditions of his second home on the Caribbean island of St. Martin. The role of the Obeah is a well-known part of Afro-Caribbean communities and cultural history - typically, a woman who practices spiritual, herbal and mystical healing in her villlage.
