More Beauford-Inspired Music
I am always intrigued when I learn about musical compositions inspired by Beauford's art.
A few days ago, I learned that a piece called "Brilliant Brushstrokes” (2025) by Dr. Ryan Lindveit was commissioned by the University of Tennessee, Knoxville Wind Ensemble (John Zastoupil, conductor) and debuted at the College Band Directors National Association (CBDNA) National Conference at Texas Christian University in Fort Worth, TX on March 27, 2025.
It was inspired by Beauford's untitled raincoat painting, which is part of the permanent collection at the Minneapolis Institute of Art.
Untitled (raincoat painting)
(1954) Oil on raincoat fragment
Gift of Jacques and Solange du Closel
© Estate of Beauford Delaney
by permission of Derek L. Spratley, Esquire,
Court Appointed Administrator
Courtesy of Michael Rosenfeld Gallery, LLC, New York, NY
The University of Washington Wind Ensemble and Symphonic Band performed this composition as the closing for its April 30, 2026 Scenes and Portraits concert at the school's Katharyn Alvord Gerlich Theater in Meany Hall.
"Brilliant Brushstrokes" was selected as the best composition for Category B (Wind Ensemble) of the 2026 RED NOTE New Music Festival Composition Competition. It is the first movement of Lindveit's new multimovement work titled Color Theory, which was inspired by the myriad ways artists, animals, and filmmakers use color.
Dr. Lindveit is the Teaching Assistant Professor of Music Theory & Composition in the College of Music at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville.
Listen to "Brilliant Brushstrokes" here:
The Calypso
Run by Trinidad-native Connie Williams, the Calypso is described by biographer David Leeming as "a small restaurant across from the Provincetown Playhouse on MacDougal Street" in Greenwich Village.
Provincetown Playhouse, 133 MacDougal Street, Manhattan
29 December 1936
Berenice Abbott for Works Progress Administration
Image in public domain
A photograph of its façade, published by Trinidad & Tobago Newsday, shows a modest, basement-level storefront with a worn street number and tropical decor on either side of the entrance (view image HERE).
Find images of Connie Williams inside the Calypso by Berenice Abbott (circa 1948) HERE ...
... and HERE (Williams is wearing a patterned dress).
Leeming devotes a single paragraph to the restaurant (which he calls a "café) in Amazing Grace, his biography of Beauford. He devotes almost two entire pages to the establishment in James Baldwin, his biography of Baldwin.
Beauford introduced Baldwin to Williams in 1943 after Baldwin's stepfather died and Baldwin moved from Harlem to Greenwich Village. Williams hired Baldwin as a waiter, and Leeming indicates that she became a surrogate mother to him. He says that Baldwin, Beauford, and a young Black writer named Smith Oliver "held court" at the Calypso after hours.
Beauford produced at least three portraits of Baldwin during this period.
Portrait of James Baldwin
(1944) Pastel on paper
Knoxville Museum of Art
© Estate of Beauford Delaney
by permission of Derek L. Spratley, Esquire,
Court Appointed Administrator
Courtesy of Michael Rosenfeld Gallery, LLC, New York, NY
Portrait of James Baldwin
(1945) Oil on canvas
Philadelphia Museum of Art
© Estate of Beauford Delaney
by permission of Derek L. Spratley, Esquire,
Court Appointed Administrator
Courtesy of Michael Rosenfeld Gallery, LLC, New York, NY
James Baldwin
(1945) Pastel on paper
Photo credit: Ben Conant
Courtesy of Macdowell
© Estate of Beauford Delaney
by permission of Derek L. Spratley, Esquire,
Court Appointed Administrator
Courtesy of Michael Rosenfeld Gallery, LLC, New York, NY
In Amazing Grace, Leeming describes Beauford's fondness for the Calypso due to the multiple races of people with various sexual proclivities who made up its clientele. He provides a "laundry list" of intellectuals and celebrities who frequented the place, including C. L. R. James, Claude McKay, Alain Locke, Malcolm X, and Henry Miller. Even Beauford's brother, Joseph, was an occasional customer, though the two did not socialize when they were both present.
Leeming also describes costume parties that Williams organized and that Beauford loved to attend. He says that Beauford often played the guitar and sang at these events.
In Baldwin: A Love Story, Nicholas Boggs states that Beauford and Williams threw Baldwin a goodbye party at the Calypso before he left for France in November 1948.
Swann Auction Galleries Sells Four Beauford Delaney Works
Swann Auction Galleries sold all four of the Beauford Delaney works it offered during its April 2, 2026 African American Art auction.
Two were figurative portraits and two were abstracts. All were works on paper.
Untitled (Portrait of a Young Man in Suit and Tie) was valued at $7,000 - $10,000.
Lot 9
Untitled (Portrait of a Young Man in Suit and Tie)
(circa 1940) Color pastels on pale gray wove paper
23 1/2 x 18 1/2 in. (59.7 x 47 cm.)
Image courtesy of Swann Auction Galleries
© Estate of Beauford Delaney
by permission of Derek L. Spratley, Esquire,
Court Appointed Administrator
Courtesy of Michael Rosenfeld Gallery, LLC, New York, NY
It sold for $24,130.
Untitled (Portrait of a Young Man) was also valued at $7,000 - $10,000.
Lot 10
Untitled (Portrait of a Young Man)
(circa 1937-40) Color pastels on pale green wove paper
24 1/2 x 18.875 in. (62.5 x 48 cm.)
Image courtesy of Swann Auction Galleries
© Estate of Beauford Delaney
by permission of Derek L. Spratley, Esquire,
Court Appointed Administrator
Courtesy of Michael Rosenfeld Gallery, LLC, New York, NY
It sold for $35,560.
The estimated sale prices for the abstract works were 3-4 times more than those assigned to the portraits.
Ibiza sold for $69,850 (estimated sale price - $30,000 - $40,000).
