Istanbul Calling - A Recordbreaking Sale
On Octobr 14, 2022, Christie's London hosted a Post-War & Contemporary Art Day auction under the umbrella title "Istanbul Calling" to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the Istanbul Foundation for Culture and Arts (İKSV) and benefit the institution’s new Young Artists Fund.
As I reported on October 1, two Beauford Delaney portraits belonging to the estate of Turkish actress, theater director and owner, author, and television media personality Gülriz Sururi were put up for sale during this auction.
The estimated sale price of the Sururi portrait was 150,000-200,000 GBP.
Gülriz Sururi
(1966) oil on canvas
39 3/8 x 29 7/8in. (100 x 76cm.)
Signed and dated 'Beauford Delaney 1966' (lower left)
© Estate of Beauford Delaney
by permission of Derek L. Spratley, Esquire,
Court Appointed Administrator
It sold for 189,000 GBP ($211,883), including Buyer's Premium.
The estimated sale price of the Baldwin portrait was 180,000-230,000 GBP.
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
It sold for 1,026,000 GBP ($1,150,114), including Buyer's Premium.
Christie's describes this as "the top price of the afternoon" for the auction. It names Beauford as one of three artists who "lead Christie’s 20th/21st Century Frieze Week season in London".
The auction house also declared the sale price of the Baldwin portrait "a record price for the artist." It identifies the hightest price that a Beauford Delaney fetched at auction prior to Istanbul Calling was the untitled 1948 painting, subtitled Village Street Scene, which sold for $557,000, including Buyer's Premium, at Swann Auction Galleries' African American Fine Art Sale in April 2018.Beauford Delaney News
Here are a few tidbits of news about Beauford's work, gathered from a Google search a few days ago.
New Orleans Auction Galleries Sale
On October 9, 2022, New Orleans Auction Galleries sold the untitled Beauford Delaney gouache on paper pictured below for $17,500.
(1969) Gouache on paper
Sheet 8-1/2" x 6-1/4", framed 14-1/4" x 11-3/4"
© Estate of Beauford Delaney
by permission of Derek L. Spratley, Esquire,
Court Appointed Administrator
Beauford at the Art Institute of Chicago
Beauford's iconic 1944 self-portrait and Norman Lewis' Multitudes are being juxtaposed with several closed-form sculptures by Toshiko Takaezu in Gallery 262 at the Art Institute of Chicago.
(1944) Oil on canvas
Art Institute of Chicago, Chicago
© Estate of Beauford Delaney
By permission of Derek L. Spratley, Esquire,
Court Appointed Administrator
Find an image of the display here: https://www.artic.edu/highlights/49/a-aapi-artists
Watercolor Portrait of Beauford Delaney Being Sold for Charity
(2017) Watercolor on paper
Forsyth Harmon
You'll find this beautiful portrait of Beauford in a book called The Art of the Affair: An Illustrated History of Love, Sex, and Artistic Influence by Catherine Lacey.
Forsyth Harmon is selling the portrait for $150 and has pledged to donate all proceeds to the Library at the A.J. Williams-Myers African Roots Center, an organization that promotes literacy through teaching and learning about the African roots experience, including history and culture, through a dynamic exchange of information, ideas, and creativity.
Find information and purchase the work here: https://forsythharmon.com/Beauford-Delaney
Sold and To Be Sold 2
SOLD
A couple of weeks ago, I wrote about the impending auction of Beauford's Ciel (Sky) color screenprint no. 22/36 by Swann Auction Galleries.
(1960) Color screenprint
Signed, titled, dated, and numbered 22/36 in pencil, lower margin
© Estate of Beauford Delaney
by permission of Derek L. Spratley, Esquire,
Court Appointed Administrator
The sale took place on October 6, 2022, and the piece sold for $10,000, including Buyer's Premium.
TO BE SOLD
On October 9, 2022, New Orleans Auction Galleries will offer an untitled Beauford Delaney gouache on paper for sale during a two-day estates auction.
(1969) Gouache on paper
Sheet 8-1/2" x 6-1/4", framed 14-1/4" x 11-3/4"
© Estate of Beauford Delaney
by permission of Derek L. Spratley, Esquire,
Court Appointed Administrator
They describe the work (Lot 109) as follows:
"In this later abstract work by Delaney, the artist employs a limited yet sophisticated color palette of vivid hues to create an almost rhythmic exploration of the interplay of color and form."
This signed, framed work is estimated to sell for $15,000 to $25,000.
