Beauford's 1959 Thanksgiving
Beauford was living in the Paris suburb of Clamart in 1959. His address was 68, rue Paul Vaillant Couturier.
68, rue Paul Vaillant Couturier, Clamart
© Discover Paris!
Both Beauford and his dear friend, James Baldwin, were in a fragile emotional state during the weeks and months leading up to Thanksgiving that year. Both men benefited from an elaborate Thanksgiving dinner party that Baldwin organized in Beauford's honor.
David A. Leeming, author of Amazing Grace: A Life of Beauford Delaney, says that the party was "memorable, and Beauford demonstrated his happiness by for the first time in years singing some of the old songs with Baldwin."
Fern Marja Eckman, author of The Furious Passage of James Baldwin, provides readers with greater detail. She notes that Baldwin lived "about a block away" from Beauford, in a flat located above a country restaurant. Baldwin had the owners of the restaurant, whom he called Pierrot and Pierrette, prepare the meal under his supervision. Eckman quotes one of the invitees for the evening, a Belgian writer and director named Robert Cordier, to paint a picture of the festivities:
Happy Thanksgiving weekend from Les Amis de Beauford Delaney!
© Discover Paris!
Both Beauford and his dear friend, James Baldwin, were in a fragile emotional state during the weeks and months leading up to Thanksgiving that year. Both men benefited from an elaborate Thanksgiving dinner party that Baldwin organized in Beauford's honor.
David A. Leeming, author of Amazing Grace: A Life of Beauford Delaney, says that the party was "memorable, and Beauford demonstrated his happiness by for the first time in years singing some of the old songs with Baldwin."
Fern Marja Eckman, author of The Furious Passage of James Baldwin, provides readers with greater detail. She notes that Baldwin lived "about a block away" from Beauford, in a flat located above a country restaurant. Baldwin had the owners of the restaurant, whom he called Pierrot and Pierrette, prepare the meal under his supervision. Eckman quotes one of the invitees for the evening, a Belgian writer and director named Robert Cordier, to paint a picture of the festivities:
Jimmy took over the whole restaurant for Thanksgiving ... The table was carefully arranged with autumn decorations. It was really a banquet for twenty people. Jimmy's a gourmet, a connoisseur of wine and cognac. That was a great night!
Happy Thanksgiving weekend from Les Amis de Beauford Delaney!
From Paris to Knoxville - Part 5
A couple of days before I arrived in Knoxville, I received the image below in an e-mail from Knoxville Museum of Art curator Stephen Wicks. His message said "I guess this is yet another sign that our efforts to raise Beauford's visibility here are starting to pay off."
Market House Café menu
Image courtesy of Knoxville Museum of Art
"This" refers to the handwritten menu from a Knoxville eatery called the Market House Café. If you look closely, you will see that the fourth item on the breakfast menu is the "Beaufort Delaney Abstract Strata"!
Beauford's name is misspelled "Beaufort" on the board. But it is spelled correctly on the Market House Café Web site:
Market House Café online menu
Screenshot from Market House Café Web site
On my first full day in Knoxville, I spent most of the day visiting Beauford's archives. For lunch, we ordered take-out from the Market Street Café and partook of a wide selection of items from their menu. Though breakfast was officially over, the kitchen prepared a special Beauford Delaney Abstract Strata for me. It was a frittata made of egg, bacon, spinach, tomato, and feta cheese.
Beauford Delaney Abstract Strata
© Wells International Foundation
And it was wonderful!
I spoke with Andy Pirkle, one of the kitchen managers at the Market House Café, to get more information about this dish. I learned that it is prepared as an open-faced omelet (frittata) and finished in the oven, like a strata. It is a popular item, being made with anything that is available in the kitchen on a given day. Customers enjoy the luxury of having their dish prepared to order and cooked in full view. It is therefore very unlikely that you'll have the same ingredients in your Strata from one visit to the next unless you specifically ask for them.
The Market House Café has a business model based on the strategy "Eat local, be local, and know about local" and many of its dishes are named after local celebrities. The Beauford Delaney Abstract Strata has been on the menu since the café opened on December 22, 2015. At that time, it was simply called the "Beauford Delaney Frittata."
Pirkle did not create the café's menu and was not aware that Beauford was an artist - he thought Beauford may have been in politics! When I explained that Beauford was a painter and pointed out that the menu describes the preparation of the strata as "depending on the artistic nature of the day," he immediately asked if Beauford were an abstract expressionist painter. I confirmed that he was.
Pirkle was appreciative, saying he's in the process of learning about all the people and places for which dishes on the café's menu are named. This will allow him to knowledgeably discuss the café's offerings with its clientele.
What a creative way to honor Beauford!
Market House Café
36 Market Square
Knoxville, TN 37902
Telephone: 865-444-5949
Internet: http://www.markethousecafe.com/
Read Part 1 of "From Paris to Knoxville" by clicking HERE.
Read Part 2 of "From Paris to Knoxville" by clicking HERE.
Read Part 3 of "From Paris to Knoxville" by clicking HERE.
Read Part 4 of "From Paris to Knoxville" by clicking HERE.
Image courtesy of Knoxville Museum of Art
"This" refers to the handwritten menu from a Knoxville eatery called the Market House Café. If you look closely, you will see that the fourth item on the breakfast menu is the "Beaufort Delaney Abstract Strata"!
Beauford's name is misspelled "Beaufort" on the board. But it is spelled correctly on the Market House Café Web site:
Screenshot from Market House Café Web site
On my first full day in Knoxville, I spent most of the day visiting Beauford's archives. For lunch, we ordered take-out from the Market Street Café and partook of a wide selection of items from their menu. Though breakfast was officially over, the kitchen prepared a special Beauford Delaney Abstract Strata for me. It was a frittata made of egg, bacon, spinach, tomato, and feta cheese.
© Wells International Foundation
And it was wonderful!
I spoke with Andy Pirkle, one of the kitchen managers at the Market House Café, to get more information about this dish. I learned that it is prepared as an open-faced omelet (frittata) and finished in the oven, like a strata. It is a popular item, being made with anything that is available in the kitchen on a given day. Customers enjoy the luxury of having their dish prepared to order and cooked in full view. It is therefore very unlikely that you'll have the same ingredients in your Strata from one visit to the next unless you specifically ask for them.
The Market House Café has a business model based on the strategy "Eat local, be local, and know about local" and many of its dishes are named after local celebrities. The Beauford Delaney Abstract Strata has been on the menu since the café opened on December 22, 2015. At that time, it was simply called the "Beauford Delaney Frittata."
Pirkle did not create the café's menu and was not aware that Beauford was an artist - he thought Beauford may have been in politics! When I explained that Beauford was a painter and pointed out that the menu describes the preparation of the strata as "depending on the artistic nature of the day," he immediately asked if Beauford were an abstract expressionist painter. I confirmed that he was.
Pirkle was appreciative, saying he's in the process of learning about all the people and places for which dishes on the café's menu are named. This will allow him to knowledgeably discuss the café's offerings with its clientele.
What a creative way to honor Beauford!
Market House Café
36 Market Square
Knoxville, TN 37902
Telephone: 865-444-5949
Internet: http://www.markethousecafe.com/
Read Part 1 of "From Paris to Knoxville" by clicking HERE.
Read Part 2 of "From Paris to Knoxville" by clicking HERE.
Read Part 3 of "From Paris to Knoxville" by clicking HERE.
Read Part 4 of "From Paris to Knoxville" by clicking HERE.
From Paris to Knoxville - Part 4
Thursday, October 20 was the biggest day of my trip to Knoxville.
That morning, I visited the L&N STEM Academy, a magnet high school in the Knox County School system that focuses on the disciplines of science, technology, engineering, and math. It provides an integrated curriculum and project-based instruction.
L&N STEM Academy
© Wells International Foundation
Even though the name implies that the arts are not a focus of the curriculum, I found that L&N has a marvelous and robust arts program!
Students work on self-portraits at L&N STEM Academy
© Wells International Foundation
I was given a tour by London, a brilliant student who wants to specialize in graphic design. He perfectly articulated why arts are so important for STEM activities - they encourage the creativity and innovation required for scientific discovery and invention.
London, a student at L&N STEM Academy
© Wells International Foundation
I then sat down with a staff member to learn about the curriculum and the school's ranking in the Tennessee education system (6th in the entire state.)
If you're wondering why I chose to visit a STEM school as part of this trip, let me inform (or remind) you that the Global Educator Program that was held during the Paris exhibition was all about STEAM (science, technology, engineering, arts, and mathematics) education. A similar program will be organized at the Knoxville Museum of Art (KMA) when the exhibition comes to Knoxville in 2018.
After a strategy-planning lunch with KMA Executive Director David Butler, Link Sylvia Peters, and attorney Melinda Meador (all of whom came to Paris for the opening of Resonance of Form and Vibration of Color), I was taken to City Hall to meet Knoxville's mayor!
The Honorable Madeline Rogero and Senior Director of Community Development Avice Reid welcomed us to the mayor's spacious suite of offices and listened to Executive Director Butler, Link Peters, and me tell the story of our passion for Beauford and why making Knoxville a resource center for him is in everyone's best interest. From the point of view of tourism, scholarship, and historical preservation, we all agreed that Knoxville should be an essential destination for anyone wanting to learn about Beauford.
From left to right: Avice Reid, Monique Y. Wells,
Mayor Madeline Rogero, Sylvia Peters, David Butler
© Wells International Foundation
The final event of the day was my presentation on Beauford's Paris at the Knoxville Museum of Art. The evening was entitled "From Paris to Knoxville" and KMA's auditorium was filled with people who were anxious to see images of several of Beauford's Paris haunts.
