Beauford's Art: Portraits of Donors to the Reid Hall Exhibition

The February 2016 exhibition of Beauford Delaney works at Reid Hall would not be possible without the generosity and passion of several Paris art collectors. Beauford painted portraits of four of them:

Burt Reinfrank,

Burton Reinfrank
(1968) Oil on canvas
Image courtesy of Burton Reinfrank
© Estate of Beauford Delaney
by permission of Derek L. Spratley, Esquire,
Court Appointed Administrator
Solange du Closel,

Mme du Closel No. 4
(1972) Pastel on paper
G. R. N'Namdi Gallery
© Estate of Beauford Delaney
by permission of Derek L. Spratley, Esquire,
Court Appointed Administrator
Geneviève Brouard,

Portrait of Geneviève Brouard
(1964) Oil on canvas
Signed on back: Beauford Delaney 1964
Image © Discover Paris!
© Estate of Beauford Delaney
by permission of Derek L. Spratley, Esquire,
Court Appointed Administrator

and Robert Tricoire.

Portrait of Robert Tricoire
(1969) Oil on canvas
Image © Discover Paris!
© Estate of Beauford Delaney,
by permission of Derek L. Spratley, Esquire,
Court Appointed Administrator
Portraits of Mme du Closel (now deceased), Robert Tricoire, and Geneviève Brouard will be part of the Reid Hall exhibition. Robert Tricoire, Geneviève Brouard, the family of Mme du Closel, and the daughter of Burt Reinfrank are expected to attend the show.

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Les Amis de Beauford Delaney, Reid Hall, and the Wells International Foundation are partnering to bring an exhibition of original Beauford Delaney works to Reid Hall in Paris in February 2016! To sign-up to receive information about this show, click HERE.

Beauford's Pablo Picasso Portrait for Auction

Artcurial in Paris has placed Beauford's portrait of Pablo Picasso up for auction.

Portrait of Pablo Picasso
Oil on canvas, 46 cm x 38 cm
Private collection
© Estate of Beauford Delaney
by permission of Derek L. Spratley, Esquire,
Court Appointed Administrator
Image courtesy of Christian Parramon
The painting is on view at Artcurial on the following dates:

16 October, 11 AM - 7 PM
17 October, 11 AM - 6 PM
18 October, 2 PM - 6 PM
19 October, 11 AM - 6 PM

in preparation for the Impressionist & Modern Art auction (Sale 2796) that will take place on 20 October at 11 AM.

I wrote an article about Beauford and Pablo Picasso last summer. Click HERE to read about Picasso's influence on Beauford's work.

Artcurial is located at 7, rond-point des Champs-Élysées 75008 Paris, France. For more information, contact:

Elodie Landais
E-mail:
Phone: +33 1 42 99 20 84


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Les Amis de Beauford Delaney and Reid Hall are partnering to bring an exhibition of original Beauford Delaney works to Reid Hall in Paris in February 2016! To sign-up to receive information about this show, click HERE.

Charlie Parker Acquired by Rochester's Memorial Art Gallery

Beauford's painting of Charlie Parker was recently acquired by the Memorial Art Gallery in Rochester, NY. It hung in a show that celebrating the opening of the museum's new galleries in August 2015.

Untitled (aka Charlie "Bird" Parker), 1968
Oil on canvas
28 3/4" x 23 1/2", signed and dated
Photograph by Joshua Nefsky; Courtesy of
Michael Rosenfeld Gallery LLC, New York , NY
© Estate of Beauford Delaney
by permission of Derek L. Spratley, Esquire,
Court Appointed Administrator
The museum's information page about the painting lists its name simply as Charlie Parker.

Charlie Parker and several other paintings by Beauford were shown in the Whitney Museum of Art's show Blues for Smoke in 2013. Actor Billy Dee Williams purchased this portrait from Beauford during a visit that he and James Baldwin paid to Beauford's studio.

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Les Amis de Beauford Delaney and Reid Hall are partnering to bring an exhibition of original Beauford Delaney works to Reid Hall in Paris in February 2016! To sign-up to receive information about this show, click HERE.

Where to Find Beauford's Art: Bonhams

It seems that Beauford is "on the radar" in Great Britain these days!

After last week's article on Beauford at the Tate Liverpool, I'm pleased to report that one of his abstract paintings is going up for auction at Bonhams in London, Knightsbridge.

Untitled
(1961) Watercolor and mixed media on paper
65 x 50 cm (25 9/16 x 19 11/16 in)
Signed and dated, lower right
Image courtesy of Bonhams
© Estate of Beauford Delaney
by permission of Derek L. Spratley, Esquire,
Court Appointed Administrator
The auction (Sale 22806) will take place on September 22, 2015.

It is entitled:
British and European Art
Part I: Victorian & British Impressionist Art
Part II: 19th Century European, Impressionist & Modern Art

The estimated sale price for this work (Lot 207) is £1,000 - £1500 / 1400€ - 2100€.