(1969) Gouache on paper
© Estate of Beauford Delaney
by permission of Derek L. Spratley, Esquire,
Court Appointed Administrator
For information about this sale, click HERE.
Sale of Beauford Delaney Portraits to Support Charitable Causes
Over the years, I've published three articles about the time Beauford spent in Istanbul:
Beauford and Baldwin in Istanbul
Sedat Pakay's Tribute to Beauford
A few days ago, I learned that two works created by Beauford during this sojourn are being auctioned for charity.
Christie's London is hosting two auctions under the umbrella title "Istanbul Calling" to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the Istanbul Foundation for Culture and Arts (İKSV) and benefit the institution’s new Young Artists Fund. The sales catalog states that "Highlights include two enchanting portraits by Beauford Delaney painted in Turkey and held in the same private collection since 1966..."
That collection belongs to the estate of Gülriz Sururi (1929-2018), a Turkish actress, theater director and owner, author, and television media personality. She and her husband, actor Engin Cezzar (1935-2017), were dear friends of James Baldwin. Beauford met the couple during his 1966 visit to Istanbul.
The portraits portray James Baldwin (Lot 287) and Gülriz Sururi (Lot 288).
Find vibrant images of these portraits and read the lot essays about them on Christie's Website at the links below:
The Baldwin portrait is one of two that Beauford created while in Istanbul. It is one of the "softest" I've seen in terms of the palette Beauford chose to use in portraying his friend. The estimated sale price of this work is $210,000-$290,000.
The Sururi portrait is another example of Beauford's passion for portraying his subjects in luminous yellow. The estimated sale price of this work is $180,000-$230,000.
Both portraits will be sold during the Post-War & Contemporary Art Day Sale on Friday 14 October 2022. The Sururi Estate plans to donate 80% of their net proceeds of sale to Çağdaş Yaşamı Destekleme Derneği (Association for the Support of Contemporary Living), a non-profit NGO in Turkey, and the remaining 20% of their net proceeds of sale to İKSV. The Association for the Support of Contemporary Living helps girls across Turkey to obtain an education.
For more information about the sale, click HERE.
Sold and To Be Sold
SOLD
Thomaston Place Auction Galleries of Thomaston, Maine held a three-day live auction called August Splendor 2022 last month. On Day 3 - August 28, 2022 - it offered a Beauford Delaney untitled, undated abstract for sale.
(Undated) Oil on canvas
© Estate of Beauford Delaney,
by permission of Derek L. Spratley, Esquire,
Court Appointed Administrator
The online catalog describes the painting as follows:
"Color Composition, impasto oil on canvas, signed lower right, a blended confetti of pale teal, pink and yellow, unframed, SS: 28 3/4" x 23 1/2", very good condition."
The colors in this work remind me of the ones Beauford used in the more vibrantly colored abstract that the Mint Museum purchased a few years ago.
(1959) Oil on canvas
© Estate of Beauford Delaney
by permission of Derek L. Spratley, Esquire,
Court Appointed Administrator
The estimated sale price for the work offered by Thomaston Place Galleries was $20,000 to $30,000. It sold for $85,000.
The Cleveland Museum of Art has acquired Untitled (ca. 1958), a nearly 5' x 4' oil on canvas as part of its move to increase the number of works in its collection that were created by African American artists.
(c. 1958) Oil on canvas
Mr. and Mrs. William H. Marlatt Fund
© Estate of Beauford Delaney
by permission of Derek L. Spratley, Esquire,
Court Appointed Administrator
TO BE SOLD
On October 6, 2022, Swann Auction Galleries will auction Beauford's Ciel, a color screenprint for which 36 prints were made, as Lot number 46.
(1960) Color screenprint
Signed, titled, dated, and numbered 22/36 in pencil, lower margin
© Estate of Beauford Delaney
by permission of Derek L. Spratley, Esquire,
Court Appointed Administrator
Ciel is mentioned in two previous articles on the Les Amis blog:
Where to Find Beauford's Art: Ink Miama Art Fair - Aaron Galleries
Where to Find Beauford's Art: Minneapolis Institute of Arts
An image of MIA's print appears in the catalog entitled Beauford Delaney: From New York to Paris, published for the museum's 2004 exhibition of the same name.The estimated sale price for Ciel (Sky) Print no. 22/36 is $10,000 - $15,000.
For information about Swann's sale, click HERE.
Beauford on Obelisk Art History
I occasionally Google Beauford to see what obscure references to his life and art I can find online. Earlier this week, I found a delightful one - a page on a Website called Obelisk Art History.
