Christie’s to Auction Beauford’s Portrait of Peter Eyre
In December 2025, Les Amis published an extensive article about actor Peter Eyre and the portrait Beauford painted of him in 1960:
Beauford’s Portrait of Peter Eyre
Peter Eyre
(1960) 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
On June 25, 2026, Christie’s is auctioning this work during its Post-War to Present sale. They have listed the title as Portrait of a Young Man.
Beauford signed the work and wrote his Clamart address on the rear of the canvas.
Rear of Peter Eyre portrait
Image courtesy of Peter Eyre
Aside from the indication that Eyer’s mother, Dorothy Pelline Eyre, acquired the painting directly from Beauford and that Peter inherited it from her (“Thence by descent to the present owner”), the Web page provides no narrative text to describe the work or any relationship between the Eyres and Beauford.
The estimated sale price is 60,000£ – 80,000£.
Christie’s notes that an Artist’s Resale Right applies to its sale.
Click HERE to view their Web page for this work.
Beauford Delaney: Degrees of Separation
From June 5 through August 8, 2026, the University of Tennessee (UT) Downtown Gallery is showing Beauford Delaney: Degrees of Separation—an exhibition that revisits Beauford’s work and worlds through the lens of the relationships he forged from his hometown of Knoxville to Paris, the last place he called home.
Curated by Derek Spratley, Esquire, Court Appointed Administrator of the Beauford Delaney estate, and Mike Berry, Curator at the UT Downtown Gallery, the show explores “the deeply reciprocal influence the artist had on those he encountered throughout his travels across the domestic and international stage.”
Entrance to Beauford Delaney: Degrees of Separation
Image courtesy of the Estate of Beauford Delaney
CLAMART ‘61
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 exhibition opened on June 5, 2026 at 6:30 PM with a First Friday event called Gallery Talk. Attendees listened to remarks made by curators Spratley and Berry as well as Dr. Mary Campbell, Associate Professor of Art History at UT Knoxville and Stephen Wicks, Barbara W. & Bernard E. Bernstein Curator at the Knoxville Museum of Art.
Opening reception for Beauford Delaney: Degrees of Separation
Images courtesy of the UT Downtown Gallery
Derek Spratley, Esquire
Court Appointed Administrator of the Beauford Delaney estate
Image courtesy of UT Downtown Gallery
Dr. Mary Campbell
Associate Professor of Art History at UT Knoxville
Image courtesy of UT Downtown Gallery
Portraits of three of the most important people in Beauford’s life are displayed in the exhibit:
James Baldwin,
James Baldwin, Istanbul, Turkey
(ca. 1965) Ink 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
Dante Pavone,
Dante Pavone
(1948) 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
and Henry Miller.
Sketch of Henry Miller
Ink 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
In addition to works by Beauford, the exhibition features works by friends and paintings and drawings from the Ewing Gallery Permanent Collection by Beauford’s brother, Joseph Delaney.
On Saturday, July 25, the gallery will host an afternoon of exphrastic poetry (poetry inspired by visual art). Curated by Dr. Natalie Graham, Inaugural Poet Laureate, Orange County, CA 2022-2024, the performance will feature readings by award-winning local and international poets.
As part of Downtown Knoxville’s First Friday Art Walk, the UT Downtown Gallery is open until 9 PM on the first Friday of each month.
UT Downtown Gallery
106 S. Gay Street
Knoxville TN 37902
Telephone: 865-673-0802
HOURS
W-F: 11am – 6pm
SAT: 10am – 3pm
FIRST FRIDAY: 2pm-9pm
Beauford’s Portrait of Gaylord
The Worcester Art Museum (WAM) holds Beauford's Portrait of Gaylord in its permanent collection.
Portrait of Gaylord
(1944) Oil on canvas mounted on artist board
© Estate of Beauford Delaney
by permission of Derek L. Spratley, Esquire,
Court Appointed Administrator
Courtesy of Michael Rosenfeld Gallery, LLC, New York, NY
Central to the museum's mission are its collaborations with many of the city’s colleges and universities, serving over 35,000 students annually. It uses its art collection to support the colleges’ curricula and engage students, faculty, and staff in planning and implementing projects that benefit all audiences.