Bonhams had the occasion to offer another Beauford Delaney painting for auction - this time, during a sale of American Art in New York in 2014:

Portrait of a Young Man
(1953) Oil on canvas
80.65 x 64.77 cm (31 3/4 x 25 1/2 in)
Signed and dated on verso
Image courtesy of Bonhams
© Estate of Beauford Delaney
by permission of Derek L. Spratley, Esquire,
Court Appointed Administrator
This portrait was shown in the Beauford Delaney: From New York to Paris exhibition organized by the Minneapolis Institute of Arts. It hung there from November 21, 2004 – February 20, 2005 and was subsequently presented by the Knoxville Museum of Art (April 8 – June 25, 2005), the Greenville County Museum of Art (August 3 – October 2, 2005), and the Philadelphia Museum of Art (November 12, 2005 – January 28, 2006). A notation in the catalog for the show indicates that the subject of the portrait may be Beauford's dear friend, Larry Calcagno.

The estimated value of the painting for the auction was $12,000 - $18,000. It was "bought in" (it did not sell).

According to Emma Gordon, the art specialist at Bonhams who shared the information about these paintings, Beauford's work has been offered for sale at other auction houses in the UK, such as Christie’s South Kensington and Sotheby’s London. She hopes that his UK profile is expanding.

To learn more about the works shown above and about the September 2015 auction, contact:
Emma Gordon
Specialist - 19th Century Paintings
London, United Kingdom
Tel: +44 20 7393 3960
Fax: +44 20 7393 3863


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Les Amis de Beauford Delaney and Reid Hall are partnering to bring an exhibition of original Beauford Delaney works to Reid Hall in Paris in February 2016! To sign-up to receive information about this show, click HERE.

Beauford at the Tate Liverpool

I first heard the names "Beauford Delaney" and "Glenn Ligon" coupled when Dr. Catherine St. John, former professor at Berkeley College in New Jersey, shared with me an article that she wrote in 2004 about these artists:

Born sixty years apart, artists Beauford Delaney and Glenn Ligon communicate narratives of belonging. The immutable link that connects them is James Baldwin, the writer, whose essay "Stranger in the Village" inspired Ligon to lift words off the page and onto canvas...

- from an abstract for "A Narrative of Belonging: The Art of Beauford Delaney and Glenn Ligon"

When I learned that Tate Liverpool and Nottingham Contemporary in the United Kingdom were presenting a major exhibition curated by Ligon that was to include works by artists who have influenced him or with whom he feels an affinity, I searched eagerly for a mention of Beauford. I found an online article about the exhibition, entitled Encounters and Collisions, which cited the names of a few of the artists who would be represented in the show. Beauford's name was among them.

Upon contacting Tate Liverpool for details, I learned that two of Beauford's paintings are part of the exhibition. One is a portrait of James Baldwin and the other is an untitled abstract:

James Baldwin, c. 1955
Oil on canvasboard
24" x 18"
Collection of halley k harrisburg and Michael Rosenfeld, New York, NY
© Estate of Beauford Delaney
by permission of Derek L. Spratley, Esquire,
Court Appointed Administrator

Untitled, c. 1958
Oil on canvas
30" x 25", signed and dated
Courtesy of Michael Rosenfeld Gallery LLC, New York, NY
© Estate of Beauford Delaney
by permission of Derek L. Spratley, Esquire,
Court Appointed Administrator
Beauford painted both of these works during his Paris years.

What was even more exciting for me was to read Ligon's "Letter to Beauford," one of several that he wrote to exhibition participants as part of his written contribution to the catalog. This personal missive explains in simple, personal terms why he selected these two paintings from the show - the critical influence that Baldwin had in both their lives and the inspiration that he, Beauford, and Baldwin drew from jazz and blues music. Ligon comments that "the line between figuration and abstraction is always porous" in Beauford's paintings and that this has inspired "a similar fluidity" in his work. He expresses his hope that his letter isn’t "too presumptuous" and how meaningful Beauford's work is to him personally.

Ligon has also selected literary and critical texts that punctuate the images in the catalog as part of his responsibilities as curator of the show. He includes Baldwin's essay "Stranger in the Village"; an excerpt from Amazing Grace: A Life of Beauford Delaney, where biographer David A. Leeming recounts the story of how he met Beauford; and a scholarly essay called Voices/Forces by Fred Moten, which explores the idea of a black avant-garde through a "trip to Paris" that focuses on the life and work of Beauford, jazz composer and musician Billy Strayhorn, and French dramatist and theater director, Antonin Artaud.

Beauford's portrait of James Baldwin hangs in Room 4 of the exhibition at Tate Liverpool; his abstract hangs in Room 3.

Glenn Ligon: Encounters and Collisions at Tate Liverpool
until 18 October 2015
© Tate Liverpool, Roger Sinek
Tickets for Glenn Ligon: Encounters and Collisions are priced at £10.00 (£7.50 concessions, £5 student ticket). Includes entrance into Jackson Pollock: Blind Spots (also open through October 18, 2015).

To book your tickets in advance, book online at www.tate.org.uk/tickets, call 0151 702 7400 (booking fee applies), or book in person at any Tate gallery.