Obelisk, formerly known as Trivium, is "a place to explore the wildly diverse world of art history." Created by Reed Enger 10+ years ago, it has evolved from a simple classroom resource to a platform with thousands of images, essays, correspondence, projects, and quizzes for those interested in art history.
In the section called "Artists," Enger has built a page called "Beauford Delaney: Capturing the Sacred Light." It features two sentences about Beauford and images of five of his works, most of which are dominated by the color "yellow." The sentences contain links to four other pages on the site, three of which link back to Beauford's page. Clicking on each image takes you to a page dedicated to the corresponding work, and this page also presents a brief paragraph that contains links to additional pages.
Through an innovative function called "The Kaleidoscope," Enger invites visitors to the site to take "a hypnotic journey through art history." On any given page that features a work of art, you'll find a rotating "gear" between the images of the work and the text describing it. Click on it, and you're taken to a new page where the work is transformed into a constantly changing pattern reminiscent of a kaleidoscope. This is absolutely mesmerizing!
Enger selected two abstracts and three portraits for "Capturing the Sacred Light." Here are a few screenshots of the kaleidoscopic images from these works.
I'd love to hear your thoughts about this way this site transforms images of artwork from classical to contemporary into ever changing geometric forms. Write to me at amisdebeauford@yahoo.com to let me know!
Beauford Delaney Works Described on Video
Today I'm providing links to several brief (less-than-6-minute) videos that present individual paintings created by Beauford over the years.
Each presenter talks about Beauford's life circumstances, but my intent is to have you focus on their description of the work they have decided to feature.
Portrait of James Baldwin (1945)
(1945) Oil on canvas
Philadelphia Museum of Art
The Philadelphia Museum of Art created this video to discuss Beauford's 1945 Portrait of James Baldwin (the speaker was not identified):
"Portrait of James Baldwin" by Beauford Delaney
Can Fire in the Park (1946)
(1946) Oil on canvas
© Estate of Beauford Delaney
by permission of Derek L. Spratley, Esquire,
Court Appointed Administrator
Stephanie Frey, docent at the Wichita Art Museum, provides commentary on this iconic painting:
Beauford Delaney, Can Fire in the Park, 1946
River Arts Inc. Gallery created a "Tidbits: Pocket-sized Art History" video about Beauford's life and work. In it, gallery manager Kristina Coopman describes Can Fire in the Park from 3:23 minutes to 4:30 minutes:
Tidbits Ep. 6: Beauford Delaney
Untitled (1959)
(1959) Oil on canvas
© Estate of Beauford Delaney
by permission of Derek L. Spratley, Esquire,
Court Appointed Administrator
Mint Museum Senior Curator of American Art, Jonathan Stuhlman, PhD, discusses this vibrant untitled painting:
“Untitled” by Beauford Delaney
Portrait of Marian Anderson (1965)
(1965) Oil on canvas
Virginia Museum of Fine Arts
J. Harwood and Louise B. Cochrane Fund for American Art
© Estate of Beauford Delaney
by permission of Derek L. Spratley, Esquire,
Court Appointed Administrator
Dr. Shawnya Harris, the Larry D. and Brenda A. Thompson Curator of African American and African Diasporic Art at the Georgia Museum of Art, and Dr. Steven Zucker, Founder and Executive Director of Smarthistory, talk about this painting:
Beauford Delaney Abstract Auctioned at Christie's
On May 13, 2022, Christie's New York auctioned a 1967 Beauford Delaney abstract painting during its Post War and Contemporary Art Day Sale.
Lot 167
Untitled
(1967) Oil on canvas
Signed, inscribed, dedicated, and dated (verso)
16 1⁄8 x 10 5⁄8 in. (41 x 27 cm.)
© Estate of Beauford Delaney,
by permission of Derek L. Spratley, Esquire,
Court Appointed Administrator
The inscription on the back of the painting reads "For Mme Mary Callery with friendship."
Mary Callery is mentioned three times in Amazing Grace: A Biography of Beauford Delaney. From biographer David Leeming, we learn that she was a sculptor friend of Beauford and that he was posing for her at her home when he made the acquaintance of Georgia O'Keeffe. This likely occurred during the early 1940s, after Callery's return from a 10-year sojourn in Paris.