Stephen Wicks, Barbara W. and Bernard E. Bernstein Curator for the museum, served as MC for the evening.
Stephen Wicks, Barbara W. and Bernard E. Bernstein Curator
Knoxville Museum of Art
© Wells International Foundation
Beck Cultural Exchange Center's CEO, Reneé Kesler, addressed the audience to share why preserving the Delaney family home is so important to the history of Knoxville.
Reneé Kesler, CEO of Beck Cultural Exchange Center
© Wells International Foundation
Then I delivered my presentation.
Monique delivering presentation "From Paris to Beyond"
© Wells International Foundation
To close the evening, Knoxville Links Chapter President Avice Reid told the audience how the chapter intends to support the initiative by raising funds to bring Resonance of Form and Vibration of Color to KMA. She presented Executive Director Butler with a $5000 down payment on the monies they intend to raise.
Presenting the check
© Wells International Foundation
All in all, tremendous momentum has been created for the Beauford Delaney in America initiative!
Next week: Beauford on the menu.
Read Part 1 of "From Paris to Knoxville" by clicking HERE.
Read Part 2 of "From Paris to Knoxville" by clicking HERE.
Read Part 3 of "From Paris to Knoxville" by clicking HERE.
That morning, I visited the L&N STEM Academy, a magnet high school in the Knox County School system that focuses on the disciplines of science, technology, engineering, and math. It provides an integrated curriculum and project-based instruction.
© Wells International Foundation
Even though the name implies that the arts are not a focus of the curriculum, I found that L&N has a marvelous and robust arts program!
© Wells International Foundation
I was given a tour by London, a brilliant student who wants to specialize in graphic design. He perfectly articulated why arts are so important for STEM activities - they encourage the creativity and innovation required for scientific discovery and invention.
© Wells International Foundation
I then sat down with a staff member to learn about the curriculum and the school's ranking in the Tennessee education system (6th in the entire state.)
If you're wondering why I chose to visit a STEM school as part of this trip, let me inform (or remind) you that the Global Educator Program that was held during the Paris exhibition was all about STEAM (science, technology, engineering, arts, and mathematics) education. A similar program will be organized at the Knoxville Museum of Art (KMA) when the exhibition comes to Knoxville in 2018.
After a strategy-planning lunch with KMA Executive Director David Butler, Link Sylvia Peters, and attorney Melinda Meador (all of whom came to Paris for the opening of Resonance of Form and Vibration of Color), I was taken to City Hall to meet Knoxville's mayor!
The Honorable Madeline Rogero and Senior Director of Community Development Avice Reid welcomed us to the mayor's spacious suite of offices and listened to Executive Director Butler, Link Peters, and me tell the story of our passion for Beauford and why making Knoxville a resource center for him is in everyone's best interest. From the point of view of tourism, scholarship, and historical preservation, we all agreed that Knoxville should be an essential destination for anyone wanting to learn about Beauford.
Mayor Madeline Rogero, Sylvia Peters, David Butler
© Wells International Foundation
The final event of the day was my presentation on Beauford's Paris at the Knoxville Museum of Art. The evening was entitled "From Paris to Knoxville" and KMA's auditorium was filled with people who were anxious to see images of several of Beauford's Paris haunts.
Stephen Wicks, Barbara W. and Bernard E. Bernstein Curator for the museum, served as MC for the evening.
Knoxville Museum of Art
© Wells International Foundation
Beck Cultural Exchange Center's CEO, Reneé Kesler, addressed the audience to share why preserving the Delaney family home is so important to the history of Knoxville.
© Wells International Foundation
Then I delivered my presentation.
© Wells International Foundation
To close the evening, Knoxville Links Chapter President Avice Reid told the audience how the chapter intends to support the initiative by raising funds to bring Resonance of Form and Vibration of Color to KMA. She presented Executive Director Butler with a $5000 down payment on the monies they intend to raise.
© Wells International Foundation
All in all, tremendous momentum has been created for the Beauford Delaney in America initiative!
Next week: Beauford on the menu.
Read Part 1 of "From Paris to Knoxville" by clicking HERE.
Read Part 2 of "From Paris to Knoxville" by clicking HERE.
Read Part 3 of "From Paris to Knoxville" by clicking HERE.
From Paris to Knoxville - Part 3
After my visit to the Beck Cultural Exchange Center, I had lunch with the docents at the Knoxville Museum of Art. Over soup, sandwiches, and iced tea, I spoke with them about my "Beauford Delaney journey" - beginning with the story of the tombstone. They eagerly posed question after question about Beauford's life and work and I responded just as eagerly. By the time lunch was ending, the room was abuzz with talk of planning a KMA docent trip to Paris!
KMA Docent Lunch
© Wells International Foundation
That afternoon, Link Sylvia Peters and I went to the East Tennessee History Center. This magnificent building houses the Museum of East Tennessee History, the McClung Historical Collection (the genealogy and history research branch of the Knox County Public Library), and the Knox County archives. Steve Cotham, manager of the historical collection, gave us the grand tour of the facility. He shared information about not only the content of the museum exhibitions and the library stacks, but also anecdotes about the history and architecture of the building itself. He explained that the History Center wants to become the permanent home of the Beauford Delaney archives in Knoxville.
East Tennessee History Center
© Wells International Foundation
That evening, I was honored to attend a dinner at the home of Patricia and Alan Rutenberg. Invitees included several persons who visited Paris for the opening of Resonance of Form and Vibration of Color in February; members of the Knoxville chapter of The Links, Incorporated - including Chapter President Avice Reid, who serves as Senior Director of Community Relations for the Knoxville mayor's office; and educators from Knoxville schools. Once again, I shared my "Beauford Delaney journey" and responded to questions from the guests. Several of the attendees told me that they planned to attend the presentation that I was scheduled to give at the Knoxville Museum of Art the following evening.
Monique (seated, third from left) and Knoxville Links
© Wells International Foundation
Next week: the KMA presentation.
Read Part 1 of "From Paris to Knoxville" by clicking HERE.
Read Part 2 of "From Paris to Knoxville" by clicking HERE.
© Wells International Foundation
That afternoon, Link Sylvia Peters and I went to the East Tennessee History Center. This magnificent building houses the Museum of East Tennessee History, the McClung Historical Collection (the genealogy and history research branch of the Knox County Public Library), and the Knox County archives. Steve Cotham, manager of the historical collection, gave us the grand tour of the facility. He shared information about not only the content of the museum exhibitions and the library stacks, but also anecdotes about the history and architecture of the building itself. He explained that the History Center wants to become the permanent home of the Beauford Delaney archives in Knoxville.
© Wells International Foundation
That evening, I was honored to attend a dinner at the home of Patricia and Alan Rutenberg. Invitees included several persons who visited Paris for the opening of Resonance of Form and Vibration of Color in February; members of the Knoxville chapter of The Links, Incorporated - including Chapter President Avice Reid, who serves as Senior Director of Community Relations for the Knoxville mayor's office; and educators from Knoxville schools. Once again, I shared my "Beauford Delaney journey" and responded to questions from the guests. Several of the attendees told me that they planned to attend the presentation that I was scheduled to give at the Knoxville Museum of Art the following evening.
© Wells International Foundation
Next week: the KMA presentation.
Read Part 1 of "From Paris to Knoxville" by clicking HERE.
Read Part 2 of "From Paris to Knoxville" by clicking HERE.
From Paris to Knoxville - Part 2
An important part of my visit to Knoxville was having the occasion to visit places important to Beauford's life there.
I had long since learned that the original family home at 815 East Vine Street had been destroyed and that the Delaneys moved to a house on Dandridge Avenue.
What I didn't know was why the original home was destroyed. I learned all about this through a visit to the Beck Cultural Exchange Center.
Beck Cultural Exchange Center (rear)
© Wells International Foundation
Beck's president and CEO, Rev. Reneé Kesler, welcomed Link Sylvia Peters (my gracious hostess for this trip) and me to the Center on Wednesday morning. Rev. Kesler explained how the process of urban renewal, also known as "urban removal," decimated the geographical area occupied by African Americans in Knoxville from 1959 to 1974. The original Delaney home disappeared along with hundreds of others, as did the Delaney barbershop, which was run by Beauford's older brother, Emery. It was located in the front room of the Vine Street house.
The urban renewal of Knoxville is featured in one of several permanent exhibitions at the Center.
"Urban Removal" in Knoxville
Image from Beck Cultural Center Web site
Rev. Kesler gave us a complete tour of the Center, including "The Gallery," where several works of art are displayed. Many of these were created by Beauford's brother, Joseph. There is also a portrait of Beauford in that room, inspired by the first meeting for the Beauford Delaney in America project that took place at Beck on June 2, 2016.
Portrait of Beauford Delaney
Daniel Craft
(2016) Acrylic on canvas
© Wells International Foundation
We then went next door, where it just so happens that the "new" Delaney home is located. The family relocated there at some point between 1964 and 1969 and resided there when Beauford returned to Knoxville for a Christmas visit in 1969. Beck currently owns this property and is making plans to restore it.
Delaney home on Dandridge Avenue
© Wells International Foundation
Rear of Delaney homestead (left) viewed from Beck Center
© Wells International Foundation
The family's place of worship - the Lennon-Seney United Methodist Church - is located just a block down the street. Unfortunately, we did not have time to visit it.
I found the Beck Cultural Exchange Center to be a treasure trove of information and artifacts that preserves the legacy of Knoxville's African-American community. It is well positioned for the vital role it will play in the Beauford Delaney in America initiative.
Beck is a Charter Member of the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture.