Tate Liverpool
Albert Dock
Liverpool L3 4BB

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Les Amis de Beauford Delaney and Reid Hall are partnering to bring an exhibition of original Beauford Delaney works to Reid Hall in Paris in February 2016! To sign-up to receive information about this show, click HERE.

More Beauford Delaney Portraits

As we continue to organize the February 2016 exhibition of Paris-sourced Beauford Delaney works at Reid Hall, I find myself marveling at the number of donors we have found and the wide variety of paintings from which we will be able to select to mount what will be a major show. The abstract works far outnumber the portraits, but there are several portraits from which to choose.

Seeing these paintings inspired me to go back through the archives of this blog and other online sources to look at images of some of the numerous portraits that Beauford painted during his lifetime. I bring you images of several of them in today's post.

Portrait of a Young Man
(ca. 1937-1940) Color pastel crayons
© Estate of Beauford Delaney
by permission of Derek L. Spratley, Esquire,
Court Appointed Administrator

Portrait
(1946) Oil on canvas
© Estate of Beauford Delaney
by permission of Derek L. Spratley, Esquire,
Court Appointed Administrator

Portrait of Henri Chahine
(ca. 1960-1969) Oil on canvas
© Estate of Beauford Delaney
by permission of Derek L. Spratley, Esquire,
Court Appointed Administrator

No 6 Portrait, JFK
(1966) Pastel
© Estate of Beauford Delaney
by permission of Derek L. Spratley, Esquire,
Court Appointed Administrator

Arlan Iverson
(1972) Oil on canvas
© Estate of Beauford Delaney
by permission of Derek L. Spratley, Esquire,
Court Appointed Administrator
To see images of Beauford's self-portraits and his portraits of James Baldwin on this blog, click on the links below:

Beauford's Portraits of James Baldwin - Part 1
Beauford's Portraits of James Baldwin - Part 2
You've Got the Eye
Beauford's Self-portrait on the Cover of JAMA

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Les Amis de Beauford Delaney and Reid Hall are partnering to bring an exhibition of original Beauford Delaney works to Reid Hall in Paris in February 2016! To sign-up to receive information about this show, click HERE.

Beauford in Philadelphia: The 1947 Pyramid Club Show

In May, I wrote about my visit to Dr. William A. Dodd's office in Philadelphia and the rich collection of Beauford Delaney memorabilia that he has amassed.

Among them are documents and photos from Beauford's 1947 show at the Pyramid Club in Philadelphia.

Catalog of the 7th Annual
Pyramid Club Exhibition of Painting and Sculpture - Cover
© Discover Paris!
Dr. Dodd connected me to Leslie Willis-Lowry, archivist of the Charles L. Blockson Afro-American Collection at Temple University Libraries so that I could ask permission to publish the incredibly handsome photos of Beauford and others at the show. I am pleased to present them below:

Dox Thrash (left) and Beauford Delaney (right)
John W. Mosley, photographer
Photo reproduced with permission of the
Charles L. Blockson Afro-American Collection

From left to right:
Unidentified woman, Henry B. Jones, unidentified woman,
Beauford Delaney, Dox Thrash, Dorothy Warrick, Dante Pavone
John W. Mosley, photographer
Photo reproduced with permission of the
Charles L. Blockson Afro-American Collection

Dox Thrash (second from left) and Beauford Delaney (far right)
with visitors
John W. Mosley, photographer
Photo reproduced with permission of the
Charles L. Blockson Afro-American Collection

Beauford's Sleeping Cat on the wall in the dining room
John W. Mosley, photographer
Photo reproduced with permission of the
Charles L. Blockson Afro-American Collection

Dox Thrash (right) discusses a Beauford Delaney painting
with visitors
John W. Mosley, photographer
Photo reproduced with permission of the
Charles L. Blockson Afro-American Collection
For more information about the Charles L. Blockson Afro-American Collection, contact Ms. Willis-Lowry at 215-204-5379.

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Les Amis de Beauford Delaney and Reid Hall are partnering to bring an exhibition of original Beauford Delaney works to Reid Hall in Paris in February 2016! To sign-up to receive information about this show, click HERE.

Beauford's Jazz Club Featured in "Night Vision" Exhibition at the Bowdoin College Museum of Art

Beauford's untitled painting known as Jazz Club has an impressive exhibition and publication history:

Untitled (Jazz Club)
(c.1950) Oil on canvas
28" x 36"
signed lower left: Beauford Delaney
Image courtesy of Michael Rosenfeld Gallery
© Estate of Beauford Delaney
by permission of Derek L. Spratley, Esquire,
Court Appointed Administrator
It appears (in black and white) on page 104 of David Leeming's biography of Beauford called Amazing Grace: A Life of Beauford Delaney.

Ann E. Gibson refers to it as she discusses Beauford's use of color when representing people in paintings from his "New York years" in her essay entitled “Gay and Black in Greenwich Village: Beauford Delaney’s Idylls of Integration.” This was published in the catalog for the Beauford Delaney: From New York to Paris exhibition mounted by the Minneapolis Institute of Art. Jazz Club is included as a color figure (Figure 24) on page 24 of the catalog.