Photo of Mary Callery's sculpture of Beauford Delaney
Image by Entrée to Black Paris
Reproduced by permission - Estate of Beauford Delaney,
by permission of Derek L. Spratley, Esquire,
Court Appointed Administrator
O'Keeffe wrote about this meeting. Read her statement here: Beauford: The Georgia O'Keeffe Portraits
Leeming reports that Callery gave Beauford "a suit, a shirt, two pairs of socks, a change of underwear, and a check for $20" in late 1945. She saw Beauford's work at his first solo exhibition at the Galerie Prisme in Paris in May 1956, and he wrote to her later that year about a work he created during the "return" to portraiture that was an extension of his abstract work.
Beauford gave the untitled painting to Callery in 1967. It was sold by Christie's in 2009, and the buyer submitted the work for sale in the current auction.
The estimated sale price for this work was $70,000 - $100,000. It sold for $239,400, including a buyer's premium of 26%.
West Coast Buzz - LACMA Acquires Beauford Delaney Portrait
My email inbox "lit up" earlier this week when the press got hold of the Los Angeles County Museum of Art's (LACMA's) announcement of its acquisition of Beauford's Negro Man [Claude McKay].
(1944) Oil on canvas
© Estate of Beauford Delaney,
by permission of Derek L. Spratley, Esquire,
Court Appointed Administrator,
Image: Michael Rosenfeld Gallery LLC, New York, NY
Stephanie Barron, LACMA's Senior Curator and Department Head, Modern Art Acquisitions, wrote an eloquent piece about the purchase for the museum's newsletter. It is cited as being a gift of the 2022 Collectors Committee, with additional funds provided by the Robert H. Halff Endowment, the Modern and Contemporary Art Council, and The Buddy Taub Foundation, Jill and Dennis Roach, Directors.
Importantly, Barron mentions that LACMA is the first Los Angeles museum to acquire a Beauford Delaney work. At the upper end of the state, San Francisco MoMA acquired three of Beauford's works (two paintings and one work on paper) in 2020.
Image in the public domain
Source: Wikimedia Commons
By the time Beauford and McKay began to cross paths in New York, McKay was already a seasoned European traveler. He spent two years in Europe before Beauford left Knoxville for Boston and was well into his 11-year sojourn in France, Spain, and Morocco by the time Beauford arrived in New York in 1929. I have found no evidence that the two men were more than casual acquaintances, or that they ever discussed McKay's travels.
Claude McKay moved from New York to Chicago in 1944, the same year Beauford painted Negro Man. He died in Chicago in 1948.
Beauford and the Sage
In Amazing Grace: A Life of Beauford Delaney, Beauford's biographer, David Leeming, tells us that Beauford's friend Larry Calcagno gave Beauford a "copy of Lao Tzu that he nearly always carried with him and was fond of quoting."
Numerous Lao Tzu quotes reference the Sage, and some translations refer to the Sage as female. I wonder if Beauford decision to call his 1967 portrait of James Baldwin The Sage Black had anything to do with his knowledge of and affinity for these references.
(1967) Oil on canvas
Private collection
© Estate of Beauford Delaney
by permission of Derek L. Spratley, Esquire,
Court Appointed Administrator
Leeming does not indicate whether Beauford had favorite Lao Tzu quotes, or what these might have been. So I'm sharing several of my favorites, which I'd like to think Beauford would appreciate.
"Be still. Stillness reveals the secrets of eternity."
"If you want to awaken all of humanity, then awaken all of yourself. If you want to eliminate suffering in the world, then eliminate all that is dark and negative in yourself. For truly, the greatest gift you have to offer humanity, is your own transformation."
"When I let go of what I am, I become what I might be."
"When you realize nothing is lacking, the whole world belongs to you."
"If you are depressed, you are living in the past. If you are anxious, you are living in the future. If you are at peace, you are living in the present."
"Water is fluid, soft, and yielding. But water will wear away rock, which is rigid and cannot yield. As a rule, whatever is fluid, soft, and yielding will overcome whatever is rigid and hard. This is another paradox: what is soft is strong."
"Thirty spokes share the hub of a wheel; yet it is its center that makes it useful. You can mold clay into a vessel; yet, it is its emptiness that makes it useful. Cut doors and windows from the walls of a house;
but the ultimate use of the house will depend on that part where nothing exists.
Therefore, something is shaped into what is; but its usefulness comes from what is not."
"Matter is necessary to give form, but the value of reality lies in its immateriality. Everything that lives has a physical body, but the value of a life is measured by the soul."
"At the center of your being, you have the answer."
"To a mind that is still the whole universe surrenders."
Beauford and W. C. Handy
(1939) Oil on canvas
© Estate of Beauford Delaney
by permission of Derek L. Spratley, Esquire,
Court Appointed Administrator
When Beauford met W. C. Handy at a party hosted by composer Luke Theodore Upshure in Greenwich Village in August 1930, it was the beginning of a long and influential friendship.