Beck Cultural Exchange Center
1927 Dandridge Avenue
Knoxville, TN 37915
Telephone: (865)524-8461
Internet: http://www.beckcenter.net/
Beck Cultural Exchange Center sign
© Wells International Foundation
Read Part 1 of "From Paris to Knoxville" by clicking HERE.
I had long since learned that the original family home at 815 East Vine Street had been destroyed and that the Delaneys moved to a house on Dandridge Avenue.
What I didn't know was why the original home was destroyed. I learned all about this through a visit to the Beck Cultural Exchange Center.
© Wells International Foundation
Beck's president and CEO, Rev. Reneé Kesler, welcomed Link Sylvia Peters (my gracious hostess for this trip) and me to the Center on Wednesday morning. Rev. Kesler explained how the process of urban renewal, also known as "urban removal," decimated the geographical area occupied by African Americans in Knoxville from 1959 to 1974. The original Delaney home disappeared along with hundreds of others, as did the Delaney barbershop, which was run by Beauford's older brother, Emery. It was located in the front room of the Vine Street house.
The urban renewal of Knoxville is featured in one of several permanent exhibitions at the Center.
Image from Beck Cultural Center Web site
Rev. Kesler gave us a complete tour of the Center, including "The Gallery," where several works of art are displayed. Many of these were created by Beauford's brother, Joseph. There is also a portrait of Beauford in that room, inspired by the first meeting for the Beauford Delaney in America project that took place at Beck on June 2, 2016.
Daniel Craft
(2016) Acrylic on canvas
© Wells International Foundation
We then went next door, where it just so happens that the "new" Delaney home is located. The family relocated there at some point between 1964 and 1969 and resided there when Beauford returned to Knoxville for a Christmas visit in 1969. Beck currently owns this property and is making plans to restore it.
© Wells International Foundation
© Wells International Foundation
The family's place of worship - the Lennon-Seney United Methodist Church - is located just a block down the street. Unfortunately, we did not have time to visit it.
I found the Beck Cultural Exchange Center to be a treasure trove of information and artifacts that preserves the legacy of Knoxville's African-American community. It is well positioned for the vital role it will play in the Beauford Delaney in America initiative.
Beck is a Charter Member of the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture.
Beck Cultural Exchange Center
1927 Dandridge Avenue
Knoxville, TN 37915
Telephone: (865)524-8461
Internet: http://www.beckcenter.net/
© Wells International Foundation
Read Part 1 of "From Paris to Knoxville" by clicking HERE.
From Paris to Knoxville - Part 1
I took my first trip to Beauford's hometown of Knoxville, Tennessee this week. What a great pleasure to visit this beautiful city, where Beauford was born and made his first strides as an artist!
I spent much of the first two days of my visit at the Knoxville Museum of Art (KMA).
Knoxville Museum of Art
© Discover Paris!
Here, I was thrilled to be able to stand before the three Beauford Delaney paintings* that are on permanent display in KMA's Higher Ground exhibition. Higher Ground showcases some of the best works by East Tennessee artists, including Beauford's first mentor, Lloyd Branson.
Portrait of Delia Delaney
(1933) Pastel on paper
© Estate of Beauford Delaney
by permission of Derek L. Spratley, Esquire,
Court Appointed Administrator
Dante Pavone as Christ
(1948) Pastel on paper
© Estate of Beauford Delaney
by permission of Derek L. Spratley, Esquire,
Court Appointed Administrator
Scattered Light
(1964) Oil on canvas
© Estate of Beauford Delaney
by permission of Derek L. Spratley, Esquire,
Court Appointed Administrator
I also had the pleasure of meeting Derek L. Spratley, Esquire, the attorney who represents Beauford's estate. He graciously granted me access to Beauford's archives.
Derek Spratley and Monique Wells
© Discover Paris!
I saw countless photos, several paintings and works on paper, and a mere fraction of the documents that cast light upon the minute details of Beauford's life. There wasn't nearly enough time to go through the entire archive, so I definitely plan to return.
The week's activities included visits to the Beck Cultural Exchange Center, the East Tennessee History Center, the office of Mayor Madeline Rogero, and the L&N Stem Academy. It culminated with the kickoff event for the initiative to bring the Resonance of Form and Vibration of Color exhibition to KMA as part of a larger movement to raise Knoxville's awareness of Beauford and to honor him there.
Look for more details in the next Les Amis blog post.
*Click HERE for details about Portrait of Delia Delaney and Dante Pavone as Christ. Click HERE for details about Scattered Light.
I spent much of the first two days of my visit at the Knoxville Museum of Art (KMA).
© Discover Paris!
Here, I was thrilled to be able to stand before the three Beauford Delaney paintings* that are on permanent display in KMA's Higher Ground exhibition. Higher Ground showcases some of the best works by East Tennessee artists, including Beauford's first mentor, Lloyd Branson.
(1933) Pastel on paper
© Estate of Beauford Delaney
by permission of Derek L. Spratley, Esquire,
Court Appointed Administrator
(1948) Pastel on paper
© Estate of Beauford Delaney
by permission of Derek L. Spratley, Esquire,
Court Appointed Administrator
(1964) Oil on canvas
© Estate of Beauford Delaney
by permission of Derek L. Spratley, Esquire,
Court Appointed Administrator
I also had the pleasure of meeting Derek L. Spratley, Esquire, the attorney who represents Beauford's estate. He graciously granted me access to Beauford's archives.
© Discover Paris!
I saw countless photos, several paintings and works on paper, and a mere fraction of the documents that cast light upon the minute details of Beauford's life. There wasn't nearly enough time to go through the entire archive, so I definitely plan to return.
The week's activities included visits to the Beck Cultural Exchange Center, the East Tennessee History Center, the office of Mayor Madeline Rogero, and the L&N Stem Academy. It culminated with the kickoff event for the initiative to bring the Resonance of Form and Vibration of Color exhibition to KMA as part of a larger movement to raise Knoxville's awareness of Beauford and to honor him there.
Look for more details in the next Les Amis blog post.
*Click HERE for details about Portrait of Delia Delaney and Dante Pavone as Christ. Click HERE for details about Scattered Light.
Amaranth Ehrenhalt Remembers Beauford
I do not know if i "want to paint" or do not "want to paint". It is just something that I do - like breathing and moving, walking and talking. I can not imagine my life without it.
-- Amaranth Ehrenhalt
This quote can be found on the Web site of Amaranth Ehrenhalt - painter, sculptor, photographer, and tapistry maker. Ehrenhalt is a seasoned, yet contemporary artist whose works were recently on display in the Works in Progress exhibition at Lawrence Art Gallery. Her description of herself could just as easily be ascribed to Beauford.
"Amara" graciously responded to my request for an interview. She told me that she met Beauford some time around the late 50's - early 60's at a cafe, especially known by artists and writers, possibly Le Select. She was living and working in Paris at the time and did not know anything about him prior to that meeting. She and Beauford participated in exhibitions from time to time and had a friend in common - painter and writer Arlene Hiquily.
© Discover Paris!
Amara's most vivid memory of Beauford is of seeing him at the Select, when he came over to the table where she was sitting with others and helped himself to any of the drinks that were unfinished. She said "this was tolerated with amusement because he was such a fine and serious artist."
SOLD: Untitled (Portrait of a Young Man)
Beauford's Untitled (Portrait of a Young Man) (Lot 21) sold at Swann Auction Galleries' autumn African-American Fine Art sale on Thursday, October 6, 2016.
Untitled (Portrait of a Young Man)
(circa 1930-35) Color pastels and charcoal on
gray, textured wove paper
597x445 mm; 23x17 1/2 inches
Signed in charcoal at lower left
Image courtesy of Swann Auction Galleries
© Estate of Beauford Delaney
by permission of Derek L. Spratley, Esquire,
Court Appointed Administrator
The purchase price was $5000 (buyer's premium included).
Beauford created a niche for himself during his early years in New York by painting pastel and charcoal portraits. He began at Billy Pierce's Dancing School, applying the skills that he learned at the schools he attended in Boston. Untitled (Portrait of a Young Man) is representative of this period of Beauford's career.
(circa 1930-35) Color pastels and charcoal on
gray, textured wove paper
597x445 mm; 23x17 1/2 inches
Signed in charcoal at lower left
Image courtesy of Swann Auction Galleries
© Estate of Beauford Delaney
by permission of Derek L. Spratley, Esquire,
Court Appointed Administrator
The purchase price was $5000 (buyer's premium included).
Beauford created a niche for himself during his early years in New York by painting pastel and charcoal portraits. He began at Billy Pierce's Dancing School, applying the skills that he learned at the schools he attended in Boston. Untitled (Portrait of a Young Man) is representative of this period of Beauford's career.
Beauford at Swann Auction Galleries: October 2016 Sale
Swann Auction Galleries is having its autumn sale of African-American Fine Art at 2:30 PM on Thursday, October 6, 2016.
Beauford's Untitled (Portrait of a Young Man) (Lot 21) is available for purchase at this sale.
Untitled (Portrait of a Young Man)
(circa 1930-35) Color pastels and charcoal on
gray, textured wove paper
597x445 mm; 23x17 1/2 inches
Image courtesy of Swann Auction Galleries
© Estate of Beauford Delaney
by permission of Derek L. Spratley, Esquire,
Court Appointed Administrator
It is signed in charcoal at the lower left.
This portrait is an early work of Beauford, likely made soon after he moved from Knoxville to New York City. It is currently part of a private collection; the owner obtained the work from Beauford's brother, Joseph. Its estimated value is $6,000 - $9,000.
Preview dates for the show are as follows: Saturday, October 1 from 12 PM - 5 PM; Monday, October 3 from 3 PM - 5 PM; and Thursday, October 6 from 10 AM - noon.
