Homage to Duke, Bessie, and Louis pays tribute to musicians Duke Ellington, Bessie Smith, and Louis Armstrong. Musicians and jazz often appear in Romare Bearden’s work, but here, he specifically cites three iconic musicians as well as the famous Harlem music venue, the Apollo Theater. The work’s graphic quality and the interplay of text and image is reminiscent of a promotional poster for an upcoming concert. By the 1980s, however, all three artists had died, and jazz and blues performers were no longer mainstays on the Apollo’s stage. Bearden’s work is a homage to a time past, as well as to three exceptional artists.