Already an accomplished musician and composer when he moved to NYC, Handy and his partner Harry Pace operated a successful music publishing business from an office on Times Square. By the time he and Beauford met, he had already rebounded from a severe reversal of fortune and was enjoying renewed interest in his greatest recordings.
Beauford immersed himself in jazz and embraced Handy's suggestion that he begin sketching jazz musicians and other notables in New York City's 1930s black community. He painted the oil portrait of his friend in 1939; it was used for the poster announcement of Beauford's solo show at the Vendome Gallery in midtown Manhattan in 1941.
Beauford's biographer, David Leeming, reports that a review of the show by New York Sun journalist Melvine Upton describes Beauford's portrayal of Handy as "personal and peculiarly understanding."
Beauford's pencil sketches of celebrated black Americans illustrate Handy's 1944 book entitled Unsung Americans Sung.
Unsung Americans Sung book cover
Several of these sketches are posted in two Les Amis articles that feted Women's History Month in 2021:
Swann Auction Galleries Sells Two Beauford Delaney Works at March 31, 2022 Auction
Swann Auction Galleries' March 31, 2022 African American Art sale is now history. Both of the Beauford Delaney works it offered during this auction were sold.
The estimated sale price for Untitled (Composition in Yellow, Orange and Red) was $40,000 - $60,000.
It sold for $137,000, including buyer's premium.
Untitled (Composition in Yellow, Orange and Red)
(c. 1958-59) Oil on paper mounted on linen canvas
1346x965 mm; 53x38 inches
© Estate of Beauford Delaney
By permission of Derek L. Spratley, Esquire,
Court Appointed Administrator
The estimated sale price for Untitled (watercolor) was $8,000 - $12,000.
It sold for $12,500, including buyer's premium.
(1956) Watercolor on cream wove paper
450x335 mm; 17 1/2x13 1/4 inches
Signed and dated in ink, lower right
© Estate of Beauford Delaney
By permission of Derek L. Spratley, Esquire,
Court Appointed Administrator
For more information about the auction results, click HERE.
Beauford at Auction
Swann Auction Galleries is holding an African American Art sale on March 31, 2022.
Among the 241 lots available for purchase are two Beauford Delaney works.
(c. 1958-59) Oil on paper mounted on linen canvas
1346x965 mm; 53x38 inches
© Estate of Beauford Delaney
By permission of Derek L. Spratley, Esquire,
Court Appointed Administrator
(1956) Watercolor on cream wove paper
450x335 mm; 17 1/2x13 1/4 inches
Signed and dated in ink, lower right
© Estate of Beauford Delaney
By permission of Derek L. Spratley, Esquire,
Court Appointed Administrator
Both works were created during Beauford's Clamart years, which were as personally tumultuous for him as they were professionally productive.
Swann describes the untitled oil on paper mounted on canvas as Beauford's "largest work on paper to come to auction." It is tempting to speculate that this work may have been among the six large abstract canvases that biographer David Leeming says Beauford sent to a group show in Leverkusen, Germany in the fall of 1958.
Leeming writes that during this year, Beauford "was changing directions slightly, attempting to solve a new problem, which involved the use of color to convey his own inner life.... He seemed now to be moving toward a more expressionist use of painting to represent the inner turmoil itself."
Beauford painted the 1956 watercolor during his first year in Clamart. This work shown at the Resonance of Form and Vibration of Color exhibition in Paris in 2016. When I look at it, I am reminded of Leeming's observation that Beauford "pursued what he saw as a therapeutic reading of the 'wisdom literature' of the Far East," including works by Lao Tsu and various Buddhist writings.
Beauford created several watercolors during his 1956 summer vacation in Ibiza and Majorca with Larry Calcagno, James Baldwin, and other friends.
The estimated sale price for Untitled (Composition in Yellow, Orange and Red) is $40,000 - $60,000.
The estimated sale price for Untitled (watercolor) is $8,000 - $12,000.
For information about the auction, click HERE.
Making Peace with Aloneness
In letters that Beauford sent to friends Henry Miller and Larry Wallrich in March 1960, he wrote of "finally hav[ing] to make peace with aloneness" and a need to "meet the challenge with the courage to begin again."
When I look at Beauford's works and think about the abovementioned words, I see his sentiments in the works below.
(1944) Oil on canvas
Art Institute of Chicago
© Estate of Beauford Delaney
By permission of Derek L. Spratley, Esquire,
Court Appointed Administrator
(1965) Watercolor on wove paper
Signed, dated and inscribed "avec amour" in ink.