Lot 55
Ibiza
(1956) Watercolor on heavy wove paper
Signed, titled and dated ‘56 in ball point pen and ink, lower right
18 x 11 3/4 in. (45.7 x 29.8 cm.)
Image courtesy of Swann Auction Galleries
© Estate of Beauford Delaney
by permission of Derek L. Spratley, Esquire,
Court Appointed Administrator
Courtesy of Michael Rosenfeld Gallery, LLC, New York, NY
The untitled abstract sold for $45,720 (estimated sale price - $20,000 - $30,000).
Lot 63
Untitled (Abstract Composition)
Watercolor on cream laid paper, 1963
Signed, dated and inscribed "Paris" in graphite, lower right
17 1/2 x 12 in. (44.5 x 30.5 cm.)
Image courtesy of Swann Auction Galleries
© Estate of Beauford Delaney
by permission of Derek L. Spratley, Esquire,
Court Appointed Administrator
Courtesy of Michael Rosenfeld Gallery, LLC, New York, NY
All sale prices include a 27% buyer's premium.
For information about the results of this auction, click HERE.
Four Beauford Delaney Works to be Auctioned on April 2, 2026
On April 2, 2026, Swann Auction Galleries will offer two of Beauford's early portraits and two of his vibrant abstracts—all works on paper—for auction at its African American Art Sale.
Swann offered both portraits for purchase at its Autumn 2017 sale of African American Fine Art.
Lot 9
Untitled (Portrait of a Young Man in Suit and Tie)
(circa 1940) Color pastels on pale gray wove paper
23 1/2 x 18 1/2 in. (59.7 x 47 cm.)
Image courtesy of Swann Auction Galleries
© Estate of Beauford Delaney
by permission of Derek L. Spratley, Esquire,
Court Appointed Administrator
Courtesy of Michael Rosenfeld Gallery, LLC, New York, NY
Lot 10
Untitled (Portrait of a Young Man)
(circa 1937-40) Color pastels on pale green wove paper
24 1/2 x 18.875 in. (62.5 x 48 cm.)
Image courtesy of Swann Auction Galleries
© Estate of Beauford Delaney
by permission of Derek L. Spratley, Esquire,
Court Appointed Administrator
Courtesy of Michael Rosenfeld Gallery, LLC, New York, NY
Both works are valued at $7,000 - $10,000.
Biographer David Leeming writes of Beauford having two solo exhibitions in Autumn 1938—one at the 8th Street Playhouse in NYC and one at Gallery C in Washington—where most of the works shown were portraits. I have not been able to determine whether Untitled (Portrait of a Young Man) was one of them.
Regarding the abstracts to be auctioned, Ibiza is a signed and dated watercolor on heavy wove paper. It is depicted in the catalog for the Beauford Delaney: From New York to Paris exhibition mounted by the Minneapolis Institute of Arts in 2004.
Lot 55
Ibiza
(1956) Watercolor on heavy wove paper
Signed, titled and dated ‘56 in ball point pen and ink, lower right
18 x 11 3/4 in. (45.7 x 29.8 cm.)
Image courtesy of Swann Auction Galleries
© Estate of Beauford Delaney
by permission of Derek L. Spratley, Esquire,
Court Appointed Administrator
Courtesy of Michael Rosenfeld Gallery, LLC, New York, NY
This work is dissimilar to others for which Beauford expressly mentioned Ibiza in the title. Read about them HERE.
The second abstract is untitled. It is a signed and dated watercolor on paper as well. Swann reports that Beauford gave it to Ruth Watt Métraux, a friend of Gloria and James Jones (who were great supporters of Beauford), and that the work was passed on to the current owner by descent.
Lot 63
Untitled (Abstract Composition)
Watercolor on cream laid paper, 1963
Signed, dated and inscribed "Paris" in graphite, lower right
17 1/2 x 12 in. (44.5 x 30.5 cm.)
Image courtesy of Swann Auction Galleries
© Estate of Beauford Delaney
by permission of Derek L. Spratley, Esquire,
Court Appointed Administrator
Courtesy of Michael Rosenfeld Gallery, LLC, New York, NY
The colors of the untitled abstract fairly glow. For me, they evoke the life and hope of spring.
The estimated sale price of Ibiza is $30,000 - $40,000.
The estimated sale price of Untitled (Abstract Composition) is $20,000 - $30,000.
For information about the sale, click HERE.
More of Beauford's Blues
I recently came across an article on color psychology that described various reactions to and interpretations of the color "blue."
It reminded me that Les Amis has published two articles about Beauford's use of this color:
And it inspired me to look for additional works that feature light blue, a color that is frequently associated with relaxation, tranquility, and peace.
Untitled
(1960) Gouache and watercolor on paper
© Estate of Beauford Delaney
by permission of Derek L. Spratley, Esquire,
Court Appointed Administrator
Courtesy of Michael Rosenfeld Gallery, LLC, New York, NY
Self-portrait
(Undated) Oil on board
© Estate of Beauford Delaney
by permission of Derek L. Spratley, Esquire,
Court Appointed Administrator
Courtesy of Michael Rosenfeld Gallery, LLC, New York, NY
Untitled
(1962) Oil on canvas
© Estate of Beauford Delaney
by permission of Derek L. Spratley, Esquire,
Court Appointed Administrator
Courtesy of Michael Rosenfeld Gallery, LLC, New York, NY
Nadeau's Sells Beauford's Abstract Composition in Red
On February 21, 2026, Nadeau's Auction Gallery of Windsor, CT offered Beauford's Abstract Composition in Red for sale during its 2026 Custom Furnishings, Antiques, Fine Art, & Decor auction.
Abstract Composition in Red
(undated) Oil on paper
Marked lower right Beauford Delaney
24″ x 17 1/2″ sheet
© Estate of Beauford Delaney
by permission of Derek L. Spratley, Esquire,
Court Appointed Administrator
Courtesy of Michael Rosenfeld Gallery, LLC, New York, NY
The estimated sale price for the work was $800 to $1200.
