What gave these collages special power was their size. Originally they were no larger than 14 by 18 inches, but striving for monumentality, Bearden had them photographed and blown up to large black and white sheets, which he named ‘Projections.’ Their size was typically six by eight feet or four by five feet. . . Reviewers hailed them as ‘startling,’ ’emphatic,’ ‘moving,’ ‘memorable’ and ‘propagandistic in the best sense.’

Michael Brenson