The Michael Rosenfeld Gallery exhibited the painting in the RISING UP / UPRISING: Twentieth Century African American Art in New York in the spring of 2014.

And now, Jazz Club (on loan from the Michael Rosenfeld Gallery) is one of the paintings selected for display in the Night Vision: Nocturnes in American Art, 1860-1960 exhibition at the Bowdoin College Museum of Art*:

This is the first major museum survey dedicated to scenes of the night in American art from 1860 to 1960 — an era not yet illuminated by electricity to the beginning of the Space Age. Night Vision: Nocturnes in American Art brings together 90 works in a range of media—including paintings, prints, drawings, and photographs...
-- Bowdoin College Museum of Art

Jazz Club is presented in the Night Visions catalog as Plate 73 on page 127. It comprises the entire back cover of the catalog as well.

This work is mentioned in the press about the exhibition:

• Bowdoin's own story about the show was picked up by ARTFIX daily.
• Bangor Daily News' Café des Artistes article leads with a large image of the painting.
• And Art and Antiques Magazine mentions it and a second painting by Beauford (another untitled work from Beauford's New York years (1944), known as Night Scene) in its write up about the show.

Night Vision: Nocturnes in American Art, 1860-1960 runs through October 18, 2015. For more information about the exhibition, click HERE.

Bowdoin College Museum of Art
9400 College Station
Brunswick ME, 04011
Telephone: 207-725-3275

*The Bowdoin College Museum of Art holds a Beauford Delaney abstract that is not currently on display.

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Les Amis de Beauford Delaney and Reid Hall are partnering to bring an exhibition of original Beauford Delaney works to Reid Hall in Paris in February 2016! To sign-up to receive information about this show, click HERE.

Beauford Delaney Works Sold at Case Antiques Auctions

A couple of weeks ago, I reported on the auctioning of three Beauford Delaney works by Case Antiques Auctions & Appraisals of Knoxville, Tennessee on July 18, 2015. One of them - the 1971 landscape watercolor on paper - was sold.

Untitled
Watercolor on paper
Signed and dated lower left in red ink, "Beauford Delaney 1971"
Photo courtesy of Case Antiques
© Estate of Beauford Delaney
by permission of Derek L. Spratley, Esquire,
Court Appointed Administrator
The low estimate set for this painting was $2,500.00 and the high estimate was $3,500.00. It sold for $3,186.00*.

The other two paintings from the July auction remain unsold.

Case Antiques sold two Beauford Delaney works at auction in January 2015.

One was a portrait of Beauford's mother, Delia, which Beauford executed from memory in 1964. (Delia Delaney died in 1958.) It was shown in the Studio Museum in Harlem retrospective of Beauford's work in 1978.

Portrait of Delia Delaney
(1964) Oil on canvas
Photo courtesy of Case Antiques
© Estate of Beauford Delaney
by permission of Derek L. Spratley, Esquire,
Court Appointed Administrator
This painting sold for $48,380.00*, an amount that far exceeded the high estimate of $14,000.00.

The other was an untitled abstract of a human face. Remarkably, Beauford's paint cloth and paint stick - both of which have paint residue similar to the paints used for this abstract - were offered for sale with the work.

Untitled (Abstract of Face)
Oil on fabric pillowcase
Photo courtesy of Case Antiques
© Estate of Beauford Delaney
by permission of Derek L. Spratley, Esquire,
Court Appointed Administrator
From the Case Antiques Web site:

Beauford Delaney's departure from New York to Paris in 1953 also marked the transition from figurative compositions to abstract expressionism with a focus on color and light. Strapped with financial challenges in his early Paris years, he was believed to have painted on other found objects if canvas was not available. An example of one of his earliest known dated abstracts is an untitled oil on a raincoat fragment from 1954. This work serves as the cover for Sue Canterbury's book, "Beauford Delaney: From New York to Paris", Minneapolis Institute of Art, 2004. Sue Canterbury, Associate Curator of the Dallas Museum of Art, and Stephen Wicks, Curator of the Knoxville Museum of Art, were able to inspect this work when Ms. Canterbury gave her September 2014 lecture on Beauford Delaney in Knoxville. This Beauford Delaney abstract is only the second documented example of his work using canvas available from household objects.

The "pillowcase" abstract, along with the paint cloth and paint stick, sold for $24,180*. The high estimate for this painting was set at $7,000.00.

To see images of the details of the works shown above, click on the hyperlink in the caption of each image.

For more information about the Beauford Delaney paintings (sold and unsold) at Case Antiques, contact:

Sarah Campbell Drury
Vice President of Decorative Arts
Case Antiques, Inc.
Accredited Member of the International Society of Appraisers (ISA)
Telephone: 615-812-6096


*The prices indicated include an 18% buyer's premium. In auctions, the buyer's premium is a percentage additional charge on the hammer price (winning bid at auction) of the purchased item that must be paid by the winner. It is charged by the auctioneer to cover administrative expenses. The buyer's premium goes directly to the auction house and not to the seller.