It sold for $20,740, including a 22% buyer's premium.
For details about the sale, click HERE.
Beauford’s Jean-Claude Killy-Inspired Works
As the 2026 Winter Olympics come to a close in Italy and France prepares to host the 2030 Winter Games, my thoughts turn to Beauford's paintings of Olympic medalist Jean-Claude Killy.
In 2014, Les Amis posted about an abstract work entitled Jean-Claude Killy that Beauford painted in 1962.
Jean-Claude Killy
(1962) Gouache on paper
© Estate of Beauford Delaney,
by permission of Derek L. Spratley, Esquire,
Court Appointed Administrator
Courtesy of the Michael Rosenfeld Gallery, LLC, New York, NY
Killy was featured in Paris Match magazine in January of that year. He subsequently broke his leg and was unable to compete in the 1962 World Cup competition.
Six years later, he made Olympic history when he won the "Triple Crown" of alpine skiing by taking the gold in the downhill, giant slalom, and slalom competitions.
Beauford's 1968 portrait of Killy was inspired this success.
Jean-Claude Killy
(1968) Oil on canvas
© Estate of Beauford Delaney,
by permission of Derek L. Spratley, Esquire,
Court Appointed Administrator
Courtesy of the Michael Rosenfeld Gallery, LLC, New York, NY
He referenced two press images of the athlete to create this work—one from the cover of Historia Magazine and the other from a photo of Killy in mid-air during a ski run at the Grenoble games.
There is no mention of Killy in the biography entitled Amazing Grace: A Life of Beauford Delaney by David Leeming.
Abstracts Sold, To Be Sold, and on Display
SOLD
On February 12, 2026, Sotheby's sold Beauford's untitled 1960 abstract for the sum of ???, including a 27% buyer's premium.
Lot 299
Untitled
(1961) Gouache on paper
signed and dated (lower right)
63,9 x 50 cm; 25 x 19 ½ in.
© Estate of Beauford Delaney
by permission of Derek L. Spratley, Esquire,
Court Appointed Administrator
Courtesy of Michael Rosenfeld Gallery, LLC, New York, NY
The estimated sale price was 8,000€ to 12,000€.
See last week's blog post for information about this work.
TO BE SOLD
Nadeau's Auction Gallery is offering Abstract Composition in Red for sale on February 21, 2026 during its 2026 Custom Furnishings, Antiques, Fine Art, & Decor auction.
Abstract Composition in Red
(undated) Oil on paper
Marked lower right Beauford Delaney
24″ x 17 1/2″ sheet
© Estate of Beauford Delaney
by permission of Derek L. Spratley, Esquire,
Court Appointed Administrator
Courtesy of Michael Rosenfeld Gallery, LLC, New York, NY
Seeing the intensity of the red in this work immediately brought three paintings to mind—a red all-over abstract that was shown during the Internal Light exhibition mounted by Levis Fine Art in 2013, Beauford's Portrait of Michael Freilich, and the iconic Sage Black, which recently sold at auction for $1,524,000, including a 27% buyer's premium.
Abstraction #12
(1963) Oil on canvas
Knoxville Museum of Art
Image courtesy of Levis Fine Art
© Estate of Beauford Delaney
by permission of Derek L. Spratley, Esquire,
Court Appointed Administrator
Courtesy of Michael Rosenfeld Gallery, LLC, New York, NY
Portrait of a man in red / Michael Freilich
(1965) Oil on canvas
Signed on reverse
© Estate of Beauford Delaney
by permission of Derek L. Spratley, Esquire,
Court Appointed Administrator
Courtesy of Michael Rosenfeld Gallery, LLC, New York, NY
The Sage Black
(1967) Oil on canvas
signed, inscribed, titled and dated
'The Sage Black Beauford Delaney Paris 1967'
(on the reverse)
© Estate of Beauford Delaney
by permission of Derek L. Spratley, Esquire,
Court Appointed Administrator
Courtesy of Michael Rosenfeld Gallery, LLC, New York, NY
The estimated sale price for Abstract Composition in Red is $800 to $1200.
For more information about this auction, click HERE.
ON DISPLAY
Dozens of Beauford's most vibrant works are now on display at the Michael Rosenfeld Gallery.
The Light Contained in Everything is the gallery’s fourth solo presentation of Beauford's work. Featuring paintings and works on paper that date from 1954 and 1968, the exhibition's title is inspired by James Baldwin's introduction to Beauford’s 1964 solo exhibition at Galerie Lambert in Paris.
Many of the works in The Light Contained in Everything were loaned to The Drawing Center for its phenomenal In the Medium of Life: The Drawings of Beauford Delaney solo exhibition last year.
Untitled
(1961) Watercolor on paper
© Estate of Beauford Delaney,
by permission of Derek L. Spratley, Esquire,
Court Appointed Administrator
Courtesy of Michael Rosenfeld Gallery, LLC, New York, NY
Chartres
(1954) Oil on paperboard
© Estate of Beauford Delaney,
by permission of Derek L. Spratley, Esquire,
Court Appointed Administrator
Courtesy of Michael Rosenfeld Gallery, LLC, New York, NY
The Light Contained in Everything will be on display through April 4, 2026.
Visit the exhibition Web page HERE.
Beauford Delaney Abstract at Sotheby's Paris Contemporary Discoveries Sale
On February 12, 2026, Sotheby's Paris will auction a Beauford Delaney abstract work on paper.
Lot 299
Untitled
(1961) Gouache on paper
signed and dated (lower right)
63,9 x 50 cm; 25 x 19 ½ in.