For more information, contact Nigel Freeman at
.
Beauford's Untitled (Portrait of a Young Man) (Lot 21) is available for purchase at this sale.
(circa 1930-35) Color pastels and charcoal on
gray, textured wove paper
597x445 mm; 23x17 1/2 inches
Image courtesy of Swann Auction Galleries
© Estate of Beauford Delaney
by permission of Derek L. Spratley, Esquire,
Court Appointed Administrator
It is signed in charcoal at the lower left.
This portrait is an early work of Beauford, likely made soon after he moved from Knoxville to New York City. It is currently part of a private collection; the owner obtained the work from Beauford's brother, Joseph. Its estimated value is $6,000 - $9,000.
Preview dates for the show are as follows: Saturday, October 1 from 12 PM - 5 PM; Monday, October 3 from 3 PM - 5 PM; and Thursday, October 6 from 10 AM - noon.
For more information, contact Nigel Freeman at
.
Beauford's Paris: Saint Anne's Hospital - Part 3
Beauford's friend, Jean-Loup Msika, recently shared with me information about the whereabouts of Beauford's room at Saint Anne's Hospital in Paris' 14th arrondissement. We had hoped to visit the location together, but massive renovation is currently underway in that area of the hospital grounds.
Msika provided me with a map of the grounds and showed me where Beauford's room was located. It was in a building in the southeast corner of the property (see the red circle on the map below).
Map of Saint Anne's Hospital (2012)
Here are photos of the façades of Pavillon Benjamin Ball and Pavillon Piera Aulagnier, the two buildings that create a boundary of sorts for the area where Beauford stayed. I took these pictures during a visit to the hospital in March 2014. Construction had already begun in the Ball Pavilion.
Pavillon Benjamin Ball
© Discover Paris!
Pavillon Piera Aulagnier
© Discover Paris!
Msika told me that Beauford shared a room with several other patients. There was a glass door that led to a garden where patients could go at will. It was in this area that the famous photograph of Beauford and James Baldwin was taken.
Beauford and Baldwin, 1976
Photo by Max Petrus
Click on the links below to read the first two posts about Saint Anne's Hospital:
Beauford's Paris: Saint Anne's Hospital - Part 1
Beauford's Paris: Saint Anne's Hospital - Part 2
Msika provided me with a map of the grounds and showed me where Beauford's room was located. It was in a building in the southeast corner of the property (see the red circle on the map below).
Here are photos of the façades of Pavillon Benjamin Ball and Pavillon Piera Aulagnier, the two buildings that create a boundary of sorts for the area where Beauford stayed. I took these pictures during a visit to the hospital in March 2014. Construction had already begun in the Ball Pavilion.
© Discover Paris!
© Discover Paris!
Msika told me that Beauford shared a room with several other patients. There was a glass door that led to a garden where patients could go at will. It was in this area that the famous photograph of Beauford and James Baldwin was taken.
Photo by Max Petrus
Click on the links below to read the first two posts about Saint Anne's Hospital:
Beauford's Paris: Saint Anne's Hospital - Part 1
Beauford's Paris: Saint Anne's Hospital - Part 2
Beauford and Palmer Hayden
Beauford met Palmer Hayden during his early New York years. They, along with painters Ellis Wilson and Joseph Delaney (Beauford's brother) formed a group called "The Saints."
Beauford and Hayden became lifelong friends. It was Hayden who first gave Beauford the idea to travel to France.
The photograph below was taken at Washington Square in New York City, a location where outdoor art fairs were held for several years.
Photo from the National Archives, Harmon Collection
Thanks to a tip from friend and colleague Michele Simms-Burton, I am able to share a silent video clip during which you can see Beauford and Hayden at this very scene! In the still frame for the video, you can see Beauford walking toward Hayden as Hayden sits at his easel.
Click on the image below to watch the 1:25 minute segment, which is part of a longer video called "A Study of Negro Artists (1936)." Beauford appears for a few seconds beginning at 0:50 seconds into the clip.
Beauford's Story Featured in the New York Times
Several months ago, through an introduction by global connector and Renaissance woman, Silver Wainhouse, I met journalist Jake Cigainero. The three of us sat at one of my favorite Paris meeting places and chatted for what seemed to be hours about why I am so passionate about Beauford Delaney. I told him about the grave site project, the Beauford Delaney: Resonance of Form and Vibration of Color , the fact that eleven persons from Beauford's home town came to the opening of the show, and much more.
When we parted, Jake told me he thought the story would be of interest to the New York Times. He said he'd pitch it and keep me posted.
In late July, I took Silver and Jake on the "Beauford Delaney's Montparnasse" walk that I created for the Paris exhibition. Jake confirmed that the Times was indeed interested in the story and told me that he would interview many others to write it. He would subsequently call me twice for fact-checking sessions regarding what I shared in our initial meeting as well as during the walk, which I greatly appreciated!
On August 6, I published a blog post about the Beauford Delaney in America initiative that would revive Beauford's legacy in his home town of Knoxville, TN.
On September 8, the New York Times published an article that picked up the thread of that post. I was thrilled to discover just how many people Jake interviewed and the research he conducted to write this expansive and thorough piece about Beauford's life and legacy.
Read the article here:
Beauford Delaney Returns to the Scene
The same day this article appeared, I booked a round-trip ticket to Knoxville so I can attend October events that will spearhead the fundraising campaign to bring Resonance of Form and Vibration of Color to the Knoxville Museum of Art.
Knoxville Museum of Art
I'm looking forward to seeing KMA's collection of Beauford's work as well as visiting his archives and seeing his hometown for the first time!
When we parted, Jake told me he thought the story would be of interest to the New York Times. He said he'd pitch it and keep me posted.
In late July, I took Silver and Jake on the "Beauford Delaney's Montparnasse" walk that I created for the Paris exhibition. Jake confirmed that the Times was indeed interested in the story and told me that he would interview many others to write it. He would subsequently call me twice for fact-checking sessions regarding what I shared in our initial meeting as well as during the walk, which I greatly appreciated!
On August 6, I published a blog post about the Beauford Delaney in America initiative that would revive Beauford's legacy in his home town of Knoxville, TN.
On September 8, the New York Times published an article that picked up the thread of that post. I was thrilled to discover just how many people Jake interviewed and the research he conducted to write this expansive and thorough piece about Beauford's life and legacy.
Read the article here:
Beauford Delaney Returns to the Scene
The same day this article appeared, I booked a round-trip ticket to Knoxville so I can attend October events that will spearhead the fundraising campaign to bring Resonance of Form and Vibration of Color to the Knoxville Museum of Art.
I'm looking forward to seeing KMA's collection of Beauford's work as well as visiting his archives and seeing his hometown for the first time!
Mailing List: Resonance of Form and Vibration of Color Traveling Exhibition
Centre Georges Pompidou -- Paris, France
© Estate of Beauford Delaney by permission of Derek L. Spratley, Esquire, Court Appointed Administrator
Image by Discover Paris!
After a spectacular run at Reid Hall, Columbia Global Centers | Paris, the Wells International Foundation and Les Amis are taking Beauford Delaney: Resonance of Form and Vibration of Color to museums in the U.S. and Europe. Sign up below to get the latest news on where the show will travel!
BEAUFORD DELANEY:
Resonance of Form and
Vibration of Color
Sign up below to get weekly updates on the show!
A New Sight: Light & the Color Yellow in Beauford Delaney’s Portraits
By Sojourner Ahébée
What becomes immediately apparent about Beauford Delaney’s paintings is his obsession with light. Delaney often used the color yellow in his work as an expression of this light. Though yellow is present in many of his abstracts, his use of the color in his portraits serves as a fascinating dimension of what I would call a kind of second sight -- his ability to see those he painted beyond their physical presentation and to capture the energy, love, or brilliance they brought into the world.
If we are to talk about the intersection of light and the color yellow in Delaney’s portraits, we must also think about the trajectory of his portraits throughout his lifetime. As I was digging into his past, I encountered an intriguing work that he painted of a young woman in 1934.
Untitled (Portrait of a Young Woman)
(1934) Color pastels
Private collection
© Estate of Beauford Delaney
by permission of Derek L. Spratley, Esquire,
Court Appointed Administrator
A previous Les Amis de Beauford Delaney blog post on Delaney’s portraiture presents readers with a quote by Dr. Catherine St. John:
What struck me the most about Delaney’s 1934 portrait of the young woman was its staggering realism. It is so detail-focused that it almost feels like looking at a photograph. The shadows falling on the woman’s face, her slightly disproportionate eyes, and the precision of the strands of hair at the top of her head all work to tell what Dr. St. John has identified as a “human story.”
Delaney’s mastery of such realism is simply a testament to the commitment he had to accurately capturing the likeness of his subjects. Every feature of the woman -- from the muscle on the left side of her neck to the subtle rouge in her cheeks -- is accounted for. Though this portrait has no trace of Delaney’s legendary yellow, it does play with light and darkness in interesting ways.
Yet, Delaney moved away from such realism in his later portraits. I wonder if this is indicative of the shortcomings of “primary” sight.
As Delaney experimented with other modes of portraiture, I think he realized that telling a person’s story demanded much more than replicating their features on the canvas. Maybe the painter asked himself to re-imagine a visual language for expressing who a person was (and what they offered the world) that was not wholly dependent on a literal or unembellished presentation of their physical countenance. Which only means he was looking for a figurative mode of storytelling.
And he certainly found one. Consider his 1968 portrait of Ella Fitzgerald.