Case Antiques Opens Bidding on Three Beauford Delaney Works

On behalf of the Beauford Delaney estate, Case Antiques Auctions & Appraisals of Knoxville, Tennessee has placed three Beauford Delaney works - two watercolors and a lithograph - up for sale in its Summer Fine Art & Antiques auction. Online bidding is now open (see hyperlinks below).

All of the paintings are abstract and date from Beauford's Paris years.

One of the watercolors is painted on both sides of the paper.

Untitled
Watercolor and gouache on paper (recto)
Signed and dated lower right in black ink, "Beauford Delaney 61"
Photo courtesy of Case Antiques
© Estate of Beauford Delaney
by permission of Derek L. Spratley, Esquire,
Court Appointed Administrator

Untitled
Watercolor on paper (verso)
Photo courtesy of Case Antiques
© Estate of Beauford Delaney
by permission of Derek L. Spratley, Esquire,
Court Appointed Administrator
The front of the painting is dated 1961, which is the last year that Beauford lived in Clamart.

The second watercolor depicts a landscape of meadows and trees in colors of aqua, yellow, orange, greens, blues, brown and black. Beauford may have painted it during his 1971 visit to James Baldwin at Saint-Paul-de-Vence.

Untitled
Watercolor on paper
Signed and dated lower left in red ink, "Beauford Delaney 1971"
Photo courtesy of Case Antiques
© Estate of Beauford Delaney
by permission of Derek L. Spratley, Esquire,
Court Appointed Administrator
The lithograph consists of light blue, pink, and green swirl pigments on paper. Case Antiques is calling this an "Afrique Lithography."

Untitled
(ca 1963) Pigments on paper
Photo courtesy of Case Antiques
© Estate of Beauford Delaney
by permission of Derek L. Spratley, Esquire,
Court Appointed Administrator
Given the approximate date of this work (1963), Beauford likely painted it at his studio at rue Vercingétorix.

The Summer Fine Art & Antiques auction will take place on July 18, 2015.

For more information, contact:

Sarah Campbell Drury
Vice President of Decorative Arts
Case Antiques, Inc.
Accredited Member of the International Society of Appraisers (ISA)
Telephone: 615-812-6096

Beauford on Google

From time to time, I "Google" Beauford's name and click on various Web links to see what information is available about him online.

During my most recent search, I found several sites that have posted images of singular abstract works. Click on the links beneath the images below to visit three of these sites, two of which have posted articles about Beauford.

Portrait of a Man
(Undated) Oil on Canvas
The Johnson Collection
© Estate of Beauford Delaney
by permission of Derek L. Spratley, Esquire,
Court Appointed Administrator

Untitled (abstract green drip)
(1958) Gouache on paper
DCMoore Gallery
© Estate of Beauford Delaney
by permission of Derek L. Spratley, Esquire,
Court Appointed Administrator

Untitled, Paris 1953
Watercolor on paper
Mark Borghi Fine Arts
© Estate of Beauford Delaney
by permission of Derek L. Spratley, Esquire,
Court Appointed Administrator

Beauford's Self-portrait on the Cover of JAMA

In a recent Internet search on Beauford, I was pleasantly surprised to find that one of my favorite self-portraits of him graced the cover of the prestigious Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA)*.

Self-portrait
(1944) Oil on canvas
Art Institute of Chicago
© Estate of Beauford Delaney
by permission of Derek L. Spratley, Esquire,
Court Appointed Administrator
The following is the abstract of the article about the portrait, written by Thomas B. Cole, M. D., M. P. H.

The skin tone of Beauford Delaney’s (1901-1979) Self-portrait is a blend of white, purple, blue, and taupe, with highlights of avocado green to match the background, and he is posed in a three-quarter turn to the right with a sidelong glance at the mirror (or at the viewer, depending on one’s perspective). His eyes convey different moods: the left eyebrow is raised in an expression of alarm, but the lens of the right eye is a ghostly white. A self-portrait invites speculation about the artist’s state of mind as well as his technique. Sometimes the state of mind of an artist is irrelevant—most of the self-portraits of Rembrandt van Rijn and Vincent van Gogh were probably made to try out new painting methods—but the life story of Beauford Delaney suggests he may be saying something in this portrait about his inner struggles.

The two-page article presents a synopsis of Beauford's life, including an intriguing comment in the second paragraph that speculates on the relationship of this self-portrait to the Bible's Sermon on the Mount.

What I found most interesting is the fact that JAMA started publishing full color images of art on its cover, accompanied by essays in the pages of the journal, in 1964. In an editorial article on his Web site called "JAMA is Redesigned, Art is Demoted," Dr. Jeffrey Levine states that this was

part of an initiative to inform readers about nonclinical aspects of medicine and public health, and emphasize the humanities in medicine.

Levine goes on to lament the fact that JAMA redesigned its cover in 2013, excluding art from that point forward.