© Estate of Beauford Delaney
by permission of Derek L. Spratley, Esquire,
Court Appointed Administrator
Courtesy of Michael Rosenfeld Gallery, LLC, New York, NY
This work is created in the same style as two works on paper shown in the 2016 Resonance of Form and Vibration of Color exhibition mounted by Les Amis and the Wells International Foundation in Paris
Sans titre
(1961) Technique mixte/papier
signed and dated (lower right)
65 x 49,5 cm
© Estate of Beauford Delaney
by permission of Derek L. Spratley, Esquire,
Court Appointed Administrator
Courtesy of Michael Rosenfeld Gallery, LLC, New York, NY
Sans titre
(1961) Technique mixte/papier
signed and dated (lower right)
64 x 49,5 cm
© Estate of Beauford Delaney
by permission of Derek L. Spratley, Esquire,
Court Appointed Administrator
Courtesy of Michael Rosenfeld Gallery, LLC, New York, NY
as well as a work shown in the 2020 Through the Unusual Door exhibition mounted by the Knoxville Museum of Art.
Untitled
(1960) Watercolor on paper
signed and dated (lower right)
26 x 19 ¾ in.
Knoxville Museum of Art
2014 purchase with funds provided by Brenda and Larry Thompson
© Estate of Beauford Delaney
by permission of Derek L. Spratley, Esquire,
Court Appointed Administrator
Courtesy of Michael Rosenfeld Gallery, LLC, New York, NY
Because the earliest of these works is dated 1960, one can speculate that the 1961 works may have been produced prior to Beauford's life-altering voyage to Greece that July.
The estimated sale price of the work offered by Sotheby's is 8,000€ - 12,000€.
For information about the auction, click HERE.
Withdrawn and Working and Thinking...
In Amazing Grace: A Life of Beauford Delaney, biographer David Leeming presents a quote from a letter that Beauford wrote to his friend, Larry Wallrich, on January 8, 1957.
In the letter, Beauford said that he had been
withdrawn and working and thinking these past several months and plan somehow to even withdraw more, as deep introspection and [the] search for me is vitally necessary ....
Upon (re)reading this chapter in the biography, I decided to look at images of the works Beauford created in 1956—the year he moved to his Clamart studio—to see what being "withdrawn and working and thinking" allowed him to produce.
Below are a few examples of his work from that year.
Untitled
(circa 1956) Gouache, watercolor and charcoal on wove paper
© Estate of Beauford Delaney
by permission of Derek L. Spratley, Esquire,
Court Appointed Administrator
Courtesy of Michael Rosenfeld Gallery, LLC, New York, NY
Untitled (Abstract Circles)
(1956) Pastel on paper
© Estate of Beauford Delaney
by permission of Derek L. Spratley, Esquire,
Court Appointed Administrator
Courtesy of Michael Rosenfeld Gallery, LLC, New York, NY
Untitled (Ibiza)
(1956) gouache and watercolor
18" H x 11 7/8" W
© Estate of Beauford Delaney
by permission of Derek L. Spratley, Esquire,
Court Appointed Administrator
Courtesy of Michael Rosenfeld Gallery, LLC, New York, NY
Untitled
(1956) Aquarelle on paper
Private collection
© Estate of Beauford Delaney,
by permission of Derek L. Spratley, Esquire,
Court Appointed Administrator
Courtesy of Michael Rosenfeld Gallery, LLC, New York, NY
Untitled
(1956) Gouache on illustration board
PFF Collection
Signed and dated in ink, lower right
© Estate of Beauford Delaney,
by permission of Derek L. Spratley, Esquire,
Court Appointed Administrator
Courtesy of Michael Rosenfeld Gallery, LLC, New York, NY
Beauford at the Artists' Gallery
In Amazing Grace: A Life of Beauford Delaney, biographer David Leeming writes:
By 1948 Beauford was finally recognized as a member of the expressionist movement in New York. He was given a solo exhibit at the Artists Gallery on 57th Street in May. He wrote to Billy Rose in May that the 57th street show meant something special to him because it justified the support by his friends of his "terribly painful efforts to try to be articulate."
Leeming indicates that Beauford's Jazz Quartet was shown at this exhibition. He described it as "an energetic, highly colored depiction of a black jazz quartet dominated by a candy-striped piano played by a woman in an elaborate hat."
Jazz Quartet
(1946) Oil on canvas
Image courtesy of Burt and Patricia Reinfrank
© Estate of Beauford Delaney
by permission of Derek L. Spratley, Esquire,
Court Appointed Administrator
Courtesy of Michael Rosenfeld Gallery, LLC, New York, NY
During a recent Internet search, I was pleased to find images of the front and back of an invitation card to Beauford's Artists' Gallery show.
Artists' Gallery Invitation Card - recto
Image reproduced with the permission of Jon Glovin, Fenwick Books
Artists' Gallery Invitation Card - verso
Image reproduced with the permission of Jon Glovin, Fenwick Books
Fenwick Books is selling this piece of memorabilia. The blurb on the Web page provides the following information about the gallery:
The Artists' Gallery was a non-profit organization that existed from 1936-1962 in various locations. It showed a wide range of artists including Josef Albers, Lyonel Feininger, Adolph Gottlieb, Hans Hoffmann, Louise Nevelson, etc. It collected no commission from the sale of works, instead relying of financial donors.
Further investigation turned up the following tidbit of information from Getty.edu re: selected dealer archives:
Artists' Gallery, New York. Founded in 1936 by Hugh Stix and directed by Federica Beer-Monti. A nonprofit organization supported by contributions, it exhibited works of artists not represented by a commercial dealer, including Josef Albers and Louis Eilshemius. Closed 1962.
The Getty Website references the Smithsonian's Archives of American Art as its information source.
Upon visiting the archive pages dedicated to the Artists' Gallery, I was only able to find mention of a copy of Henry Miller's The Amazing and Invariable Beauford Delaney among the printed materials in the collection. There may well be a catalog for Beauford's 1948 show and/or papers related to the show in the collection, but one would need to visit the Smithsonian to peruse the six boxes of archived items to find and review them.
I have not been able to find any images of the gallery's façade or interior. The space it occupied is now part of the address of the Four Seasons Hotel.
