Clamart: Beauford's Suburban Paris Home

In his introduction for Beauford's 1964 exposition at the Gallery Lambert in Paris, James Baldwin wrote:

In any case, from Tennessee, he eventually came to Paris (I have the impression that he walked and swam) and for awhile lived in a suburb of Paris, Clamart...

There was a window in Beauford's house in Clamart before which we often sat—late at night, early in the morning, at noon. This window looked out on a garden; or rather, it would have looked out on a garden if it had not been for the leaves and branches of a large tree which pressed directly against the window.

Everything one saw from this window, then, was filtered through these leaves...

I visited the city of Clamart earlier this week to find this house, the address of which—68, rue Paul Vaillant Couturier—is indicated in Amazing Grace: A Life of Beauford Delaney. It stands at the top of a hill, a few doors away from the five-point roundabout at place Marquis and nestled between two other free-standing dwellings behind a stone wall.

68, rue Paul Vaillant Couturier, Clamart
© Discover Paris!

Biographer David A. Leeming tells us that the apartment was on the ground floor and that the window looked onto a garden in the back of the house. Though I was unable to enter the property at No. 68, I was able to see part of a garden behind a gate a few doors down the street; perhaps its appearance approximates what Beauford and Baldwin saw through Beauford's window:

Private garden on rue Paul Vaillant Couturier
© Discover Paris!
Beauford lived in Clamart from 1956 until late 1961-early 1962. I have been unable to find any photos of the area, or of the city in general, that date from this period. However, many of the buildings in the immediate vicinity appear to be old enough to have existed then.

Corner of rue des Rochers and rue Estienne d'Orves
© Discover Paris!

8, avenue Schneider
© Discover Paris!

1, avenue Schneider
© Discover Paris!
Significant renovation of such buildings is ongoing in the area, so at least some of the character of the neighborhood is being preserved.

The bar-tabac-brasserie Le Narval, on the other hand, has no genteel architectural features. It is located at 72, rue Paul Vaillant Couturier, on the corner with rue des Rochers and place Marquis.

Le Narval
© Discover Paris!
Beauford's home was ideally situated in that he was only a few blocks from the center of town and only two blocks from the forest called Bois de Clamart. Leeming tells us that he called it his "place in the country."

Today, small private lanes,

Rue Henry, a private lane
© Discover Paris!
wisteria tumbling gracefully over stone walls,

Wisteria overhanging a stone wall on rue Paul Vaillant Couturier
© Discover Paris!
and dazzling flower beds in public areas

Flower bed on rue du Président Roosevelt
© Discover Paris!
preserve a bit of the country atmosphere that Beauford enjoyed during his time there.

Beauford at the Studio Museum in Harlem

The Studio Museum in Harlem presented the first retrospective exposition of Beauford's work in 1978.

Catalog cover for retrospective at the Studio Museum in Harlem
The exhibit was mounted with the financial support of the Exxon Corporation and the National Endowment for the Arts and was open to the public from April 9 through July 2. It was the first of the museum's Black Masters series - major retrospectives organized with the intent to recognize the work of master African-American painters whose talent and achievements risked being ignored or forgotten. Hale Woodruff and Charles White were the second and third artists, respectively, whose works were featured in this series.

Richard A. Long, who has provided written (Richard A. Long and Beauford Delaney) and video (Richard A. Long Talks about Beauford - Part 1) tributes to Beauford for this blog, conceived of the exposition and organized the show. He was responsible for gathering Beauford's paintings in Paris and having them shipped to the U.S. for the exhibition. Over 60 paintings were shown and most of these were from Beauford's Paris years. Long presents the story of how he came to be the curator of the Studio Museum exposition in Part 2 of his video tribute to Beauford.

The photo on the cover of the catalog was taken by Ahmed Bioud, one of the seven members of the tutelle (trusteeship) that was created by the French government to take care of Beauford's affairs while he was institutionalized at Sainte Anne's Hospital in Paris. One of the portraits that Beauford painted of Bioud was among the works shown in the exhibit.