Image courtesy of Swann Auction Galleries
© Estate of Beauford Delaney
by permission of Derek L. Spratley, Esquire,
Court Appointed Administrator
(1963) Watercolor on wove paper
Signed and dated "July 19, 1963" in ink, lower right
Image courtesy of Swann Auction Galleries
© Estate of Beauford Delaney
by permission of Derek L. Spratley, Esquire,
Court Appointed Administrator
Signed, inscribed and dated "Beauford Delaney Mallorca 1961" lower right
(1961) gouache on paper
25 1/2 x 19 1/2 in. (64.8 x 49.5 cm.)
© Estate of Beauford Delaney
by permission of Derek L. Spratley, Esquire,
Court Appointed Administrator
(1968) Oil on canvas
Permanent collection of the SCAD Museum of Art, Savannah
Gift of Dr. Walter O. and Mrs. Linda J. Evans
© Estate of Beauford Delaney
by permission of Derek L. Spratley, Esquire,
Court Appointed Administrator
Swann Auction Galleries - Fifteen Years of Beauford Delaney Sales
Long before I met Nigel Freeman, founder of Swann Auction Galleries' African American Fine Art Department, at the Resonance of Form and Vibration of Color exhibition in Paris in 2016, I had been following Swann's sales of Beauford's art.
Swann has been offering Beauford's work since 2007. It claimed the 2018 auction record for a Beauford Delaney painting with the sale of Untitled (Village Street Scene),
(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
Below are some of my favorite works that the organization has sold.
(1965) Watercolor on wove paper
546x457 mm; 21 1/2x18 inches.
Signed, dated and inscribed "avec amour" in ink.
Image courtesy of Swann Auction Galleries
© Estate of Beauford Delaney
by permission of Derek L. Spratley, Esquire,
Court Appointed Administrator
(circa late 1950s) Gouache on Schoeller Parole paper
450x300 mm; 17 3/4x11 3/4 inches
Signed in red gouache, lower right
Image courtesy of Swann Auction Galleries
© Estate of Beauford Delaney
by permission of Derek L. Spratley, Esquire,
Court Appointed Administrator
(1963) Watercolor on thick wove paper
660 x 508 mm; 26 x 20 inches
Image courtesy of Swann Auction Galleries
© Estate of Beauford Delaney
by permission of Derek L. Spratley, Esquire,
Court Appointed Administrator
(1958) Oil on wove paper
750x560 mm; 29 1/2x22 inches
Image courtesy of Swann Auction Galleries
© Estate of Beauford Delaney
by permission of Derek L. Spratley, Esquire,
Court Appointed Administrator
(1963) Watercolor on wove paper
641x501 mm; 25 1/4x19 3/4 inches
Signed and dated "July 19, 1963" in ink, lower right
Image courtesy of Swann Auction Galleries
© Estate of Beauford Delaney
by permission of Derek L. Spratley, Esquire,
Court Appointed Administrator
Find the entire history of Beauford Delaney works that Swann has offered at auction HERE.
"Red" Is for Passion
It is generally agreed that the color "red" symbolizes passion and energy. The Sensational Color Website indicates that it
... speeds up our heart rate, blood flow, and body temperature. Red stimulates our senses of smell and taste, making us more sensitive to our environments. Red also stimulates the adrenal gland, making us more prone to take action and giving us more energy. Red is a physical stimulant.
"Red" was one of Beauford's favorite colors.
In Amazing Grace: A Life of Beauford Delaney, biographer David Leeming recounts a story of Beauford's mother, Delia, putting a red bedspread on his bed in 1933, when he returned home for the first time after moving to New York. Leeming says that the color excited Beauford so much that he couldn't sleep all night.
Because Valentine's Day is only two days away, I thought I'd pave the way for this celebration of love and passion with some images of Beauford Delaney works in which shades of the color "red" are prominent.
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
Untitled
(c. 1956) Watercolor and gouache on paper
Collection of the Delaney Estate
© 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!
Untitled
1956, Inks on paper
45 x 33.5 cm; 17.7" x 13.2"
Private collection
© Estate of Beauford Delaney,
by permission of Derek L. Spratley, Esquire,
Court Appointed Administrator
The Sage Black
(1967) Oil on canvas
Private collection
© Estate of Beauford Delaney
by permission of Derek L. Spratley, Esquire,
Court Appointed Administrator
Happy Valentine's Day from Les Amis de Beauford Delaney!