Ella Fitzgerald
(1968) Oil on canvas
The Walter O. Evans Collection of African American Art
© Estate of Beauford Delaney
by permission of Derek L. Spratley, Esquire,
Court Appointed Administrator
Here, the Queen of Jazz is shrouded in a misty yellow hue. Her head is the only part of her body that is identifiable, and even that is cloaked in Delaney’s remarkable yellow. Unlike the portrait of the young woman, this painting does not place great urgency on explicit and unambiguous details of the human body.
It would have been easy for Delaney to create a standard portrait of Lady Ella, but that would have been an incomplete rendering of the power and the light she made possible through her voice and her music. Think “Summertime” or “Cry Me a River”: Fitzgerald’s voice exists between a tender space and one ravaged by fire and uproar. She can sing sweetly as she drags out a note, but she can just as quickly disrupt that serenity with a booming moan. Regardless of what she sings and how, she illuminates some of the most human elements of waking life: love, heartbreak, desire. The way in which the yellow dominates the painting, almost like the way light pushes itself into a dark room to illuminate it, is just the way Fitzgerald’s voice moves into the ears and hearts of her listeners.
I think it is this dynamism of Fitzgerald’s voice and message that Delaney wished to capture in his painting of her. His use of the color yellow is not solely about an obsession with light, but also an opportunity to look into the internal landscape of a person, and he takes full advantage of this opportunity with Ella.
As Delaney continued to envelop his portraits in yellow hues, I think he was searching for a new sight. He was asking himself what of people is there to see and how could he make visible the most precious parts of their soul.
************
Sojourner Ahébée is a 2016 BOSP Continuation International Fellow for the Haas Center for Public Service at Stanford University. She is currently serving as the Paris intern for the Wells International Foundation.
Read more of Sojourner's work at Sojourner Ahébée.
What becomes immediately apparent about Beauford Delaney’s paintings is his obsession with light. Delaney often used the color yellow in his work as an expression of this light. Though yellow is present in many of his abstracts, his use of the color in his portraits serves as a fascinating dimension of what I would call a kind of second sight -- his ability to see those he painted beyond their physical presentation and to capture the energy, love, or brilliance they brought into the world.
If we are to talk about the intersection of light and the color yellow in Delaney’s portraits, we must also think about the trajectory of his portraits throughout his lifetime. As I was digging into his past, I encountered an intriguing work that he painted of a young woman in 1934.
(1934) Color pastels
Private collection
© Estate of Beauford Delaney
by permission of Derek L. Spratley, Esquire,
Court Appointed Administrator
A previous Les Amis de Beauford Delaney blog post on Delaney’s portraiture presents readers with a quote by Dr. Catherine St. John:
It is the expressive single-figure realist portrait that first brought Beauford Delaney critical notice and a measure of success. He loved people. He continued the art of portraiture without interruption throughout his career. His portraits tell a story that is human and real, saying as much about him as those he painted.
What struck me the most about Delaney’s 1934 portrait of the young woman was its staggering realism. It is so detail-focused that it almost feels like looking at a photograph. The shadows falling on the woman’s face, her slightly disproportionate eyes, and the precision of the strands of hair at the top of her head all work to tell what Dr. St. John has identified as a “human story.”
Delaney’s mastery of such realism is simply a testament to the commitment he had to accurately capturing the likeness of his subjects. Every feature of the woman -- from the muscle on the left side of her neck to the subtle rouge in her cheeks -- is accounted for. Though this portrait has no trace of Delaney’s legendary yellow, it does play with light and darkness in interesting ways.
Yet, Delaney moved away from such realism in his later portraits. I wonder if this is indicative of the shortcomings of “primary” sight.
As Delaney experimented with other modes of portraiture, I think he realized that telling a person’s story demanded much more than replicating their features on the canvas. Maybe the painter asked himself to re-imagine a visual language for expressing who a person was (and what they offered the world) that was not wholly dependent on a literal or unembellished presentation of their physical countenance. Which only means he was looking for a figurative mode of storytelling.
And he certainly found one. Consider his 1968 portrait of Ella Fitzgerald.
(1968) Oil on canvas
The Walter O. Evans Collection of African American Art
© Estate of Beauford Delaney
by permission of Derek L. Spratley, Esquire,
Court Appointed Administrator
Here, the Queen of Jazz is shrouded in a misty yellow hue. Her head is the only part of her body that is identifiable, and even that is cloaked in Delaney’s remarkable yellow. Unlike the portrait of the young woman, this painting does not place great urgency on explicit and unambiguous details of the human body.
It would have been easy for Delaney to create a standard portrait of Lady Ella, but that would have been an incomplete rendering of the power and the light she made possible through her voice and her music. Think “Summertime” or “Cry Me a River”: Fitzgerald’s voice exists between a tender space and one ravaged by fire and uproar. She can sing sweetly as she drags out a note, but she can just as quickly disrupt that serenity with a booming moan. Regardless of what she sings and how, she illuminates some of the most human elements of waking life: love, heartbreak, desire. The way in which the yellow dominates the painting, almost like the way light pushes itself into a dark room to illuminate it, is just the way Fitzgerald’s voice moves into the ears and hearts of her listeners.
I think it is this dynamism of Fitzgerald’s voice and message that Delaney wished to capture in his painting of her. His use of the color yellow is not solely about an obsession with light, but also an opportunity to look into the internal landscape of a person, and he takes full advantage of this opportunity with Ella.
As Delaney continued to envelop his portraits in yellow hues, I think he was searching for a new sight. He was asking himself what of people is there to see and how could he make visible the most precious parts of their soul.
Sojourner Ahébée is a 2016 BOSP Continuation International Fellow for the Haas Center for Public Service at Stanford University. She is currently serving as the Paris intern for the Wells International Foundation.
Read more of Sojourner's work at Sojourner Ahébée.
Woman in an Abstract Field - After Beauford Delaney
By Sojourner Ahébée
A rising junior at Stanford University, Sojourner Ahébée is an award-winning poet. I asked her to write a poem about a Beauford Delaney work that she found particularly inspiring. "Woman in an Abstract Field - After Beauford Delaney" is the result.
Untitled (Woman in an Abstract Field)
(1966) Oil monotype, with hand-painted additions in oil,
on cream wove paper
Image courtesy of Swann Auction Galleries
© Estate of Beauford Delaney
by permission of Derek L. Spratley, Esquire,
Court Appointed Administrator
field
which is to say open hole where the light fell in
in other words, let us lose our hands here
let us always be what grows --
the sunflower, the pink hands of the hibiscus --
they say field could also mean
carried out in the natural environment,
rather than in a laboratory
which is to say you were a field this morning when the Black woman tapped your back and you didn’t flinch
not from the touch, not from the small request of a few coins as Guadeloupe bloomed off her tongue
though someone who loved you a lot once said don’t stop for anyone in this city…
that’s an invitation
sometimes a field comes with the intent to kill,
Blossoming yellow all over your face and nose
In other words, field artillery is made light as a brush stroke
like there are days you are a woman in a field, a woman walking through a weapon --
perhaps a field of gas
You close your eyes in the heat of the hammam one morning
a woman is rubbing lavender oil down your back
She has just called you out of your name
ma belle, she said
who was this woman you did not know,
who called you beauty with all the intention in her voice
as she slid the oil behind your ears, around a swollen thigh?
Like, it’s hard in this city, how the woman in the metro
walked right through you, how if you weren't there the
black woman would have had to lug her baby’s stroller
all those flights of stairs, how to everyone else she was
not there, how the man by the river actually
thought he could just touch you, how every time they kill
You it looks really small
ma belle
Was is her miraculous sight of you? Her use of the possessive, like you all belonged to each other and the beauty being named? Or just the shape of her mouth when as said MA,
Like is that the open hole where the light fell in, like let her mouth always be a field -- that thing that gives
************
Sojourner Ahébée is a 2016 BOSP Continuation International Fellow for the Haas Center for Public Service at Stanford University. She is currently serving as the Paris intern for the Wells International Foundation.
Read more of Sojourner's work at Sojourner Ahébée.
A rising junior at Stanford University, Sojourner Ahébée is an award-winning poet. I asked her to write a poem about a Beauford Delaney work that she found particularly inspiring. "Woman in an Abstract Field - After Beauford Delaney" is the result.
(1966) Oil monotype, with hand-painted additions in oil,
on cream wove paper
Image courtesy of Swann Auction Galleries
© Estate of Beauford Delaney
by permission of Derek L. Spratley, Esquire,
Court Appointed Administrator
field
which is to say open hole where the light fell in
in other words, let us lose our hands here
let us always be what grows --
the sunflower, the pink hands of the hibiscus --
they say field could also mean
carried out in the natural environment,
rather than in a laboratory
which is to say you were a field this morning when the Black woman tapped your back and you didn’t flinch
not from the touch, not from the small request of a few coins as Guadeloupe bloomed off her tongue
though someone who loved you a lot once said don’t stop for anyone in this city…
that’s an invitation
sometimes a field comes with the intent to kill,
Blossoming yellow all over your face and nose
In other words, field artillery is made light as a brush stroke
like there are days you are a woman in a field, a woman walking through a weapon --
perhaps a field of gas
You close your eyes in the heat of the hammam one morning
a woman is rubbing lavender oil down your back
She has just called you out of your name
ma belle, she said
who was this woman you did not know,
who called you beauty with all the intention in her voice
as she slid the oil behind your ears, around a swollen thigh?