The catalog features a foreword by Mary Schmidt Campbell, then executive director of the museum; an introduction by Richard A. Long; the chapbook text "The Amazing and Invariable Beauford Delaney" by Henry Miller; and tributes by James Baldwin and Beauford's brother, Joseph. Representations of the works exposed are reproduced in color and black & white. A chronology of Beauford's life and a brief bibliography of publications that mention or feature him are also included.

The Levis Fine Arts Gallery holds three of the paintings shown in the Studio Museum in Harlem exhibition. Click here to view them.

Where to Find Beauford’s Art: Levis Fine Art Gallery

Today I am excited to announce that significant progress has been made toward the settlement of the Beauford Delaney estate! This has been a long time in coming, as 2012 marks the 33rd anniversary of Beauford's passing. It means that many of his "long, lost" paintings will finally be made available to the public for viewing and for sale.

Three such paintings can be found at Levis Fine Art Gallery in Ossining, New York:

Waning Light: Abstraction
(1963) Oil on canvas

Abstraction in Red
(1963) Oil on canvas

Abstraction #12
(1963) Oil on canvas

All three were painted during Beauford's years at the rue Vercingétorix studio and all were exhibited at the Studio Museum of Harlem retrospective mounted in 1978.

Contact Jim Levis at the gallery for pricing:

Levis Fine Art
Ossining, NY 10562 (~45 minutes from Manhattan by car)
Tel: 914-762-4880
Fax: 914-432-8699
Email: jim@levisfineart.com
Web Site: www.levisfineart.com

Beauford's "Fontana"

In the posting entitled Burt and Pat Reinfrank Remember Beauford, I mentioned that Burt relayed an anecdote to me about a painting that Beauford created in the style of the slash series of artist Lucio Fontana. Here is an image of the painting:

Untitled
(ca. 1960-61) Gouache on paper
Photo courtesy of Burt and Pat Reinfrank

and here is the story:

Beauford often brought gifts when he was invited to people's homes. He gave the painting shown above to James and Gloria Jones at Christmas in 1960 or 1961. It is inscribed as a gift to "Jimmy and Gloria Jones." (James Jones was one of four independent collectors of Beauford's works in Paris — the others were Ahmed Bioud, Solange du Closel, and the Reinfranks.)

After Jones' death, Gloria Jones gave most of the Jones' collection to Darthea Speyer to sell.

Years later, the gouache shown above was put up for sale on Ebay. Burt saw the black strokes in the painting that mimic the cuts in Lucio Fontana's works and remembered that he and Beauford had discussed Fontana's "slash style" at around the time that the painting is dated. He believes that Beauford created this untitled work soon after that conversation.

The painting did not sell on Ebay and Burt was able to obtain it offline from the person who put the work up for sale.

More on Beauford's Paris: Ile Saint-Louis

Prompted by last week's posting on Beauford's Paris: Ile Saint-Louis, Beauford's dear friend Burt Reinfrank confirmed that the building that I photographed for the article is indeed the one where James Jones and his family lived on Ile Saint-Louis. Here's a better photo of it:

10, quai d'Orléans
© Discover Paris!

Entrance to 10, quai d'Orléans at 2, rue Budé
© Discover Paris!
Burt and James Jones were on the board of the American Center. Burt commented that Beauford was frequently a guest at the Jones' home for Sunday afternoon pasta. Jones' wife Gloria had the custom of making pasta on Sundays and the couple would have an open house of sorts, inviting numerous people over to enjoy the food and camaraderie.

Burt affirmed Jones' love of Beauford's paintings and told me how Jones arranged to have Life Magazine photograph him in Beauford's rue Vercingétorix studio in an effort to give Beauford some publicity.

Composite of photo from August 4, 1967 Life Magazine article
Photographer: Loomis Dean
Thanks Burt, for contributing yet another anecdote to the Les Amis blog!