In the fall of 2021, Kristina Wilson, professor of art history at Clark University, taught a course entitled “Art, the Public, and Worcester’s Cultural Institutions,” in which students researched works in the Museum’s collection to create content for a new podcast. “WAM x University” launched in the spring of 2022 and is available for streaming on Spotify. Its success opened the door for future classes and other colleges and universities to contribute new seasons, as an ongoing project for students to present research in new forms.
For the 50th episode of the podcast, Clark University student Lee McKinnon presents an analysis of Portrait of Gaylord that portrays it as a representation of resistance and protest.
Listen to the ~16-minute episode by clicking HERE.
More on Beauford’s Still Life with Idol
Last week, Les Amis published an article about Sotheby's sale of a Beauford Delaney work entitled Still Life with Idol.
Lot 336
Still Life with Idol
signed (lower center)
oil on Masonite in artist's chosen frame
36 by 21 in.
91.4 by 53.3 cm.
Executed in 1945.
© Estate of Beauford Delaney
by permission of Derek L. Spratley, Esquire,
Court Appointed Administrator
Courtesy of Michael Rosenfeld Gallery, LLC, New York, NY
In that post, we discussed the differences in title, media, and year of creation ascribed to the work on Sotheby's Website and in the biography entitled Amazing Grace: A Life of Beauford Delaney.
Sylvain Briet worked alongside his brother, Philippe, at the Philippe Briet Gallery in New York. He graciously provided us with additional information about this painting.
He told us that the gallery sold the painting to Jean de Gunzburg and that de Gunzburg already owned it when the gallery displayed it at the Beauford Delaney: The New York Years [1929-1953] exhibition in April - May 1994. He confirmed that it is an oil on masonite.
Briet also told us that neither his brother nor Jean de Gunzburg knew of the title Still Life with Idol and that the work was listed in the exhibition as Untitled, circa 1945. He mentioned that many of the works shown during the gallery's 1994 show also hung in the Seventh Annual Exhibition of Paintings and Sculpture at the Pyramid Club in Philadelphia in 1947.
Beauford's Still Life with Idol Offered by Sotheby's
On Saturday, May 16, 2026, Sotheby's is auctioning Beauford's Still Life with Idol during its Contemporary Day Auction featuring works from the collection of Jean and Terry De Gunzburg.
Lot 336
Still Life with Idol
signed (lower center)
oil on Masonite in artist's chosen frame
36 by 21 in.
91.4 by 53.3 cm.
Executed in 1945.
© Estate of Beauford Delaney
by permission of Derek L. Spratley, Esquire,
Court Appointed Administrator
Courtesy of Michael Rosenfeld Gallery, LLC, New York, NY
According to Sotheby’s, the present owner acquired the work from Philippe Briet Gallery, New York, in 1994. The painting appears to be the work shown second from the left in an installation photograph from the gallery’s Beauford Delaney: The New York Years [1929-1953] exhibition, which was held from April through May 1994.
Beauford Delaney: The New York Years (1994)
© Sylvain Briet
Several years ago, Sylvain Briet shared with Les Amis an invitation card and graphic image produced for the 1994 exhibition. Although the title of the work was not identified on the material provided, Les Amis later located what appears to be the same composition reproduced in the first edition of David Leeming’s biography entitled Amazing Grace: A Life of Beauford Delaney (1998; Oxford University Press).
In the biography, the work is identified as Earth Mother.
Les Amis subsequently included the image in a 2017 post entitled "Beauford's Reflections on Leaving New York".
Earth Mother
(1950) 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
The caption accompanying the black-and-white reproduction of Earth Mother in the second edition of Amazing Grace (2024; Karma Books) lists dimensions that correspond to those given for Still Life with Idol on Sotheby’s Website.
Earth Mother as presented in
Amazing Grace: A Life of Beauford Delaney (2024; Karma Books)
© Les Amis de Beauford Delaney
The Sotheby’s image differs noticeably in coloration from the earlier reproduced image.
David Leeming’s Amazing Grace: A Life of Beauford Delaney identifies the work as Earth Mother (1950, oil on canvas); Sotheby’s identifies it as Still Life with Idol (1945, oil on Masonite).
The estimated sale price of Still Life with Idol is $60,000 - $80,000.
For information about the auction, click HERE.
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.