Like, it’s hard in this city, how the woman in the metro
walked right through you, how if you weren't there the
black woman would have had to lug her baby’s stroller
all those flights of stairs, how to everyone else she was
not there, how the man by the river actually
thought he could just touch you, how every time they kill
You it looks really small
ma belle
Was is her miraculous sight of you? Her use of the possessive, like you all belonged to each other and the beauty being named? Or just the shape of her mouth when as said MA,
Like is that the open hole where the light fell in, like let her mouth always be a field -- that thing that gives
Sojourner Ahébée is a 2016 BOSP Continuation International Fellow for the Haas Center for Public Service at Stanford University. She is currently serving as the Paris intern for the Wells International Foundation.
Read more of Sojourner's work at Sojourner Ahébée.
Beauford and Baldwin in Saint-Paul-de-Vence
From The Guardian:
In the Provençal town of Saint-Paul-de-Vence, the picturesque stone house beneath the medieval ramparts is known as “la maison de Jimmy”. The official records office lists it as the ancienne maison Baldwin. . . . Today campaigners are battling to secure the future of his 17th-century house and its grounds, which have been earmarked for development into 18 luxury €1m flats. Two wings of the property on the 10-acre plot have already been demolished, including one in which he wrote.
Baldwin's property at Saint-Paul-de-Vence (2011)
Photos courtesy of Professor Francine Allen, Morehouse College
Beauford visited Baldwin at this property many times. Often, Baldwin had Bernard Hassell or someone else bring Beauford there when Beauford was in the midst of a psychological crisis. He painted the self-portrait shown below during one of those times of crisis.
Self-portrait
(1972) Gouache on paper
Collection of David A. Leeming
© Estate of Beauford Delaney
by permission of Derek L. Spratley, Esquire,
Court Appointed Administrator
In Amazing Grace
, biographer David A. Leeming describes Beauford's 1973 stay at the Baldwin house after his hernia operation at a Saint-Paul-de-Vence clinic as being "perhaps Beauford's last truly happy ones." Les Amis would like to see the property preserved out of respect for Beauford's legacy as much as for that of Baldwin.
To learn more about this project, visit http://hisplaceinprovence.org.
In the Provençal town of Saint-Paul-de-Vence, the picturesque stone house beneath the medieval ramparts is known as “la maison de Jimmy”. The official records office lists it as the ancienne maison Baldwin. . . . Today campaigners are battling to secure the future of his 17th-century house and its grounds, which have been earmarked for development into 18 luxury €1m flats. Two wings of the property on the 10-acre plot have already been demolished, including one in which he wrote.
Photos courtesy of Professor Francine Allen, Morehouse College
Beauford visited Baldwin at this property many times. Often, Baldwin had Bernard Hassell or someone else bring Beauford there when Beauford was in the midst of a psychological crisis. He painted the self-portrait shown below during one of those times of crisis.
(1972) Gouache on paper
Collection of David A. Leeming
© Estate of Beauford Delaney
by permission of Derek L. Spratley, Esquire,
Court Appointed Administrator
In Amazing Grace
, biographer David A. Leeming describes Beauford's 1973 stay at the Baldwin house after his hernia operation at a Saint-Paul-de-Vence clinic as being "perhaps Beauford's last truly happy ones." Les Amis would like to see the property preserved out of respect for Beauford's legacy as much as for that of Baldwin.To learn more about this project, visit http://hisplaceinprovence.org.
A Boundless Love: Beauford Delaney’s Letters to Larry Calcagno
By Sojourner Ahébée
An Artistic Friendship:
Beauford Delaney and Lawrence Calcagno
Catalog cover for art exposition
Palmer Museum of Art (2001)
Beauford Delaney’s life was marked by a certain loneliness as he struggled to come to terms with his sexuality and his mental health. But his friendships, especially those he nurtured in Paris, provided him with profound love and companionship.
Of particular importance was his friendship with Lawrence Calcagno, an American abstract expressionist painter who moved to Paris in the 1950s to study visual art. In his biography of Delaney, David A. Leeming, recounts that:
In other words, Beauford saw much of himself in Larry. And though his friend would return to the United States permanently in the late 50s, Beauford and Larry would remain close through a series of letters written over many years.
In these letters, we find Beauford at his most honest and open self. We see his pain. We see his optimism and light. We witness his generous heart, his longing to be loved, and his longing to feel Larry's presence.
In a March 1959 missive, Beauford writes:
A few years later, the news of President Kennedy’s assassination would weigh heavily on Beauford’s heart. In November 1963, Beauford received a letter from Larry, enclosed with one of his drawings. Beauford wrote back, saying:
No 6 Portrait, JFK
(1966) Pastel
© Estate of Beauford Delaney
by permission of Derek L. Spratley, Esquire,
Court Appointed Administrator
When Beauford tells Larry that reading his message made it feel as though he was physically present, Beauford puts forwards something of great importance – the letter’s capacity to carry the soul of the writer within its pages.
Receipt of Larry’s letter works against Beauford's self-alienation and alienation of the world. Though Kennedy’s death is a considerable loss, Beauford recognizes Larry’s art and his letter as a source of light during a dark time. For Beauford, both the practice of art and the practice of letter writing are passionate investments in the world and in other people.
It is important to note that Beauford allowed words and whole sentences to move freely in his letters to Larry. There is often no punctuation; sentences bleed into each other. One does not know where Beauford’s thoughts begin and end. Words are often misspelled. And Beauford’s handwriting is such that it is difficult for the untrained eye to decipher the message.
Portrait of a Young Man (Larry Calcagno)
(1953) Oil on canvas
© Estate of Beauford Delaney
by permission of Derek L. Spratley, Esquire,
Court Appointed Administrator
In an essay included in the Beauford Delaney: Resonance of Form and Vibration of Color catalogue, Levi Prombaum, a Ph.D. candidate at University College London, explained that Henry Miller brilliantly compared the quality of Beauford’s letters to the informal intimacy of a preacher’s speech. Beauford was the son of a preacher, so he carried the cadence of that particular rhythm with him throughout his childhood and adolescence. His letters participate in a higher order of intimacy and love, just as the words of a preacher would.
In November 1957, Beauford ended a rather long letter to Larry with the following:
When we think about sacred things, we are reminded of something that has no bounds, something that transcends our mortal existence. And it is this meaning of “sacred” that describes the boundless love that rooted itself in Beauford’s letters to Larry.
Sojourner Ahébée is a 2016 BOSP Continuation International Fellow for the Haas Center for Public Service at Stanford University. She is currently serving as the Paris intern for the Wells International Foundation.
Read more of Sojourner's work at Sojourner Ahébée.
Additional reading about Beauford and Larry Calcagno:
Beauford and Larry Calcagno
Larry Calcagno's Portrait of Beauford
Beauford Delaney and Lawrence Calcagno
Catalog cover for art exposition
Palmer Museum of Art (2001)
Beauford Delaney’s life was marked by a certain loneliness as he struggled to come to terms with his sexuality and his mental health. But his friendships, especially those he nurtured in Paris, provided him with profound love and companionship.
Of particular importance was his friendship with Lawrence Calcagno, an American abstract expressionist painter who moved to Paris in the 1950s to study visual art. In his biography of Delaney, David A. Leeming, recounts that:
Beauford met Larry Calcagno early on in his stay in Paris through Charley Boggs… In Calcagno Beauford immediately recognized someone he could open up to. Also a homosexual, Larry was a handsome, gentle, highly sympathetic and loving man of forty who shared Beauford’s dedication to art.
In other words, Beauford saw much of himself in Larry. And though his friend would return to the United States permanently in the late 50s, Beauford and Larry would remain close through a series of letters written over many years.
In these letters, we find Beauford at his most honest and open self. We see his pain. We see his optimism and light. We witness his generous heart, his longing to be loved, and his longing to feel Larry's presence.
In a March 1959 missive, Beauford writes:
Dear Larry,That such a small thing could have such power over Beauford is a testament to the value the painter placed on these exchanges.
Your wonderful [,] informative letter arrived today like a celestial sentinel [.] I had walked into Paris this morning… and here was your letter… It almost made me weak.
A few years later, the news of President Kennedy’s assassination would weigh heavily on Beauford’s heart. In November 1963, Beauford received a letter from Larry, enclosed with one of his drawings. Beauford wrote back, saying:
Dear Larry,
You beautiful scene… arrived today along with your living message [.] It was as if you were here in person [.] I immediately placed it upon the wall where I can see it all the time [.] We here are all overwhelmed with the death of President Kennedy and life and work are temporarily suspended. However, I am delighted with your spirit… and it is present in your work.
(1966) Pastel
© Estate of Beauford Delaney
by permission of Derek L. Spratley, Esquire,
Court Appointed Administrator
When Beauford tells Larry that reading his message made it feel as though he was physically present, Beauford puts forwards something of great importance – the letter’s capacity to carry the soul of the writer within its pages.
Receipt of Larry’s letter works against Beauford's self-alienation and alienation of the world. Though Kennedy’s death is a considerable loss, Beauford recognizes Larry’s art and his letter as a source of light during a dark time. For Beauford, both the practice of art and the practice of letter writing are passionate investments in the world and in other people.
It is important to note that Beauford allowed words and whole sentences to move freely in his letters to Larry. There is often no punctuation; sentences bleed into each other. One does not know where Beauford’s thoughts begin and end. Words are often misspelled. And Beauford’s handwriting is such that it is difficult for the untrained eye to decipher the message.
(1953) Oil on canvas
© Estate of Beauford Delaney
by permission of Derek L. Spratley, Esquire,
Court Appointed Administrator
In an essay included in the Beauford Delaney: Resonance of Form and Vibration of Color catalogue, Levi Prombaum, a Ph.D. candidate at University College London, explained that Henry Miller brilliantly compared the quality of Beauford’s letters to the informal intimacy of a preacher’s speech. Beauford was the son of a preacher, so he carried the cadence of that particular rhythm with him throughout his childhood and adolescence. His letters participate in a higher order of intimacy and love, just as the words of a preacher would.
