Summer Yellow

Did you know that there is a palette of colors called “Summer Yellow”?

When I came across this during a Web search for the term, I wondered for a second whether Beauford might have used this when he painted scores of works featuring the color “yellow.”

Then I remembered that color palettes are defined digitally and that Beauford died long before the hexadecimal color system was developed.

At any rate, I thought of “Summer Yellow” as I was reflecting on the recent solar eclipse and the third canicule (extreme heat wave) that France is experiencing this season.

And of course, Beauford’s gift for painting with this color sprang to mind.

Here are some of my favorite of his abstract works in this color.

Untitled
(1961) Oil on canvas
Delaware Art Museum
Wilmington, Delaware, USA
© Estate of Beauford Delaney
by permission of Derek L. Spratley, Esquire,
Court Appointed Administrator
Courtesy of Michael Rosenfeld Gallery, LLC, New York, NY

Untitled (Yellow series)
(1962) Oil on linen
Annotated in verso
© Estate of Beauford Delaney,
by permission of Derek L. Spratley, Esquire,
Court Appointed Administrator
Courtesy of Michael Rosenfeld Gallery, LLC, New York, NY

Moving Sunlight
(1965) Oil on canvas
Knoxville Museum of Art, 2018 acquisition
Knoxville, Tennessee, USA
© Estate of Beauford Delaney
by permission of Derek L. Spratley, Esquire,
Court Appointed Administrator
Courtesy of Michael Rosenfeld Gallery, LLC, New York, NY

Untitled
(circa 1960) Oil on canvas
Signed at lower right and on back of canvas
© Estate of Beauford Delaney,
by permission of Derek L. Spratley, Esquire,
Court Appointed Administrator
Courtesy of Michael Rosenfeld Gallery, LLC, New York, NY

Untitled, Paris
(1967) Oil on panel
Signed lower left
Counter-signed, dated and located 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