Beauford's Paris: Ile Saint-Louis

Quai d'Orléans and Notre Dame Cathedral Viewed from the Left Bank
© Discover Paris!
American writer James Jones and his family lived in an apartment building on quai'd'Orléans, Ile Saint-Louis from 1958-1975. James Baldwin introduced him to Beauford in Paris in 1958. According to David A. Leeming's biography Amazing Grace: A Life of Beauford Delaney, the Joneses became so fond of Beauford that they eventually gave him a key to their apartment and invited him over frequently. They also commissioned several paintings from him. Jones supported his application for a Fairfield Foundation grant in 1964 and gave Beauford a tribute at his October 1964 one-man show at the Galerie Lambert (no longer in existence) at number 14 on the island's main thoroughfare, rue Saint-Louis en l'Ile. Five years later, Jones would comment at another of Beauford's shows that he was "the complete artist, not just in the medium of paint but in the medium of life."

Rue Saint-Louis en l'Ile
© Discover Paris!
Most of the information that I have found about the Jones' abode indicates that it was located at 10, quai d'Orléans. One story published by the James Jones Literary Society indicates that the Joneses lived on the second floor. As I walked along the quay yesterday, I decided to look for the building and take a photo of the place where Beauford spent so much time over the years. Curiously, I found no edifice that bears the number 10 on its façade.

Because of a description in Frommer's Paris from $95 a Day, which indicates that the Joneses lived on the corner of rue Budé and quai d'Orléans, I must assume that the "round cornered" building pictured below is indeed the place. (12, quai d'Orléans is plainly indicated on the façade of the building on the opposite corner of the intersection.)

10, quai d'Orléans
© Discover Paris!

The corner windows in this building overlook the Seine, where the Joneses and their visitors - including Beauford - enjoyed a view of pont Saint-Louis and the flying buttresses at the rear of Notre Dame Cathedral.

33rd Anniversary of Beauford's Passing

Monday, March 26th will be the 33rd anniversary of Beauford's death.

The photo below graces the stone that Les Amis de Beauford Delaney had installed at Beauford's final resting place in Thiais Cemetery in 2010.

Portrait of Beauford Delaney
(ca. 1950)
Possibly by Gjon Mili
Beauford was "all about art." I'd like to celebrate this anniversary date by sharing with you some of my favorite works by this magnificent artist and humble human spirit.

Untitled (Abstract Composition)
(1961) Oil monotype on heavy wove paper
Photo courtesy of Swann Auction Galleries

Woman in White
(1964-65) Oil on canvas
Photo from Bill Hodges Gallery Web site

Still Life with Pears
(1946) Oil on canvas
Image from the Artsmia.org Website

Portrait of a Man in Green
Beauford Delaney
Oil (undated)
Photo from catalog of Beauford Delaney: A Retrospective
Studio Museum in Harlem

Composition 16

(1954-56) Oil on canvas
© Estate of Beauford Delaney; Private Collection

Courtesy of Michael Rosenfeld Gallery, LLC, New York , NY

Beauford Delaney

Self-portrait

Oil on canvas (1944)

Art Institute of Chicago

Beauford at the Armory Show 2012

The Armory Show was held from March 8-11, 2012 at Piers 92 and 94 in Manhattan. Pier 92 was dedicated to international dealers specializing in historically significant Modern and contemporary art. The Michael Rosenfeld Gallery had exhibit space at Pier 92 and showed three of Beauford's paintings among the works of forty artists:

Untitled
(1958) Gouache on paper
25 1/2" x 19 5/8", signed and dated
© Estate of Beauford Delaney
Courtesy of Michael Rosenfeld Gallery LLC, New York , NY

Untitled
(1959) Gouache on paper
25 5/8" x 19 3/4", signed and dated
© Estate of Beauford Delaney
Courtesy of Michael Rosenfeld Gallery LLC, New York , NY

Untitled
(1959) Gouache on paper
25" x 19 5/8", signed and dated
© Estate of Beauford Delaney
Courtesy of Michael Rosenfeld Gallery LLC, New York , NY

All of these works were produced during Beauford's Paris years, when he lived in the suburban town of Clamart. During the summer of 1958, he began using color in his paintings to convey the tumult of his inner life - to embrace and confront it as opposed to repelling it through painting as he had done previously. By the end of the year, he was preparing for two group shows to be held in 1959.