In November 1957, Beauford ended a rather long letter to Larry with the following:
As always a letter never says what one wants it to say but the necessity to write carries with it the necessity to send it so God bless you and your life and work.
Love,
Beauford
When we think about sacred things, we are reminded of something that has no bounds, something that transcends our mortal existence. And it is this meaning of “sacred” that describes the boundless love that rooted itself in Beauford’s letters to Larry.
Sojourner Ahébée is a 2016 BOSP Continuation International Fellow for the Haas Center for Public Service at Stanford University. She is currently serving as the Paris intern for the Wells International Foundation.
Read more of Sojourner's work at Sojourner Ahébée.
Additional reading about Beauford and Larry Calcagno:
Beauford and Larry Calcagno
Larry Calcagno's Portrait of Beauford
The "Beauford Delaney in America" Initiative
This post was contributed by Sylvia L. Peters, a native of Knoxville, Tennessee and a former member of the Board of Trustees at the Knoxville Museum of Art.
Thursdays in Knoxville are often the unofficial beginning of weekends. People are trying to decide whether to meet friends, attend cultural events, or have fun outdoors in the scenic mountains surrounding the city. In May 2016, an invitation went out from the Knoxville Museum of Art (KMA) and the Beck Cultural Center (BCC) to a diverse cross-section of citizens to attend a Thursday evening presentation on bringing the recent Paris exhibition, Resonance de Formes et Vibration de Couleur (Resonance of Form and Vibration of Color), to Knoxville.
Rev. Reneé Kesler, a dynamic leader in the African-American community and a great organizer who knows how to get people together, suggested that the meeting be held in the neighborhood where the Delaney family resided at the beginning of the twentieth century. Dr. David Butler, KMA Director; Stephen Wicks, KMA Curator; and the steering committee for the new Beauford Delaney Initiative in America (BDIA) agreed that the Beck Cultural Center was a good place to begin a community-driven effort to bring the Paris works of one of America’s great artists home to his birthplace – Knoxville, Tennessee.
Beck Cultural Exchange Center
Photo courtesy of the Beck Cultural Exchange Center
So, on a stormy Thursday evening in early June, 200 people gathered to hear about how they could become involved in the BDIA initiative, which is a partnership between KMA, the Beck Cultural Center, and others. The room crackled with energy and earnest curiosity as Stephen Wicks spoke of his twenty-year journey to bring Beauford’s important work to the attention of people in America and particularly, the citizens of Knoxville.
David Butler talked passionately about the small group of museum members who went to see the Paris exhibition in February and how they were so moved by the experience that they committed their time and funds to begin the effort.
Sylvia Peters, former trustee of the Knoxville Museum of Art,
"Blipps" a painting at the exhibition opening
Photo by Sophia Pagan Photography
Left to right: Stephen Wicks, curator for
the Knoxville Museum of Art;
Wokie Wicks, Monique Y. Wells at exhibition opening
Photo by Sophia Pagan Photography
Knoxville Museum of Art group on the Beauford Delaney
Commemorative Walking Tour in Paris
© Discover Paris!
Finally, Rev. Kesler spoke eloquently about BCC’s institutional commitment to one of the Delaney family homes that is adjacent to BCC’s property in East Knoxville. BCC recently purchased the old house through funds acquired from the Knoxville City government and is planning to turn the property into a space to serve people in the mostly African-American community in the area.
Such a diverse gathering is quite unusual for Knoxville. Since the June meeting, many of the attendees have talked about how positive it felt to be invited to participate in this effort. Everyone who attended left with the feeling that they wanted to be a part of this important initiative – it will take at least a year to plan, organize and raise the funds to bring the exhibit to Knoxville.
Knoxville Museum of Art at Twilight
Photo courtesy of the Knoxville Museum of Art
This meeting reminds us of the power of the arts to engage people in great community initiatives and inspire them to achieve seemingly impossible tasks. Beauford, who suffered so much throughout his life for the sake of his art, must be proud of his hometown and grateful to Monique Wells, president of the French non-profit organization Les Amis de Beauford Delaney, for doing so much to share his art with the world.
Beauford Delaney
1953 - Photo by Carl Van Vechten
The work of planning the project has begun. We’ll keep you informed of our progress.
Thursdays in Knoxville are often the unofficial beginning of weekends. People are trying to decide whether to meet friends, attend cultural events, or have fun outdoors in the scenic mountains surrounding the city. In May 2016, an invitation went out from the Knoxville Museum of Art (KMA) and the Beck Cultural Center (BCC) to a diverse cross-section of citizens to attend a Thursday evening presentation on bringing the recent Paris exhibition, Resonance de Formes et Vibration de Couleur (Resonance of Form and Vibration of Color), to Knoxville.
Rev. Reneé Kesler, a dynamic leader in the African-American community and a great organizer who knows how to get people together, suggested that the meeting be held in the neighborhood where the Delaney family resided at the beginning of the twentieth century. Dr. David Butler, KMA Director; Stephen Wicks, KMA Curator; and the steering committee for the new Beauford Delaney Initiative in America (BDIA) agreed that the Beck Cultural Center was a good place to begin a community-driven effort to bring the Paris works of one of America’s great artists home to his birthplace – Knoxville, Tennessee.
Photo courtesy of the Beck Cultural Exchange Center
So, on a stormy Thursday evening in early June, 200 people gathered to hear about how they could become involved in the BDIA initiative, which is a partnership between KMA, the Beck Cultural Center, and others. The room crackled with energy and earnest curiosity as Stephen Wicks spoke of his twenty-year journey to bring Beauford’s important work to the attention of people in America and particularly, the citizens of Knoxville.
David Butler talked passionately about the small group of museum members who went to see the Paris exhibition in February and how they were so moved by the experience that they committed their time and funds to begin the effort.
"Blipps" a painting at the exhibition opening
Photo by Sophia Pagan Photography
the Knoxville Museum of Art;
Wokie Wicks, Monique Y. Wells at exhibition opening
Photo by Sophia Pagan Photography
Commemorative Walking Tour in Paris
© Discover Paris!
Finally, Rev. Kesler spoke eloquently about BCC’s institutional commitment to one of the Delaney family homes that is adjacent to BCC’s property in East Knoxville. BCC recently purchased the old house through funds acquired from the Knoxville City government and is planning to turn the property into a space to serve people in the mostly African-American community in the area.
Such a diverse gathering is quite unusual for Knoxville. Since the June meeting, many of the attendees have talked about how positive it felt to be invited to participate in this effort. Everyone who attended left with the feeling that they wanted to be a part of this important initiative – it will take at least a year to plan, organize and raise the funds to bring the exhibit to Knoxville.
Photo courtesy of the Knoxville Museum of Art
This meeting reminds us of the power of the arts to engage people in great community initiatives and inspire them to achieve seemingly impossible tasks. Beauford, who suffered so much throughout his life for the sake of his art, must be proud of his hometown and grateful to Monique Wells, president of the French non-profit organization Les Amis de Beauford Delaney, for doing so much to share his art with the world.
1953 - Photo by Carl Van Vechten
The work of planning the project has begun. We’ll keep you informed of our progress.
Jean-Loup Msika's Friendship with Beauford - Part 2
Painter/sculptor/architect Jean-Loup Msika met Beauford for the first time at La Coupole. It was during the late 1960s, when Msika was working as an assistant for Hungarian-born sculptor/painter Anton Prinner (née Anna Prinner).
After a day's work, Msika and Prinner would make their way from Prinner's studio on rue Pernety to the famous Montparnasse café to have a drink. Prinner had a regular table at the entrance and ate a hamburger every evening while "holding court" with several artists. Beauford would sometimes attend these gatherings.
Msika remembers La Coupole as being a place where you were expected to dine and that it was fairly costly. For that reason, he would often go to the Select for a drink. He said he frequently saw Beauford at the Select.
Having often heard people say that Beauford's paintings were marvelous, Msika and another painter friend, Loulou Taÿeb, were thrilled when Beauford invited them to visit his studio on rue Vercingétorix. They happily accepted his invitation.
Msika remembers that Beauford's studio was located up several flights of stairs (he believes there were four of them) and that everything inside was covered with white cloth. He said Beauford painted in the main room of the studio and described the studio as being full of light:
He and Taÿeb were amazed by Beauford's work, particularly the portrait of Marian Anderson and other portraits of his friends.
Subsequently, Msika and Beauford would cross paths on the streets of Montparnasse in the evenings. He said Beauford was often on his way to meet friends and he felt that Beauford was lonely at his studio.
Beauford at his rue Vercingétorix studio
Screenshot from Henry Miller vu par ses amis
At this time, Msika, his wife, Albine (who is also a sculptor and painter), and their daughter lived on rue de la Bidassoa in the 20th arrondissement. Beauford visited them there and they would read poetry together and cook pasta "al' dente." Msika didn't believe that Beauford ate very well at home - he remembers seeing Beauford consuming only bananas, apples, chocolate, bread, and milk at his studio. He said Beauford was always grateful when he was invited out to dinner.
During one visit to the rue Vercingétorix studio, Msika remembers seeing a stack of 78 rpm records made by Henry Miller. Miller had offered them to Beauford - Msika described them as being "marvelous recordings of Miller's voice, reading his own writings, poems, stories, etc..."
Beauford told Msika that he had never heard the recordings before, so Msika purchased a phonograph for Beauford. He and Beauford listened to a few of the recordings together and Beauford was pleased. On his next visit to the studio, Msika observed that the phonograph had "disappeared under white linen."
