Romare Bearden was an African American artist. Born in Charlotte, North Carolina in 1914, his family soon moved to Harlem, an African-American neighborhood in New York City, where he founded the "306 Group", a club for Harlem's artists. During the 1940's, his style combined African culture and symbols with a stylized realism. Paintings such as his 1948 "The Family" demonstrate his interest in cubism and the influence that the style had on his work. After a stay in Paris, Bearden's work became more abstract, using layers of oil paint to produce muted, hidden effects. During the 1960's civil rights movement, his focus shifted again, to collage, considered his best work. An excellent example is his 1963 series of collages, "prevalence of Ritual". Bearden died in 1988.