Radio France Interview: Philippe Briet and Darthea Speyer Talk about Beauford

I had the unexpected pleasure of receiving a call from Catherine de la Clergerie of Radio France a few days ago. She told me that she remembers seeing Beauford frequently at Le Select in Montparnasse and wanted to offer me a recording of part of an interview that Radio France recorded with Philippe Briet and Darthea Speyer at the Darthea Speyer Gallery in 1992. The subject: Beauford!

Darthea Speyer Gallery
© Discover Paris!
The roughly 30-minute recording begins with the voice of Darthea Speyer explaining why she decided to mount a retrospective of Beauford's work in 1992. She mentioned that Philippe Briet had mounted a Beauford retrospective a few years earlier and said that she felt she should have done one herself years ago. She also reflected that she should have mounted her first one-man show (1973) of Beauford's work earlier, before his health began to decline.

The majority of the interview featured Phillipe Briet. Briet explained how he discovered Beauford's work at the Studio Museum of Harlem and how each painting that he was able to view evoked in him "profound joy." He recounted how he sought out those who had loaned Beauford's works to the retrospective that was held at the Studio Museum of Harlem in 1978, Richard A. Long as curator of the retrospective, and eventually Darthea Speyer and Solange du Closel in Paris.

What was most interesting about the interview was listening to Briet talk about Beauford as a person. Though he never met Beauford, he expressed definite opinions about Beauford's personality and characteristics. He described Beauford as "one of the most positive beings that one could know in the 20th century." He saw Beauford as a "mystic," someone who was interested in the "soul" of things. He expressed his belief that Beauford's life was one of "solitude, reflection, and concentration."

Philippe Briet
Photo courtesy of Catherine de la Clergerie
Briet said that if he had to cite the work of American abstract expressionist painters whose work "approached" that of Beauford with regard to "sensitivity," he would select Clyfford Still and Mark Tobey. He believed that Beauford's interest in light could not be compared to that of the Impressionists, who were concerned with the physical aspects of light and its effect on objects. He thought that Beauford's work was much more powerful and compared it to that of Rembrandt.

Regarding Beauford's habit of draping his studios in white sheets, Briet considered that this represented Beauford's desire to "see" silence, to be able to look into eternity, to look into time. He saw gravity and pain in Beauford's face as Beauford represented himself in his self-portraits. He thought that the fact that Beauford painted both abstract and figurative works might represent what Beauford saw through his own eyes when he was alone (abstract) juxtaposed with what others saw in the absolute sense (figurative).

Briet said that few artists have the ambition and the pride to have a sense of eternity. This is what he looked for in art - works that made him reflect on time and would make those seeing the works centuries later reflect on time as well. He considered such works to be true art and felt that Beauford's work had this quality.

Beauford at the Whitney Studio Galleries - 1930

According to David A. Leeming, author of Amazing Grace: A Life of Beauford Delaney:

Beauford's first major break as a painter came in January 1930 when he approached a woman named Mungo Park about his work. Park worked at the Whitney Studio Galleries, which would become the Whitney Museum of American Art the following year.

Original location of the Whitney Studio Galleries
8-12 West 8th Street, Manhattan
Photo by Beyond My Ken from Wikipedia

Park looked at Beauford's portfolio of drawings and introduced him to Juliana Force, director of purchasing and exhibition at the Whitney. Force offered Beauford the chance to exhibit his art at a four-person show that ran from February 26 to March 8, 1930, with the only stipulation being that he produce additional pieces for the event. He worked diligently, and entered the exhibit with three oil portraits and nine pastels.