Resonance of Form Works on Paper
Because a couple of the works being displayed in Beauford's solo exhibition at The Drawing Center were first shown in public during the 2016 Resonance of Form and Vibration of Color exhibition that the Wells International Foundation and Les Amis organized in Paris, I was inspired to look at all the works on paper from this earlier show and post images of a few of them here today.
The first four works represented in the images below are my favorites from Resonance of Form.
(1956) Inks on paper
Private collection
© Estate of Beauford Delaney,
by permission of Derek L. Spratley, Esquire,
Court Appointed Administrator
Courtesy of Michael Rosenfeld Gallery, LLC, New York, NY
(1956) Aquarelle on paper
Private collection
© Estate of Beauford Delaney,
by permission of Derek L. Spratley, Esquire,
Court Appointed Administrator
Courtesy of Michael Rosenfeld Gallery, LLC, New York, NY
(1963) Mixed media on paper
Private collection
© Estate of Beauford Delaney,
by permission of Derek L. Spratley, Esquire,
Court Appointed Administrator
Courtesy of Michael Rosenfeld Gallery, LLC, New York, NY
(1970) Mixed media on cardboard
Private collection
© Estate of Beauford Delaney
by permission of Derek L. Spratley, Esquire,
Court Appointed Administrator
Courtesy of Michael Rosenfeld Gallery, LLC, New York, NY
The two works pictured below are similar to works represented in The Drawing Center's In the Medium of Life catalog.
(1960) Mixed media on paper
Similar to Plate 37 in In the Medium of Life
Private collection
© Estate of Beauford Delaney,
by permission of Derek L. Spratley, Esquire,
Court Appointed Administrator
Courtesy of Michael Rosenfeld Gallery, LLC, New York, NY
(1972) Watercolor on paper
Similar to Plate 89 in In the Medium of Life
Private collection
© Estate of Beauford Delaney,
by permission of Derek L. Spratley, Esquire,
Court Appointed Administrator
Courtesy of Michael Rosenfeld Gallery, LLC, New York, NY
Sold and To Be Sold 3
Beauford's Untitled (Composition in Blue) was auctioned by Christie's New York as part of the First Open | Post-War & Contemporary Art online sale, which was held from July 3 through July 18, 2025.
Untitled (Composition in Blue)
(1961) Gouache on wove paper
© Estate of Beauford Delaney,
by permission of Derek L. Spratley, Esquire,
Court Appointed Administrator
Courtesy of Michael Rosenfeld Gallery, LLC, New York, NY
Its estimated sale price was $20,000 - $30,000.
It sold for $21,420, including a 26% buyer's premium.
Today (Saturday, 26 July 2025), a vibrant Beauford Delaney abstract painting is being auctioned by Aurora & Athena in Barcelona.
Abstract Composition
(1961) Oil on canvas
Signed front lower right "61 Beauford Delaney"
© Estate of Beauford Delaney,
by permission of Derek L. Spratley, Esquire,
Court Appointed Administrator
Courtesy of Michael Rosenfeld Gallery, LLC, New York, NY
Aurora & Athena's write-up about this work is particularly poetic. The writer actually describes the work as "a visual poem that lives, breathes, and continues to speak to new generations."
Other lyrical descriptions include the painting being "bold and tender," seeming to "inhale and exhale with light," and "balancing intensity with grace."
Visitors to the Web page that presents Abstract Composition, 1961 have the opportunity to read a "bonus article" about Beauford called "Beauford Delaney Abstract Paintings Captivate the Market." This well referenced piece not only thoroughly reviews the painterly characteristics and evolution of Beauford's work, but also unabashedly explores the value his work represents for collectors.
As an example of this value, the article includes a link to an internal Web page that presents an 1968 abstract work on paper sold by the auction house in December 2024.
The estimated sale price of Abstract Composition, 1961 is 20,000€ to 30,000€.
Click HERE to learn more about the auction.
Dark Rapture in Speculative Light: The Arts of Beauford Delaney and James Baldwin
Duke University Press describes Amy J. Elias' Speculative Light: The Arts of Beauford Delaney and James Baldwin (2025) as a publication that "brings together scholars, critics, and artists who analyze the stylistic and historical import of Delaney's and Baldwin’s works and examine how this friendship fundamentally shaped the pair's ideas about art and life.
"The book’s contributors explore how the two men, sharing identities as queer Black American artists, first in New York and then as expatriates in France, created a speculative space in their work to think about more just and creative Black futures."
Cover Art: Portrait of James Baldwin
(1965) Oil on canvas
Chrysler Museum of Art, Norfolk, VA
© Estate of Beauford Delaney
by permission of Derek L. Spratley, Esquire
Court Appointed Administrator
Courtesy of Michael Rosenfeld Gallery LLC, New York, NY
Dr. Elias, who is Chancellor’s Professor, Distinguished Professor of English, and Director of the Denbo Center for Humanities and the Arts at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville, organized the February 2020 symposium of the same name in parallel with the opening days of the Beauford Delaney and James Baldwin: Through the Unusual Door exhibition at the Knoxville Museum of Art.
Scholarly papers presented at the symposium responded to questions concerning arts history and Black aesthetics, music and sonic arts, ethics and social values, style and form, gender and sexuality, and biography and legacies. Elias gathered these extraordinary papers and assembled them for the Duke University Press publication.
Speculative Light is both broad and deep in its exploration of Beauford and Baldwin. "Casual" readers should understand that the writings are indeed scholarly and that this is not a book that can be readily skimmed for information.
Rather than write a review of the entire collection of essays in a single post, I have decided to select elements of Beauford's life and work that are discussed by multiple contributors and present a few of their thoughts—ranging from painterly descriptions to psychological inferences—about these elements in periodic blog posts.
Today, I present various musings about Beauford's first portrait of Baldwin: Dark Rapture.
(1941) Oil on masonite
Collection of halley k harrisburg and Michael Rosenfeld, New York
© Estate of Beauford Delaney
by permission of Derek L. Spratley, Esquire,
Court Appointed Administrator
Courtesy of Michael Rosenfeld Gallery LLC, New York, NY
This painting is presented on the first of 32 color plates that illustrate Speculative Light.
