Beauford’s Portrait of Colin Gravois

In December 2010, I published an account of Colin Gravois’s friendship with Beauford as Colin relayed it to me in an interview. Colin describes the experience of sitting for a portrait with Beauford and regretting that he did not return to Beauford’s studio to recuperate it before Beauford was committed to Saint Anne’s Hospital.

Here is the portrait that Beauford painted of Colin:

Portrait of a Man in Green
Beauford Delaney
Oil (undated)
Photo from catalog of Beauford Delaney: A Retrospective
Studio Museum in Harlem
Colin has managed to obtain a photograph of him sitting in front of the portrait that Beauford created. He sent it to me to share with all of you! Here it is:

Photograph of Colin Gravois in front of his portrait painted by Beauford Delaney
Photo courtesy of Colin Gravois
This photo was taken at Beauford’s studio on rue Vercingétorix. (Note the other paintings on the wall behind Beauford’s portrait of Colin.)

Unlike the abstract nature of some of his portraits of James Baldwin, Beauford rendered a true likeness of Colin in this painting. Its whereabouts are currently unknown.