The Prevalence of Ritual is not a single work but a pivotal series of collages created by Romare Bearden in 1964. This body of work marked a turning point in Bearden’s career, introducing his now-iconic collage technique. In these pieces, Bearden draws from African-American cultural memory—church rituals, street scenes, jazz sessions, mythic archetypes—and reconstructs them with photographic fragments, painted papers, and fabric into layered visual narratives.

The series emerged at the height of the Civil Rights Movement, reflecting Bearden’s belief that the everyday rituals of Black life—baptisms, wakes, meals, music—were not just cultural practices, but powerful acts of continuity and resistance. In embracing collage, he created a visual language that echoed the improvisational logic of jazz and the mosaic nature of diasporic memory. The result is a sweeping, multifaceted portrait of Black experience—both grounded and transcendent.