The book's first mention of Dark Rapture comes from Beauford's biographer, David Leeming.1
In his essay entitled "Jimmy and Beauford—The Bond of the Unusual Door," Leeming expresses his belief that the title of the work may have been inspired by the 1938 documentary (the text erroneously says "1931") about explorations of the Belgian Congo. He describes Dark Rapture as "an act of love, like nothing he had painted before or would ever paint again."
Discussions about the painting itself begin with Magdalena J. Zaborowska's2 essay, "Beauford Delaney's Black Queer Fatherhood."
Zaborowska describes Beauford as an alternative father figure that Baldwin desperately needed. She says Baldwin's features seem "undefined" and interprets the portrait as capturing "the psychic toll exacted by the youth's Harlem preacher father" and "the painful impact of Baldwin's homophobic and violent stepfather."
She comments that this portrait is unique because Beauford focused on Baldwin's "darkly luminous" body rather than his "expressive face," and she construes Baldwin's posture as a reflection of "indecisiveness and slight physical discomfort."
Zaborowska goes on to say that "Baldwin is rendered motionless yet dynamic, sparkling with light and energy, yet afraid and uncertain." She states that Baldwin, "in Delaney's eye, is both a wounded child and an erotically charged demigod . . . ."
(1941) Oil on masonite
Collection of halley k harrisburg and Michael Rosenfeld, New York
© Estate of Beauford Delaney
by permission of Derek L. Spratley, Esquire,
Court Appointed Administrator
Courtesy of Michael Rosenfeld Gallery LLC, New York, NY
In her essay entitled "Choosing Both—Abstraction and Singularity in Beauford Delaney and James Baldwin," Monika Gehlawat3 approaches Dark Rapture as one of the figurative paintings Beauford created after his "turn toward abstraction." She evokes the work of Matisse as she discusses the "elongated forms" and "bright color palette" Beauford used to render this work and says it is "undoubtedly an homage to his fauvist predecessor."
In contrast to Zaborowska, Gehlawat finds Baldwin's features to be "clearly delineated" and says his eyes "seem meditative and observant, an embodiment of the inner and outer eye that Baldwin felt Delaney cultivated in him." She says Beauford has portrayed him as "archetypal, a supernatural man . . . who manifests a somber, almost spiritual, self composure . . . ." In her view, a "fantasy of freedom" emanates from this painting.
Two additional brief references to Beauford's portrayal of Baldwin's face by different authors indicate that it is composed of "a black of many colors" and refer to its "ochre face and pink eyebrows."
Robert F. Reid-Pharr4 writes about Dark Rapture in "Singed Innocence—Baldwin, Delaney, and the Problematic Black Child," an essay about Baldwin, Beauford, and Yoran Cazac, the illustrator of Baldwin's Little Man, Little Man. He introduces his narrative about Dark Rapture by saying it "certainly is meant to evoke painterly stress."
Reid-Pharr goes on to describe multiple components of the painting—its "surfeit of color," the angularity of Baldwin's body, the "lack of precise distinction between surfaces"—as being "wrong." He says "the imprecision (or is it overprecision?) of the artist's palette suggests a thing that is falling apart. Baldwin appears as so much cooked meat, meat made more delectable in the process."
He ends his discussion of Dark Rapture by saying that Beauford "resolves the painting with one bit of certainty, that spot of dark black-blue-green color between the boy's thighs, representing the possibility, the story, of genitalia."
(1941) Oil on masonite
Collection of halley k harrisburg and Michael Rosenfeld, New York
© Estate of Beauford Delaney
by permission of Derek L. Spratley, Esquire,
Court Appointed Administrator
Courtesy of Michael Rosenfeld Gallery LLC, New York, NY
Abbe Schriber5 writes about Beauford's work in her essay entitled "Architects of the Spirit—Color and Intimacy in Beauford Delaney's Post-1950 Abstractions." She "reaches back" to Beauford's 1941 portrait of Baldwin in the midst of a discussion about the association of abstraction with queerness and/or femininity and the multifaceted significance of nonrepresentational abstraction for Black artists.
Schriber references art historian Nikki A. Green's observation that Beauford visited John Singer Sargent's studio after Sargent's death and posits that Beauford painted Dark Rapture "in dialogue with Sargent's Thomas McKeller, the portrait of his nude Black model."
(c. 1917-1920) Oil on canvas
Museum of Fine Arts Boston
Henry H. and Zoe Oliver Sherman Fund
Image in public domain
She continues to reference Greene's comments on Dark Rapture, saying that "it is through color and brushstroke that Delaney effects his intimate affection without sensationalizing Baldwin's nudity." She quotes Greene as saying "Although Delaney created a nude portrait of Baldwin, the writer appears 'dressed' here in multicolor pigments . . . . As a black man, Delaney respectfully and upliftingly renders Baldwin's black, male body not in code or in hiding . . . . In fact, Baldwin is boldly proclaimed and celebrated with every brushstroke!"
1David Leeming is Professor Emeritus of English and Comparative Literature at the University of Connecticut in Storrs.
2Magdalena J. Zaborowska is Professor in the Departments of American Culture and Afroamerican and African Studies at the University of Michigan.
3Monika Gehlawat is Professor of English and Associate Director of the School of Humanities at the University of Southern Mississippi.
4Robert R. Reid-Pharr is Professor of Social and Cultural Analysis at New York University.
5Abbe Schriber is Assistant Professor of Art History and African American Studies at the University of South Carolina.
Composition in Blue Is Being Auctioned by Christie's
Beauford's Untitled (Composition in Blue) is one of the works I featured in Part 1 of a blog post called "Beauford's Blues."
It is being auctioned by Christie's New York as part of the First Open | Post-War & Contemporary Art online sale.
Lot 37Untitled (Composition in Blue)
(1961) Gouache on wove paper
© Estate of Beauford Delaney,
by permission of Derek L. Spratley, Esquire,
Court Appointed Administrator
This work is signed and dated December 25, 1961.