Juliana Force
Photo from Flickr
Beauford won first prize at this show for a pastel drawing of Billy Pierce, who was his employer at the time. Pierce was the owner of a dance school where Beauford had begun making a name for himself with his pastel and charcoal drawings of the school's dancers and clients. These drawings were part of the portfolio that Beauford showed to Mungo Park to earn a place in the show.

The remaining drawings that Beauford entered in the Whitney show were all awarded honorable mention.

As a result of his interaction with Miss Park and Mrs. Force, the Whitney offered Beauford a job as caretaker and offered him living space and a studio in the basement of the building. This was the beginning of his stay in Greenwich Village.

Beauford at the Roko Gallery for Negro History Week 1949

For Les Amis' last blog posting for Black History Month 2012, I am pleased that I have unearthed a tidbit of information to share about Beauford and the celebration of African-American history in the U.S. I found it in David Leeming's biography entitled Amazing Grace: A Life of Beauford Delaney.

Beauford exhibited paintings at the now defunct Roko Gallery in February 1949 in a group show of African-American artists as a celebration of Negro History Week. One of the works shown was his Still Life with Pears (aka Still Life with Fruit), shown below:

Still Life with Pears
(1946) Oil on canvas
Image from the Artsmia.org Website
This painting was particularly admired by art critic Elaine de Koonig, who described it as being a "violent impasto."

According to Leeming, most of the paintings that Beauford entered into this show were "expressionistic." But he also exhibited a painting of a "specifically African-American subject" called Harlem Blue. It depicted a nighttime Harlem scene that Beauford rendered in the style of his Greene Street paintings.

Two Beauford Delaneys Sold at 2012 African-American Fine Art Auction

As I reported a couple of weeks ago, Swann Galleries proposed three Beauford Delaney works it its February 2012 African-American Fine Art auction. Here are the results:

Lot 22 (my favorite of the three paintings) sold for $15,000*, the lower limit of the estimated sales price.

Lot 22
Untitled (Abstract Composition)
(1961) Oil monotype on heavy wove paper
Photo courtesy of Swann Auction Galleries

Lot 129 is unsold.

Lot 129
Untitled
(1962) Gouache and watercolor on wove paper
Photo courtesy of Swann Auction Galleries

Lot 130 sold for $14,000*. The upper limit of the estimated sale price was $15,000.

Lot 130
Untitled (Abstraction in Green)
(1964) Gouache on thick wove paper
Photo courtesy of Swann Auction Galleries

Swann Galleries generally holds two African-American Fine Art auctions each year - one in February and one in October. If any of Beauford's works will be offered for sale during the next auction, I'll report on it here!

*At auction, there are two prices--the hammer price, or the price at which the item sells during the auction, and the price with the buyer's premium. All auction houses have a buyer's premium that the buyer pays to the auction house on top of the hammer price. Swann's premium is 20%. The prices indicated in this article are hammer prices.

Where to Find Beauford’s Art: Bill Hodges Gallery

Bill Hodges is a champion of Beauford’s art. He has shown Beauford’s work in past expositions at his Manhattan gallery and presents images of ten Beauford Delaney paintings on his Web site.

One of the paintings shown on the site – Woman in White – is in Hodges’ personal collection:

Woman in White
(1964-65) Oil on canvas
Photo from Bill Hodges Gallery Web site
Several images on the Web site are found in two catalogs from the past expositions in which Hodges showcased Beauford’s work. They are entitled African American Artists - III and Abstractionist Visions: Works on Paper. A third catalog – African-American Artists - II – contains images that are not displayed on line.

I found the images from Abstractionists Visions to be absolutely stunning! Unfortunately, I am not able to reproduce them for you on this blog. To see some of them, visit www.billhodgesgallery.com/aaindex.html and click on Beauford’s name. (I have noted that the images in the catalog are much more vibrant and powerful than the ones online.)