*JAMA. 2013;310(7):668-669

Self-portrait (1962) at the Detroit Institute of Arts Museum

The Detroit Institute of Arts Museum (DIA) owns a single Beauford Delaney painting - a magnificent self-portrait dated 1962.

Self-portrait (1962)
Oil on canvas
23" x 19"
Detroit Institute of Arts Museum
Image courtesy of Michele L. Simms-Burton
© Estate of Beauford Delaney
by permission of Derek L. Spratley, Esquire,
Court Appointed Administrator
I contacted DIA to inquire about the painting and spoke with Iva Lisikewycz, Manager of Curatorial Affairs. She told me that the portrait was acquired by the museum from the Darthea Speyer Gallery in 1992 (Accession number - 1992.214) with funds from the DIA Founders Society. Darthea Speyer selected this self-portrait as the image for the invitation card that she created to announce the one-man show of Beauford's work that she mounted in 1992.

Invitation card for 1992 exhibit at Galerie Darthea Speyer
Image courtesy of Galerie Darthea Speyer
© Estate of Beauford Delaney
by permission of Derek L. Spratley, Esquire,
Court Appointed Administrator
The following is the description that the museum has on file for the painting:

Self-portrait of an African-American male in three-quarter view. Ochre sweater and turtleneck on bright yellow background.

Regarding the exhibition history of this portrait, the only record that DIA has pertains to the exposition entitled Beauford Delaney: The Color Yellow, organized by the High Museum of Art in Atlanta, GA and shown from February 2002 - May 2003. DIA lists the venues and dates for the exposition as follows:

• High Museum (February 9 - May 5, 2002)
• Studio Museum in Harlem (July 10 - September 15, 2002)
• Anacostia Museum and Center for African-American History and Culture of Smithsonian Institution (October 11, 2002 - January 4, 2003)
• Fogg Museum of Harvard University (February 15 - May 4, 2003)

In 2013, Christie's appraised numerous works held by DIA; Beauford's self-portrait was among them. Christie's valued it at between $25K and $35K.

Christie's appraisal of Beauford's Self-portrait at DIA

The portrait is part of the African-American collection embedded within the Contemporary and Modern Art collection at DIA. It currently hangs in Gallery N 286.

Flier for Beauford's First One-man Show

On the heels of a successful show at the Whitney Studio Galleries in New York in February - March 1930, the New York Public Library invited Beauford to do a one-man show at their Harlem branch (now the Schomburg Center) in May 1930. It was to be his first one-man show.

The flier below served as an announcement of the show.

Image for flier from W. E. B. Du Bois papers - U Mass Amherst
Charcoal of a Black Woman (1929)
© Estate of Beauford Delaney
by permission of Derek L. Spratley, Esquire,
Court Appointed Administrator
It is a beautiful piece of Beauford Delaney memorabilia!

The charcoal sketch in the upper right corner of the flier was sold by Clarke Auction Gallery for $6452.50 in 2008. I do not know if it represents Portrait of a Woman or Harlem Chore Woman from the list of charcoals on the flier.

Beauford's Solo Show at the Paul Facchetti Gallery

Last week's post about the Beauford Delaney memorabilia that Dr. William Dodd is collecting in Philadelphia reminded me that I've wanted to publish an article about the one-man show that Paul Facchetti mounted for Beauford in June 1960.

Beauford's relationship with the Facchettis began in the fall of 1956. They included his work in group shows and bought several works from Beauford between that time and the one-man exposition in June 1960. The show was originally to have been held in May, but delays with the catalog forced postponement until June.

The vernissage (opening) was held on June 21, 1960. Biographer David A. Leeming describes the event in Amazing Grace as follows:

The party was a celebration of Beauford. His Paris friends were there, and a particularly warm joint letter arrived from James Baldwin, Mary Painter, Ellis Wilson, and Palmer Hayden, who were all in New York at the time. Henry Miller wrote an encouraging letter too, as did Brother Joe [Beauford's brother, Joseph Delaney] and many old New York friends. The catalogue included a long excerpt from the Henry Miller article and a short introduction by Julian Alvard, who noted the uniqueness of Delaney's work and admired the ways in which the planes of his paintings appeared in unexpected ways...

Alvard's introduction was highly poetic, referring to Beauford's paintings as "solar" or "cosmic" and stating that Beauford had never given his talent such free rein. Alvard said that radiance, which was in principle, external, had become the essence of Beauford's work.

Beauford at the Paul Facchetti Gallery
© Paul Facchetti
All of the works at this show were abstractions, and reds and yellows were the dominant colors used. The painting shown below appears on the wall at the right of the photo of Beauford at the Facchetti Gallery (above).

Untitled
(1960) Oil on canvas
36" x 24 1/2"
© Estate of Beauford Delaney,
by permission of Derek L. Spratley, Esquire,
Court Appointed Administrator
Beauford met Professor Ahmed Bioud at this show. He and Beauford became very close and Beauford spent much time with Bioud and his family. The Biouds would take Beauford into their home when Beauford was recovering from his 1961 breakdown and suicide attempt. Beauford would later capture Bioud's likeness in at least two portraits.