At that time, Beauford resided at La Maison de Santé Nogent-sur-Marne, where he received psychiatric care from Dr. Gaston Ferdière.
According to biographer David Leeming, he arrived at the clinic on December 20, so he had some time to acclimate to his new surroundings before painting this work.
Solange du Closel and her husband drove Beauford to the clinic after having cared for him in their home. Presumably, they provided the materials he used to create Untitled (Composition in Blue).
I always have a feeling of lightness, of airiness, when I look at an image of this work. I wonder if Beauford felt this way when he painted it, given that he had been prescribed medication that Leeming says stopped his hallucinations.
The First Open | Post-War & Contemporary Art sale runs through July 18, 2025. The estimated sale price of Untitled (Composition in Blue) is $20,000 - $30,000.
For information about the sale, click HERE.All Eyes Are on Beauford at the Drawing Center
Now that the Paris Noir exhibition at Paris' Centre Pompidou has closed, Beauford Delaney aficionados are turning their eyes westward to the dazzling monographic exhibition that features roughly 90 pieces of Beauford's work at The Drawing Center in NYC.
The center's Website presents In the Medium of Life: The Drawings of Beauford Delaney as "New York's first major Delaney museum exhibition in over thirty years and the first ever focused on his drawings—a medium central to his artistic practice."
Though a few oils punctuate the show, the majority of the works on display are rendered in ink, ballpoint pen, graphite, charcoal, pastels, gouache, or watercolor. They span Beauford's entire career from Boston (late 1920s) through Paris (early 1970s).
(1956) Pastel on paper
© Estate of Beauford Delaney
by permission of Derek L. Spratley, Esquire,
Court Appointed Administrator
These works are complemented by archival materials that include documentary photographs, correspondence, exhibition brochures, and press clippings.
ON THE INTERNET
Numerous articles, a podcast, and a video blog vividly describe this show, which opened on May 30, 2025.
Financial Times: Beauford Delaney — luminous painter admired by James Baldwin, Henry Miller and Georgia O’Keeffe
WNYC: Don't Overlook Beauford Delaney's Drawings (summary and transcript of Everand.com podcast mentioned below)
(Undated) Oil on board
© Estate of Beauford Delaney
by permission of Derek L. Spratley, Esquire,
Court Appointed Administrator
Everand.com: "Don't Overlook Beauford Delaney's Drawings" from All of It
(1950) Pastel, watercolor, and charcoal on paper
© Estate of Beauford Delaney
by permission of Derek L. Spratley, Esquire,
Court Appointed Administrator
Wanafoto: In the Medium of Life: The Drawings of Beauford Delaney - The Drawing Center, New York
Berkshire Fine Arts: "Beauford Delaney at the Drawing Center: In the Medium of Life" by Rosenfeld
AT THE VENUE
The Drawing Center has organized a bilingual English-Spanish art workshop inspired by the exhibition.
Facilitated by Ada Pilar Cruz, it will be held on July 19 at 11 AM:
See images of the installation on The Drawing Center's Website:
The Drawing Center - Beauford Delaney Installation
and video of it courtesy of the James Kalm Rough Cut video blog on YouTube:
(1945) Oil on canvas
© Estate of Beauford Delaney
by permission of Derek L. Spratley, Esquire,
Court Appointed Administrator
Image courtesy of Michael Rosenfeld Gallery
Elise Ferguson and Dena Novak at SHRINE Beauford Delaney at the DRAWING CENTER
(Commentary begins at 14:43 minutes and runs through the end of this ~40-minute video.)
CATALOG
Find the 220-page catalog (for purchase and/or online viewing) here:
Catalog: In the Medium of Life: The Drawings of Beauford Delaney
Catalog cover art: Self-Portrait
See below
(1964) Watercolor and gouache on paper
Photo credit: Knoxville Museum of Art
Courtesy Ruth and Joe Fielden, Knoxville, TN
© Estate of Beauford Delaney
By permission of Derek L. Spratley, Esquire,
Court Appointed Administrator
In the Medium of Life: The Drawings of Beauford Delaney will be on display through September 14, 2025.
The Drawing Center
35 Wooster St
New York, New York 10013
Hours: Wednesday through Sunday 12 PM - 6 PM
Last Days for Paris Noir
On March 22, 2025, I published an article entitled "Beauford Is Front and Center in Paris Noir" to present the epic exhibition that features the work of 150+ African and Afro-descendent artists who lived in Paris between 1950 and 2000.
© Entrée to Black Paris
In what feels like the blink of an eye, Paris Noir is coming to an end.
Monday, June 30 is the last day that you will be able to see this show.
The French press was clearly enamored of Beauford's œuvre - I found his name (often accompanied by an image of one of his works or a photograph of him and James Baldwin) in more than 15 online articles about the exhibition.
His Portrait of a Young Man (1965), which hangs in Room 15 of the show, made the cover of Beaux Arts magazine.
Fair use claim
Portrait of a Young Man
(1965) Oil on canvas
© Estate of Beauford Delaney
By permission of Derek L. Spratley, Esquire,
Court Appointed Administrator
The exhibition has been enormously popular. Le Figaro reported that roughly 3,500 people attended the opening event, and according to Le Point, nearly 200,000 people had visited the show by May 21, 2025 (for an average of 3,746 visitors a day).
Images © Entrée to Black Paris
Images © Entrée to Black Paris
Images © Entrée to Black Paris
Paris Noir is on display in Galerie 1, Level 6 of the Centre Pompidou.
© Entrée to Black Paris
Click HERE to purchase tickets.
Beauford Potpourri 4
I continue to peruse Google Alerts about Beauford to add to the information and references that illuminate the fascinating story of his life.
Below are a few links to information I have recently discovered.