Hodges makes several observations about Beauford’s paintings in the Abstractionists Visions catalog. He states that Beauford’s “use of strong and vibrant colors is utterly remarkable,” and expresses his conviction that the strength of the works on paper that he included in the exposition “far exceed many works on canvas.” He goes even further, stating that he had “yet to see a canvas by Delaney that exceeds the vigor of the works on pages 5, 6, and 7” (from left to right, images #3, #6, and #8 of the reproductions of abstract paintings on the Web site).

Contrary to what is indicated on the Web site, the painting below (which was not included in any of the catalogs) has not yet been sold.

Untitled*
Abstraction in Pink, Yellow, and Green
(1964) Oil on paper
Photo from Bill Hodges Gallery Web site
To see Woman in White, and to pick up your catalogs, visit the Bill Hodges Gallery:

Bill Hodges Gallery
24 West 57th St.
New York, NY 10019
Tel: 212-333-2640
Fax: 212-333-2644

Gallery Hours
Tuesday to Friday: 10am-6pm
Saturday: 12:30pm-5:30pm

*A viewing of Untitled can be requested by calling the gallery in advance of your visit.

Beauford at Cannes

Several months ago, I reported that filmmaker Zachary Miller planned to create a short film (under 30 minutes in length) about Beauford. I am pleased to bring you this update on the project.

Miller's film, which remains unedited and untitled as of today, will be showcased in the Short Film Corner at the 2012 Cannes Film Festival. Showing the film here will increase its chances of being picked up by other international festivals. It will benefit from the use of the label "Short Film Corner," which reinforces its potential and increase its chances of professional distribution.

As part of the Short Film Corner, the film about Beauford will not be in the Short Film Competition. It will be referenced on www.shortfilmcorner.com and in the Catalogue du Court, which is published by the Cannes Film Festival.

The dates for this year's festival and the Short Film Corner are May 16-27, 2012.

Where to Find Beauford's Art: Swann Galleries 2012 African-American Fine Art Sale

As I reported in my first article about Swann Galleries last October, the auction house launched its department of African-American Fine Art in 2007. Swann Galleries is the only major auction house conducting regular sales of African-American fine art today. The works that it sells are consigned by individuals, libraries, schools, museums, and dealers the world over. Thus far, Swann Galleries has put twenty-eight (28) of Beauford’s paintings up for auction.

For the February 2012 African-American Fine Art auction, Swann Galleries is proposing three Beauford Delaney works that were painted when Beauford lived in Paris. The gallery catalog notes that his Paris paintings reflect “a sensitivity to light and a quieter voice than the noise and tumult depicted in his views of Greenwich Village.”

The first one (my favorite of the three) is an oil painting in blue, black, orange, and yellow:

Lot 22
Untitled (Abstract Composition)
(1961) Oil monotype on heavy wove paper
Photo courtesy of Swann Auction Galleries
It is signed, dated and inscribed "La ...." in ink at the lower right. No further description of the work is provided. The estimated sale price is $15,000 to $25,000.

The second and third paintings are studies in green:

Lot 129
Untitled
(1962) Gouache and watercolor on wove paper
Photo courtesy of Swann Auction Galleries

Lot 130
Untitled (Abstraction in Green)
(1964) Gouache on thick wove paper
Photo courtesy of Swann Auction Galleries
The catalog describes Lot 129 as “lush” and “atmospheric” and indicates that the painting is signed and dated in ink at the lower right. It quotes art historian Michael D. Plante as saying the following about the work: "nothing is described nor contoured; the viewer is left to be seduced by Delaney's painterly touch." The estimated sale price is $10,000 - $15,000.

The catalog description of Lot 130 is limited to the notation that the painting is signed in red ink and dated in blue ink at the lower right. The estimated sale price is $10,000 - $15,000.