Ahmed Bioud, 1964
Oil on canvas
39 1/4" x 32", signed
© Estate of Beauford Delaney,
by permission of Derek L. Spratley, Esquire,
Court Appointed Administrator
Image courtesy of Michael Rosenfeld Gallery, LLC, New York , NY
Though the exhibition was well received, Leeming reports that only two small paintings were sold. Therefore, the Facchettis arranged with Beauford to buy several additional paintings and pay him a monthly allowance for the work.

Live Ideas: Baldwin and Delaney

Professor Rachel Cohen of Sarah Lawrence College provided a wonderful tribute to Beauford for the Les Amis blog in anticipation of moderating a discussion about Beauford and James Baldwin that was scheduled for the New York Live Arts Festival in April 2014.

The video of this session is now on YouTube:

Live Ideas: Baldwin and Delaney

It is an hour and 28 minutes long.

Joining Cohen on stage at the Festival were David A. Leeming, biographer of Beauford and James Baldwin, and Diedra Harris-Kelley, co-director of the Romare Bearden Foundation.

Screenshot from Live Ideas: Baldwin and Delaney video
From left to right: Diedra Harris-Kelley, David A. Leeming, and Rachel Cohen
Below are several highlights of the session that I found to be of particular interest:

• "Painterly" discussion of Beauford's work by Diedra Harris-Kelley: 14:00 minutes
• David A. Leeming discusses Beauford's life in New York: 21:20 minutes
• Rare footage of a round-table discussion with James Baldwin, Alvin Ailey, Albert Murray, and Romare Bearden about Paris: 35:50 minutes
• Diedra Harris-Kelley describes one of Beauford's portraits of James Baldwin: 41:00 minutes

Portrait of James Baldwin
(1965) Oil on canvas
25.5 x 21.25 inches
Signed and dated lower left
Image courtesy of Levis Fine Art
© Estate of Beauford Delaney
by permission of Derek L. Spratley, Esquire,
Court Appointed Administrator

• Diedra Harris-Kelley describes the color "yellow" from a painter's point of view: 43:35 minutes
• Diedra Harris-Kelley discusses Beauford's "back and forth" between figurative and abstract works: 47:30 minutes
• David A. Leeming discusses the impetus behind Beauford's Rosa Parks series: 51:05 minutes
• David A. Leeming reads the story of his first encounter with Beauford: 53:58 minutes
• Diedra Harris-Kelley responds to a question about Beauford's relationship with the New York School of Modernism: 1:05:48 minutes
• David A. Leeming tells a story about Dark Rapture: 1:10:20 minutes

Dark Rapture
(1941) Oil on canvas
Private collection
© Estate of Beauford Delaney
by permission of Derek L. Spratley, Esquire,
Court Appointed Administrator

Beauford in Red

The commemorative plaques that will honor Beauford at two locations in Montparnasse will be lettered in red.

As Les Amis prepares for the installation, I thought it appropriate to post images of several works in which Beauford favored the color red.

Abstract in Orange and Red
(1963) Gouache on wove paper
Image courtesy of Levis Fine Art
© Estate of Beauford Delaney
by permission of Derek L. Spratley, Esquire,
Court Appointed Administrator

The Sage Black
(1967) Oil on canvas
Private collection
Image from Artsmia Web site
© Estate of Beauford Delaney
by permission of Derek L. Spratley, Esquire,
Court Appointed Administrator

Abstraction #12
(1963) Oil on canvas
Image courtesy of Levis Fine Art
© Estate of Beauford Delaney
by permission of Derek L. Spratley, Esquire,
Court Appointed Administrator

Self-portrait (detail)
(1944) Oil on Canvas
Art Institute of Chicago - Gallery 262
Image courtesy of Tim Paulson
© Estate of Beauford Delaney
by permission of Derek L. Spratley, Esquire,
Court Appointed Administrator

Untitled
(1963) Aquarelle on paper
© Estate of Beauford Delaney,
by permission of Derek L. Spratley, Esquire,
Court Appointed Administrator
Image © Discover Paris!
More news about the installation is coming soon. Stay tuned!

New Beauford Delaney Watercolors at Knoxville Museum of Art

On March 14, 2015, I published an article that describes three Beauford Delaney watercolors that are currently on display at the Knoxville Museum of Art.

See them presented by the museum's curator, Stephen C. Wicks, in this 2:38-minute video:

Ascension: A Century of African-American Art at Swann Auction Galleries

Once again, Swann Auction Galleries will make Beauford Delaney works available for purchase during an African-American Art sale. This spring's auction is called "Ascension: A Century of African-American Art." It will be held on Thursday, April 2 at 2:30 PM.

Three Beauford Delaney paintings will be auctioned at this event. Two are portraits and one is an abstract expressionist work.