Portrait of Anita Berliawsky Weinstein
Anita Berliawsky Weinstein
(1951) Oil on canvas
© Estate of Beauford Delaney
by permission of Derek L. Spratley, Esquire,
Court Appointed Administrator
Sotheby's sold a portrait of Anita Berliawsky Weinstein during its Contemporary Art Sale on May 16, 2025. The estimated sale price was $100,000 to $200,000.
The work sold for $127,000, including the buyer's premium of 27%.
I was intrigued by the story behind this work, having never seen an image of it before. Sotheby's reported that Weinstein was the sister of sculptress Louise Nevelson and that Nevelson helped Beauford get accepted for his fellowship at Yaddo in 1950. Neither woman is mentioned in David Leeming's biography of Beauford, Amazing Grace: A Life of Beauford Delaney.
Beauford and Louise Nevelson may have met at the Art Students' League in New York, given that both studied there in the early 1930s.
Beauford Delaney at the DRAWING CENTER
As reported in a recent Les Amis blog post, Beauford's work is being featured in a solo exhibition at The Drawing Center in Manhattan.
I was thrilled to find a James Kalm "Rough Cuts" video about this show on YouTube the other day.
The first part of the video presents a show at Shrine that features art by Elise Ferguson and Dena Novak. From 14:43 minutes to the end of this ~40-minute video, Kalm presents Beauford's exhibition at the Drawing Center - complete with commentary.
Click HERE to see this magnificent exhibition.
Phillips sells Beauford Delaney abstract
Untitled
(c. 1972) Oil on canvas
© Estate of Beauford Delaney
by permission of Derek L. Spratley, Esquire,
Court Appointed Administrator
Phillips auctioned Untitled, c. 1972 at the morning session of its Modern & Contemporary Art Day Sale on May 14, 2025. The estimated sale price of this work was $100,000 to $150,000.
It sold for $228,600, including the buyer's premium of 27%.
In Amazing Grace, David Leeming describes 1972 as a difficult year for Beauford. Bright spots included Henry Miller's birthday visit to Paris in January, a trip to Normandy with Jim and Bunny LeGros, and visits from friends Larry Calcagno and Michael Freilich during the summer.
Perhaps Beauford painted Untitled during one of these periods.
Read previously published Beauford Potpourri articles by clicking on the links below.
Auction House Websites Provide a Great Look at Beauford's Work
An excellent way to familiarize yourself with Beauford's work is to look at the Websites of auction houses that sell it.
Find the Web links for three of them below.
Each link is accompanied by an image of the work that has fetched the highest price at that auction house to date.
James Baldwin
(1966) oil on canvas
39 1/2 x 29 7/8in. (100.2 x 76cm.)
Signed and dated 'Beauford Delaney 1966' (lower left)
© Estate of Beauford Delaney
by permission of Derek L. Spratley, Esquire,
Court Appointed Administrator
Sale price: 1,026,000 GBP ($1,150,114), including Buyer's Premium.
(1948) Oil on canvas
737x1016 mm; 29x40 inches
Signed and dated in oil, lower left.
Image from Swann Auction Galleries Web site
© Estate of Beauford Delaney
by permission of Derek L. Spratley, Esquire,
Court Appointed Administrator
Sale price: $557,000, including Buyer's Premium.
Untitled
(c. 1972) Oil on canvas
63 3/4 x 51 1/4 inches
© Estate of Beauford Delaney
by permission of Derek L. Spratley, Esquire,
Court Appointed Administrator
Sale price: $348,000, including Buyer's Premium.
Michael Rosenfeld Gallery Presents Bienvenue: African American Artists in France
~ Beauford Delaney, 1966*
Michael Rosenfeld Gallery (MRG) is well represented at the Paris Noir: Artistic circulations and anti-colonial resistance, 1950–2000 exhibition that is on view at the Centre Pompidou in Paris through June 30, 2025.
In parallel with this groundbreaking show, the gallery is presenting Bienvenue: African American Artists in France in New York through July 25, 2025.
MRG describes this exhibition as "a historical survey of seventeen Black American artists who lived and worked in France from the late nineteenth century through the present" that "offers an expanded look into the presence of Black American artists in France, many of whom were seeking respite from the systemic racism that limited their opportunities for education and the recognition of their work in the United States."
Bienvenue focuses specifically on American artists and spans nearly eight decades in its chronological scope, beginning with a 1912 painting by Henry Ossawa Tanner (1859–1937) and ending with a 1989 sculpture by Barbara Chase-Riboud (b.1939).
Anyone who knows MRG knows of the gallery's decades-long devotion to Beauford's legacy. In addition to the work they have done to ensure the visibility of his artwork, they contributed the fundraising campaign to place a tombstone at Beauford's previously unmarked grave in 2009-2010 and have consistently supported this blog.
MRG loaned over half of the paintings by Beauford that hang in Paris Noir, and it is showing six (6) Beauford Delaney paintings in Bienvenue.
Of all the artists represented in this show, Beauford has the most works on display.
Below are images of my favorite works from Bienvenue.
(1967) Oil on canvas
15 1/8 x 21 3/4 inches / 38.4 x 55.2 cm
© Estate of Beauford Delaney
By permission of Derek L. Spratley, Esquire,
Court Appointed Administrator
(c. 1970) Oil on canvas
19 1/2 x 24 inches / 49.5 x 61 cm
© Estate of Beauford Delaney
By permission of Derek L. Spratley, Esquire,
Court Appointed Administrator
Bienvenue: African American Artists in France features works by 17 African-American artists. Beauford knew several of them personally, including Ed Clark, Herbert Gentry, and Palmer Hayden.
To see images of the works in this show, click HERE.
Michael Rosenfeld Gallery
100 11th Avenue @ 19th
New York, NY 10011
Regular Hours:
Tuesday–Saturday, 10AM–6PM, or by appointment
Summer Hours
(Memorial Day–Labor Day):
Monday–Friday, 10AM–6PM, or by appointment
*Beauford Delaney quoted in John Ashbery, “American Sanctuary in Paris,” ARTnews Annual Vol. 31 (1966): 146