1964 Beauford Delaney Abstract for Auction
On January 21, 2022 a beautiful Beauford Delaney abstract, signed and dated 1964, was offered at auction by De Baecque et Associés in Paris.
41 x 33 cm; 16.1 x 12.9 in
© Estate of Beauford Delaney
by permission of Derek L. Spratley, Esquire,
Court Appointed Administrator
Nineteen sixty-four (1964) was a busy year for Beauford. He received a $3,500 grant from the Fairfield Foundation in January, participated in a group show at the Galerie Internationale d'Art Contemporaine in the spring, displayed ten abstract gouaches in the Copenhagen exhibition entitled 10 American Negro Artists in July, and sold a large oil painting to the Musée Cantonal des Beaux-Arts in Lausanne, Switzerland.
Beauford sold several paintings to a collector in October, had works shown at Farleigh Dickinson University in October/November, and participated in a television interview for artists and writers who were members of the Artists Abroad for Johnson Committee. Most importantly, he prepared for the opening of his monographic exhibition at the Galerie Lambert in December.
Untitled, 1964 was part of the collection of Hélène Baltrusaitis, the woman who became director of the art center at the American Cultural Center in Paris in the wake of the departure of Darthea Speyer. According to biographer David Leeming, Baltrusaitis arranged for Beauford to contribute three abstract paintings for an itinerant show of works by American artists in December 1966. She also organized his participation in many exhibitions at the American Cultural Center and sponsored an evening dedicated to Beauford at the center in March 1969.
This painting (Lot No. 101) was estimated to sell for 8000€ - 12000€. It sold for 52,000€ (not including buyer's fees).
Sold! Two paintings from the Resonance of Form exhibition in Paris
A few days before Christmas, two paintings from the 2016 Beauford Delaney: Resonance of Form and Vibration of Color exhibition were put up for auction by Pierre Bergé et Associés in their Art Moderne et Contemporain (Modern and Contemporary Art) sale.
One was the self-portrait that served as the cover image for the exhibition catalog.
(undated) Oil on canvas
© Estate of Beauford Delaney
by permission of Derek L. Spratley, Esquire,
Court Appointed Administrator
The other was a lyrical abstract work in pastel hues.
(1961) Oil on canvas
© Estate of Beauford Delaney
by permission of Derek L. Spratley, Esquire,
Court Appointed Administrator
Pierre Bergé & Associés chose Composition as the work to display on its catalog cover.
Both paintings fetched handsome prices.
The estimated price range for the abstract (Lot 6) was 300,000€ - 400,000€. The actual sale price was 371,120€, including the buyer's fee.
The estimated price range for the self-portrait (Lot 7) was 250,000€ - 300,000€. The actual sale price was 308,220€, including the buyer's fee.
New Year Greetings from Les Amis de Beauford Delaney
In January 1962, Beauford moved into what would be his last studio in Paris - a space at 53, rue Vercingétorix purchased by Solange Du Closel and her husband, Jacques, for the express purpose of providing Beauford a place to live and work.
That was sixty years ago!
Today, in commemoration of this anniversary and in celebration of the New Year, I'm presenting an abstract work that Beauford created in 1962. Similar to last year's New Year post, I'm hoping it is a visual metaphor for what 2022 will bring.
(1962) Gouache and watercolor on paper, signed
© Estate of Beauford Delaney,
by permission of Derek L. Spratley, Esquire,
Court Appointed Administrator
This untitled abstract fairly glows with warm, vibrant colors. It was shown in the recent Frieze Masters exhibition mounted by the Michael Rosenfeld Gallery* in the UK.
I see orange and yellow as the predominant hues in this work, with red, pink, and a touch of white as accents.
Here's what several Websites have to say about the positive symbolism of these colors:
"Orange is the color of joy and creativity. Orange promotes a sense of general wellness and emotional energy that should be shared, such as compassion, passion, and warmth. Orange will help a person recover from disappointments, a wounded heart, or a blow to one’s pride."
"Associated with the more pleasant things in life, yellow kindles joy and happiness. Most prominently recognized as a cheerful and lively hue, yellow inspires positivity. With its effortless innocence, the color yellow resonates deeply with children."
"Red is powerfully linked to our most primitive physical and emotional needs of survival and self-preservation. It is the color of physical energy, passion, courage, power, will, and desire. Red symbolizes energy, action, confidence, courage, and change.
"The color pink symbolizes charm, sensitivity, tenderness, the feminine, politeness, and the romantic. It also stands for universal love of others and of oneself."