The African-American Fine Art auction will be held on February 16, 2012. To find out about the buying process, visit the following page on the gallery’s Web site: http://www.swanngalleries.com/buying2.cgi.

After the auction is over, I will report on which of the abovementioned paintings sold and at what price.

Where to Find Beauford's Art: High Museum of Art

The High Museum of Art in Atlanta holds a single work by Beauford - a portrait of Richard A. Long.

Portrait of Richard A. Long

(1965) Oil on canvas

The museum's Web site has the following to say about the painting:

This quarter-length portrait of Long is painted with intense shades of yellow against a soft blue background. It is a tender portrait of a friend that illustrates both the promise of a future unfettered by racial strife and the burgeoning talent of its young subject.

Richard wrote a tribute to Beauford during the time that Les Amis de Beauford Delaney was raising money for Beauford's tombstone. Access it by clicking here.

Les Amis also recorded Richard's reminiscences on Beauford on video:

Special Video 1

Special Video 2

The High Museum of Art mounted an exposition of Beauford's works entitled Beauford Delaney: The Color Yellow, which hung at the museum from February 9 through May 5, 2002.

Catalog cover for The Color Yellow
It traveled to the Studio Museum in Harlem (July 10 - September 15, 2002), the Anacostia Museum and Center for African History and Culture at the Smithsonian Institution (October 11 - December 30, 2002), and the Fogg Art Museum at Harvard University (February 8 - May 4, 2003). The catalog for the exposition included a poem that Richard dedicated to Beauford called "Ascending."

Beauford and the Influence of Paul Cézanne

Beauford was quite interested in the modernist style of painting. He was particularly enamored of the works of Claude Monet, but also loved those of Paul Cézanne. His cityscape entitled Central Park, dated 1950, was described by art critic Mark Lane as being "like Van Gogh in brushing, but like Cézanne in fête-champêtre (garden party) spirit."

Central Park note card*
Pomegranate
According to David Leeming (Beauford's sole biographer), Beauford was encouraged by his friend Stuart Davis to study the works of Cézanne, Gauguin, Matisse, Picasso, and Van Gogh. Leeming indicates that there is a "Cézanne-like distortion of forms and perspective" in the first of Beauford's Greene Street paintings that portrays a "below-the-surface reality," and that Beauford had been deeply influenced by European painting since the 1930s - 20+ years before moving to France. Leeming found the names of Cézanne and other artists such as Renoir and Modigliani written in Beauford's sketchbook journal of the 1940s.

The Musée du Luxembourg is currently hosting an exposition of Cézanne's works called Cézanne et Paris. It was organized in collaboration with the Petit Palais in Paris, and benefits from the loan of several paintings by the Musée d'Orsay. This expo presents an excellent opportunity to view the works of an artist that heavily influenced Beauford's style and palette. It runs until February 26, 2012.

Musée du Luxembourg
Open every day
9:00 AM to 10:00 PM Friday through Monday
10:00 AM to 8:00 PM Tuesday through Thursday

Full price: 12 euros
Reduced price: 7.50 euros
Family ticket (2 adults et 2 children from 13 to 25 years of age): 31.50 euros


*Pomegranate sells a folio of ten (10) note cards bearing images of two of Beauford's paintings: Washington Square and Central Park. Find them at http://www.pomegranate.com/0873.html.

Beauford's Trustees

In January 1976, a French judge created a "trusteeship" to handle Beauford's affairs. Beauford had been admitted to Saint-Anne's, a psychiatric institution, several months before. He eventually died there.

The judge appointed seven of Beauford's closest friends as members of the panel of trustees: James Baldwin, Solange du Closel, Burt Reinfrank, Bernard Hassell, Darthea Speyer, Ahmed Bioud, and James LeGros.

Beauford created portraits of at least six of the seven trustees prior to entering Sainte-Anne's. (I have never seen or heard of a portrait of James LeGros.) I honor them on Beauford's behalf in this blog posting by presenting their portraits below.