Untitled (Abstraction in Green)
(1961) Oil on linen canvas
410x275 mm; 16x10 inches
Signed in oil, lower right recto. Dated in oil, lower left recto.
Signed, dated and inscribed "Clamart, Seine" in oil, verso.
Image courtesy of Swann Auction Galleries
© Estate of Beauford Delaney
by permission of Derek L. Spratley, Esquire,
Court Appointed Administrator
Provenance: gift from from the artist; Don Fink, Paris, thence by descent to his estate; private collection, Paris.

Don Fink was an expatriate artist living in Paris who became part of Beauford Delaney's circle of friends soon after his arrival in Paris in 1953. They showed together in 1956 at Galerie Arnaud in a group exhibition of abstract American painters.

Swann's catalog describes this painting as "a radiant example of Delaney's mid-career abstraction in a warm, yellowish green." Its estimated value is $30,000 to $40,000.

Untitled (Portrait of a Young Man)
(circa 1930-35) Color pastels and charcoal on gray, textured wove paper
597x445 mm; 23x17½ inches
Signed in charcoal, lower left
Image courtesy of Swann Auction Galleries
© Estate of Beauford Delaney
by permission of Derek L. Spratley, Esquire,
Court Appointed Administrator
Provenance: acquired directly from the artist's brother Joseph Delaney; private collection.

The auction catalog qualifies this portrait as "sensitive" and indicates that it was likely created by Beauford soon after he moved to New York. He may have painted it to show at his first solo exhibition, Exhibit of Portrait Sketches by Beauford Delaney, which was held at the 135th Street Branch of the New York Public Library in 1930. The show consisted of five pastel and 10 charcoal portraits.

The estimated value of Untitled (Portrait of a Young Man) is $6,000 to $9,000.

Spanish Youth
(1967-68) Oil on linen canvas
610x457 mm; 24x18 inches.
Signed and dated in oil, lower right.
Image courtesy of Swann Auction Galleries
© Estate of Beauford Delaney
by permission of Derek L. Spratley, Esquire,
Court Appointed Administrator
Provenance: acquired directly from the artist; Richard A. Long, Atlanta; thence by descent to his estate.

This painting dates over ten years after Beauford visited Spain with his friend Larry Calcagno in August 1956. The two men visited mutual friend Jim LeGros in Ibiza and were joined by James Baldwin, Baldwin's friend Arnold, and Leslie Schenk. They later traveled to Majorca.

The estimated value of this work is $5,000 to $7,000.

To find out about the buying process, visit the following page on the gallery’s Web site: http://www.swanngalleries.com/auctions/buying/.

For more information about this auction, contact Imani Higginson at .

Walker Art Center in Minneapolis Acquires a Beauford Delaney Painting

Thanks to Milo Bosh of BlackArtistNews.com, I learned of the recent acquisition of a Beauford Delaney painting by Walker Art Center in Minneapolis. Walker associate curator Eric Crosby granted Les Amis the following interview about the painting.

Untitled
(circa 1970) Oil on canvas
Collection Walker Art Center
Gift of the Kunin Family, 2014
© Estate of Beauford Delaney
by permission of Derek L. Spratley, Esquire,
Court Appointed Administrator

Les Amis: How long has Walker Art Center been "in the market" for a Beauford Delaney painting?

Eric Crosby: This is the first work by Beauford Delaney to enter the permanent collection of the Walker Art Center, and it has come to us as a very generous gift of the Kunin Family. The piece, which is an untitled painting from circa 1970, fills a significant gap in the institution’s painting collection. Past curators at the Walker as well as those currently on staff have been familiar with Delaney’s work for a long time, and this has been a rare acquisition opportunity indeed!

Les Amis: What are the other abstract expressionist works in the collection with which Beauford's work dovetails?

Eric Crosby: As an excellent example of the artist’s abstract expressionist work, it dovetails beautifully with a number of key abstract expressionist paintings already in the collection. Among them are Barnett Newman’s The Third (1962), Mark Rothko’s No. 2 (1963), Robert Motherwell’s Untitled (Iberia)(1958), Clyfford Still’s untitled (1950-C) (1950), Joan Mitchell’s Painting 1953 (1953), and many others. This important Delaney canvas will certainly become a mainstay of our future collection installations, especially those that seek to contextualize mid-century abstraction.

Les Amis: What is the provenance of the painting prior to being added to the Regis collection?

Eric Crosby: Our current understanding of the painting’s ownership history is as follows:

• Estate of the artist, Paris, France
• Joseph Delaney, Knoxville, TN
• The Delaney Estate, Knoxville, TN
• Michael Rosenfeld Gallery, NYC
• Myron Kunin Collection, Minneapolis
• Walker Art Center, Minneapolis

Les Amis: Does Walker Art Center plan to acquire additional works by Beauford?

Eric Crosby: We are always looking to expand the Walker’s holdings of works by artists collected in depth. Since this is the first work by Beauford Delaney to enter the collection, we look forward to researching the painting and exploring opportunities to contextualize it further. This canvas represents just one facet of this influential painter’s decades of work.

Les Amis: Is the painting currently on display? If so, in which room?

Eric Crosby: Yes, the work is currently on view through August 2 in the 75 Gifts for 75 Years exhibition in the Target and Friedman Galleries.