"White is the lightest color, meaning purity, innocence, and integrity. It is considered to represent perfection, as it is the purest and most complete color. It ... represents new begging and erases any trace of past actions. It is like a piece of white paper not being written yet. It leaves the mind open and free to whatever it might create in the way."
I hope you infuse all these elements into your life in 2022!
LES AMIS DE BEAUFORD DELANEY!
*Michael Rosenfeld Gallery LLC is Special Advisor and Representative of the Estate of Beauford Delaney.
France Owns Two Beauford Delaney Abstract Paintings
When I launched the campaign to raise funds for Beauford's tombstone, I contacted the U.S. Embassy to inquire whether they could help me research information about the French government's acquisition of Beauford Delaney works. They told me that France owns two of Beauford's paintings and sent me an image of Jazz, a painting that they told me was allocated to the French Embassy in Taipei, Taiwan. They obtained the image from France's Fonds national d'art contemporain (National Contemporary Art Fund).
I published this information in an article dated April 6, 2010.
The Centre national des arts plastique (CNAP; English translation: National Center of Plastic Arts) manages the works amassed by the Fonds national d'art contemporain on behalf of France since 1791. I was privileged to be invited by Jean-Baptiste Delorme, Conservateur du patrimoine - Responsable de la collection arts plastiques (1945-1989) to visit one of their archive facilities earlier this week to see Beauford's works in person!
Frequently, photographs of a particular work neither resemble each other nor do justice to the original, and this was definitely the case for Jazz.
© Estate of Beauford Delaney,
by permission of Derek L. Spratley, Esquire,
Court Appointed Administrator
Photo courtesy of France's Fonds national d'art contemporain
Published on the Les Amis blog in 2010
Collage and individual images © Les Amis de Beauford Delaney
Jazz, 1966
FNAC 29060
Centre national des arts plastiques
© droits réservés / Cnap /
Crédit photo : Yves Chenot
© Estate of Beauford Delaney,
by permission of Derek L. Spratley, Esquire,
Court Appointed Administrator
Delorme and I discussed this work at length, including the fact that it was shown at the Musée Galliera in 1967, was purchased directly from Beauford in 1968, and bears the name of a second, earlier Beauford Delaney work - Portrait of Marian Anderson (1965). A letter that Beauford wrote in French to the French government and dated March 16, 1958 (the year is evidently written in error, given the previously mentioned facts) states that the government has informed him that they have purchased Portrait of Marian Anderson. He expresses his joy about the fact that this work is "appreciated by the government of a country that I love and where I chose to live" (my translation).
The second abstract, which is untitled (sans titre), is much larger (130 x 96 cm / 51.2 x 37.8 in) than Jazz (60 x 49 cm / 23.6 x 19.3 in). It was shown at the Salon des Réalités nouvelles exhibition in Paris in 1972. CNAP loaned this work to the United States of Abstraction: American Artists in France exhibition that was shown at the Musée d'art de Nantes in Nantes, France (May 19 to July 18, 2021) and the Musée Fabre in Montpellier, France (August 6 to October 21, 2021).
© Les Amis de Beauford Delaney
FNAC 31447
Centre national des arts plastiques
© droits réservés / Cnap /
Crédit photo : Yves Chenot
© Estate of Beauford Delaney,
by permission of Derek L. Spratley, Esquire,
Court Appointed Administrator
Both museums are part of the FRAME (FRench American Museum Exchange) network, a group of 32 major U.S. and French museums whose mission is to promote cultural exchange through the development of innovative exhibitions, educational and public programs.
The coloring and the size of Sans titre, 1963 remind me of another untitled painting that hung in the Resonance of Form and Vibration of Color exhibition in Paris in 2016. It now belongs to the Mint Museum in North Carolina.
(1959) Oil on canvas
144.5 x 95.5 cm / 56.9 x 37.6 in
© Estate of Beauford Delaney
by permission of Derek L. Spratley, Esquire,
Court Appointed Administrator
About CNAP (excerpted from the CNAP Website):
The Centre national des arts plastiques (CNAP) is a public institution under the French Ministry of Culture. It fosters and supports artistic creation in France in all areas of the visual arts: painting, performance art, sculpture, photography, installation art, video, multimedia, graphic arts, design and graphic design. It follows young artists closely, provides expertise and support to the emergence of new forms, and assists artists and contemporary art professionals.
On behalf of the French State, CNAP expands and manages France’s national contemporary art collection, the Fonds national d’art contemporain, of over 105,000 works. Each year, it lends some 2,500 works from its collection.