| 1912 | Born on September 2 in Charlotte, NC in the home of his grandparents |
| 1925 | Began spending summers with his maternal grandmother, Miss Carrie in Pittsburgh, PA |
| 1925 | Meets Eugene Bailey, a crippled, homeless boy who would become a life long source of inspiration for Bearden. Eugene introduced Bearden to art and gave him his earliest drawing lessons. |
| 1929 | Graduated from Peabody High School in Pittsburgh |
| 1935 | Graduated from New York University with a degree in mathematics |
| 1936 | Joined the “306” Group of artists who met in studio lofts at 306 W. 141st Street. |
| 1936 | Studied at the Art students League in NY with German artist, George Grosz |
| 193?-66 | Social worker with New York City Department of Social Services |
| 1942-45 | Served in the United States Army with the 372nd Infantry Division |
| 1945 | First solo exhibition, “Passion of Christ” series in New York at Samuel M. Kootz Gallery in Harlem |
| 1950 | Went to Paris to study philosophy at the Sorbonne on the G.I. bill, but also had opportunities to meet a variety of writers and artists including the sculptor Constantin Brancusi and cubist painter, Georges Braque |
| 1954 | Married Nanette Rohan who was from St. Martin in the West Indies |
| 1963 | March on Washington, benchmark event in the Civil Rights Movement |
| 1963 | Bearded formed, with several other African American artists from New York, “Spiral.” The group sought to express through their art social responsibility and support of the civil rights movement. Attempted to use collage as a medium for expression of the group’s ideals. |
| 1964 | Began using collage in his art as a way to express the subtleties and complexities of black American life.
Appointed first art director Harlem Cultural Council, which helped to found The Studio Museum of Harlem, Cinque Gallery and the Academy of Black Arts and Letters |
| 1966 | “Projections,” Bearden’s first one-man museum exhibition of his monochromatic photomontages and photostats organized by the Corcoran Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C. The show’s success allowed him to quit his job as a New York social worker and make art full-time. |
| 1967-68 | Created “Memories of Mecklenburg County” series of large innovative works reaffirming his southern heritage |
| 1970 | Helped to found Academy of Black Arts and Letters |
| 1971 | Major solo exhibition, “Romare Bearden: The Prevalence of Ritual,” Museum of Modern Art in New York |
| 1972 | Elected to the National Institute of Arts and Letters (some references say 1966) |
| 1974 | Solo exhibition, “Romare Bearden: Of the Blues,” at Cordier & Ekstrom, Inc. |
| 1977 | Created the “Odysseus Collages”, images that were based on Homeric texts, which utilized flat shapes and a simplification of color. The collages were shown in an exhibition at the Cordier & Ekstrom, Inc., in New York from April 27 through May 28. |
| 1980 | Ten–year retrospective of his art held at the Mint Museum in Charlotte, NC |
| 1987 | Received President’s National Medal of the Arts award |
| 1988 | Dies on March 12 after a long illness |