Color collagraph on cream Arches paper, circa 1972-74. 559x762 mm; 22x30 inches (sheet), full margins. Artist proof, aside from an edtion of approximately 2. Signed and inscribed "A.P." in pencil, lower margin.
We have located only one auction record of this extremely scarce print at auction - an impression numbered 1/2, sold at Sotheby's, New York on November 9, 1996. An impression is illustrated on p. 45 of A Graphic Odyseey: Romare Bearden as Printmaker.
According to printer Mohammad Khalil, Bob Blackburn introduced Bearden to this technique at the Printmaking Workshop in the early 1970s. Collagraphs are relief prints made from a handmade matrix, a collage of either cut shapes of cardboard or beads of glue. Bearden made only several impressions from each matrix - often with variations of inking and color. Corlett pp. 17 -19; Gelburd/Rosenberg GG#58.