James Baldwin
1963 Pastel on paper
National Portrait Gallery, Smithsonian Institute

Mme du Closel No. 4
1972 Pastel on paper
G. R. N'Namdi Gallery

Burton Reinfrank
1968 Oil on canvas
Image courtesy of Burton Reinfrank

Bernard Hassell
ca. 1971 Oil on canvas
Private collection

Darthea
1965 Oil on canvas
Image courtesy of Galerie Darthea Speyer

Ahmed Bioud
1964 Oil on canvas
© Estate of Beauford Delaney
Courtesy of Michael Rosenfeld Gallery, LLC, New York , NY

Fix Me Jesus: Beauford's Solace in December 1953

Happy Birthday, Beauford!
December 30, 1901

************
In December 1953, Beauford and the rest of the citizens of Paris were experiencing one of the coldest winters on record. According to David Leeming's biography entitled Amazing Grace: A Life of Beauford Delaney, Beauford tried to keep warm in his freezing room at the Hôtel des Ecoles by wrapping himself in a blanket. He wrote notes to himself to keep his inner voices of "paranoia and depression" at bay, and often copied the lyrics of blues songs and spirituals into his journal. One that he particularly favored was "Fix Me Jesus."

The video below shows two dancers from the Alvin Ailey Dance Theater in a moving interpretation of this song from the show Revelations. I think that Beauford would have loved the colors and the lighting of the set, as well as the voices that render this performance so powerful.




Happy New Year
from Les Amis de Beauford Delaney!

Where to Find Beauford's Art: Metropolitan Museum of Art

Merry Christmas
from Les Amis de Beauford Delaney!

****************
The Metropolitan Museum of Art in Manhattan holds a single work by Beauford – a portrait of Stanislas Rodanski:

Stanislas Rodanski
1963 Oil on canvas
1992.296
Beauford Delaney (1901-1979)
(c) Droits réservés
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, USA
George A. Hearn Fund, 1992

The painting is not currently on display.

The Met loaned this painting to the High Museum of Art for a solo exposition of Beauford’s work entitled The Color Yellow. The description in the catalog indicates that it is a “lively mix of complementary colors (yellow-green against red against ochre and orange paired with a hot yellow) and areas of frenetically painted dashes and daubs.”

Whether Beauford ever met Rodanski is questionable because the surrealist poet was confined to a mental institution in Lyon in 1953 – the same year that Beauford arrived in Paris. Beauford painted Rodanski’s portrait in 1963, which means that he may have relied on a photograph or other likeness of the poet, or perhaps even his memory, to create this work. The Color Yellow catalog notes that “of greater significance than the portrait’s biographical accuracy is its visual luminosity and Delaney’s successful representation of individual perception and sagacity.”

The Color Yellow exposition was shown at the High Museum of Art in Atlanta, Georgia from February 9 through May 4, 2002; the Studio Museum in Harlem, New York from July 10 through-September 15, 2002; the Anacostia Museum in Washington, D.C. from October 11 through December 30, 2002; and the Fogg Art Museum in Cambridge, Massachusetts from February 8 through May 4, 2003.

The Rodanski portrait also figured among the works displayed in the exposition called Explorations in the City of Light: African-American Artists in Paris, 1945-1965. The catalog for this show describes the portrait as follows:

In a manner similar to that applied to the subject’s colorful jacket, Mr. Rodansky’s forehead and hands have been built up with thick paint in just as many colors, and the background resembles one of the artist’s contemporaneous abstractions.

Explorations in the City of Light: African-American Artists in Paris, 1945-1965 was shown at the Studio Museum in Harlem, New York from January 18 through June 2, 1996, the Illinois: Chicago Cultural Center in Chicago, Illinois from June 29 through August 29, 1996, and the New Orleans Museum of Art in New Orleans, Louisiana from September 14 through November 10, 1996.