In 1971, Beauford invited Msika to purchase a 25 F (25 figure) canvas so he could paint Msika's portrait. Msika purchased the canvas at an art supply store near or on rue Vercingétorix. He sat for the portrait twice at Beauford's studio and then let Beauford work on it for a while.
When it was completed, Msika found it to be a fine work and asked whether he could purchase it. Beauford agreed. Msika owns the portrait to this day.
Jean-Loup Msika and his portrait
Portrait: © Estate of Beauford Delaney
by permission of Derek L. Spratley, Esquire,
Court Appointed Administrator
Image: © Discover Paris!
Portrait of Jean-Loup Msika (detail)
(1971) Oil on canvas
© Estate of Beauford Delaney
by permission of Derek L. Spratley, Esquire,
Court Appointed Administrator
Image courtesy of Jean-Loup Msika
Msika explained that Beauford was a brilliant colorist and said that only a master could succeed in using a combination of acid greens, blues, and purples in a single work. He compared Beauford's genius to that of Matisse and Bonnard, and mentioned that Beauford loved the work of Bonnard.
Loulou Taÿeb was just as impressed with Beauford's work as Msika. He painted a portrait of Beauford for which he used a textured yellow background that Msika described as "Beauford's yellow." Msika says Taÿeb has depicted Beauford in front of one of Beauford's own paintings.
This portrait was part of an exhibition called Les Lumineux - the people who radiate light. It is one of two works that Msika purchased.
Loulou Taÿeb
Portrait of Beauford Delaney
(Undated) Oil on canvas
Portrait: © Loulou Taÿeb
Image: © Discover Paris!
Beauford gave Msika confidence as an artist, making him understand that there was more to art than technique. He told Msika that "art is difficult" but that if it comes from the heart, you can succeed. (See Jean-Loup Msika at work at a 1985 art installation here.)
I asked Msika about his best memories of Beauford. He replied that Beauford had a great sense of humor and would turn everything into a good laugh. He said Beauford had a "metaphysical laugh."
To sum it all up, he said that his favorite memories of Beauford are:
Jean-Loup Msika (second from left) and Loulou Taÿeb
(third from left) at
Resonance of Form and Vibration of Color exhibition
© Discover Paris!
After a day's work, Msika and Prinner would make their way from Prinner's studio on rue Pernety to the famous Montparnasse café to have a drink. Prinner had a regular table at the entrance and ate a hamburger every evening while "holding court" with several artists. Beauford would sometimes attend these gatherings.
Msika remembers La Coupole as being a place where you were expected to dine and that it was fairly costly. For that reason, he would often go to the Select for a drink. He said he frequently saw Beauford at the Select.
Having often heard people say that Beauford's paintings were marvelous, Msika and another painter friend, Loulou Taÿeb, were thrilled when Beauford invited them to visit his studio on rue Vercingétorix. They happily accepted his invitation.
Msika remembers that Beauford's studio was located up several flights of stairs (he believes there were four of them) and that everything inside was covered with white cloth. He said Beauford painted in the main room of the studio and described the studio as being full of light:
Beauford was about LIGHT. It was a spiritual thing about light being a symbol of purity and elevation - spiritual elevation.
He and Taÿeb were amazed by Beauford's work, particularly the portrait of Marian Anderson and other portraits of his friends.
Subsequently, Msika and Beauford would cross paths on the streets of Montparnasse in the evenings. He said Beauford was often on his way to meet friends and he felt that Beauford was lonely at his studio.
Screenshot from Henry Miller vu par ses amis
At this time, Msika, his wife, Albine (who is also a sculptor and painter), and their daughter lived on rue de la Bidassoa in the 20th arrondissement. Beauford visited them there and they would read poetry together and cook pasta "al' dente." Msika didn't believe that Beauford ate very well at home - he remembers seeing Beauford consuming only bananas, apples, chocolate, bread, and milk at his studio. He said Beauford was always grateful when he was invited out to dinner.
During one visit to the rue Vercingétorix studio, Msika remembers seeing a stack of 78 rpm records made by Henry Miller. Miller had offered them to Beauford - Msika described them as being "marvelous recordings of Miller's voice, reading his own writings, poems, stories, etc..."
Beauford told Msika that he had never heard the recordings before, so Msika purchased a phonograph for Beauford. He and Beauford listened to a few of the recordings together and Beauford was pleased. On his next visit to the studio, Msika observed that the phonograph had "disappeared under white linen."
In 1971, Beauford invited Msika to purchase a 25 F (25 figure) canvas so he could paint Msika's portrait. Msika purchased the canvas at an art supply store near or on rue Vercingétorix. He sat for the portrait twice at Beauford's studio and then let Beauford work on it for a while.
When it was completed, Msika found it to be a fine work and asked whether he could purchase it. Beauford agreed. Msika owns the portrait to this day.
Portrait: © Estate of Beauford Delaney
by permission of Derek L. Spratley, Esquire,
Court Appointed Administrator
Image: © Discover Paris!
(1971) Oil on canvas
© Estate of Beauford Delaney
by permission of Derek L. Spratley, Esquire,
Court Appointed Administrator
Msika explained that Beauford was a brilliant colorist and said that only a master could succeed in using a combination of acid greens, blues, and purples in a single work. He compared Beauford's genius to that of Matisse and Bonnard, and mentioned that Beauford loved the work of Bonnard.
Loulou Taÿeb was just as impressed with Beauford's work as Msika. He painted a portrait of Beauford for which he used a textured yellow background that Msika described as "Beauford's yellow." Msika says Taÿeb has depicted Beauford in front of one of Beauford's own paintings.
This portrait was part of an exhibition called Les Lumineux - the people who radiate light. It is one of two works that Msika purchased.
Portrait of Beauford Delaney
Portrait: © Loulou Taÿeb
Image: © Discover Paris!
Beauford gave Msika confidence as an artist, making him understand that there was more to art than technique. He told Msika that "art is difficult" but that if it comes from the heart, you can succeed. (See Jean-Loup Msika at work at a 1985 art installation here.)
I asked Msika about his best memories of Beauford. He replied that Beauford had a great sense of humor and would turn everything into a good laugh. He said Beauford had a "metaphysical laugh."
To sum it all up, he said that his favorite memories of Beauford are:
- his studio
- his smile
- his marvelous paintings.
(third from left) at
Resonance of Form and Vibration of Color exhibition
© Discover Paris!
Jean-Loup Msika's Friendship with Beauford - Part 1
Jean-Loup Msika is a French artist and architect who was a friend of Beauford. We first met at the celebration of Beauford's life in Paris that was held during the Resonance of Form and Vibration of Color exhibition at Columbia Global Centers | Paris - Reid Hall on February 21, 2016. During that event, he spoke passionately about his relationship with Beauford and the interactions he had with close friends of Beauford at the time Beauford was permanently admitted to Sainte-Anne's Hospital.
Jean-Loup Msika at the celebration of Beauford's life in Paris
© Discover Paris!
Many in the audience were touched by his statements and I asked him whether he would grant me an interview to learn more about what he shared that day. Shortly thereafter, he invited me to his home at the Cité Fleurie - an artist's colony in the 13th arrondissement - and elaborated on the story that he told at Reid Hall.
Cité Fleurie
© Discover Paris!
Msika told me that in all the time he knew Beauford (they met in the late 1960s), he never saw Beauford in an "altered" mental state. He was surprised to learn that Beauford had such serious health problems and that he had been committed to Sainte-Anne's Hospital. He referred to a passage in Amazing Grace, the biography of Beauford written by David Leeming, which describes him as a "drinking companion" of Beauford (the implication being that Beauford and Msika consumed alcohol together). The book states that, according to one story, a man named Barry Tompkins and Msika persuaded Beauford's doctor to release him into their care, and that according to another story, the two men managed to "sneak him out of the hospital on the floor of a taxi."
The account goes on to say that when Tompkins and Msika realized how sick Beauford really was, they took him to Hôpital Cochin and had him placed in the geriatrics ward.
Hôpital Cochin - main entrance
© Discover Paris!
Msika emphatically denied drinking alcohol with Beauford, saying the only thing they drank together was coffee. He recounted his remembrance of the situation described in Amazing Grace, saying that he and Tompkins asked Beauford's doctors at Sainte-Anne's to allow Beauford to visit them at Cité Fleurie and that the doctors agreed. He and Tompkins took Beauford directly to Msika's home, where they had lunch. Beauford asked for paper and pencil and immediately began sketching "figures, faces, ideas...".
This caused Msika to believe that getting Beauford back to his studio at rue Vercingétorix, where he could be amongst his things and resume painting, would be the most advantageous thing for Beauford's mental health:
He and Tompkins subsequently took Beauford to Hôpital Cochin to get a second opinion on Beauford's case and the hospital admitted him. When they returned the following day, they discovered that Hôpital Cochin had sent Beauford back to Sainte-Anne Hospital.
Msika said that after Beauford returned to Sainte-Anne's, he went to see Darthea Speyer to express his concerns. He says she dismissed him, saying that she "did not have to talk to him."
Beauford and Darthea Speyer at the American Cultural Center
Printed with permission from the U.S. Embassy in Paris
Msika recounted that he and James Baldwin met at Sainte-Anne Hospital at the time that the photograph below was taken.
Beauford and Baldwin, 1976
Photo by Max Petrus
He said he gave Baldwin his name and address and told him
He said that Baldwin's attitude toward him was one of arrogance.
Msika said that Baldwin and Bernard Hassell came to see him at Cité Fleurie and told him not to interfere with Beauford. They did not mention that Beauford's paintings had been moved from rue Vercingétorix to another Paris apartment and that Beauford could have gone there (Msika only learned this years later from reading the Leeming biography). Had they done so, Msika said he would have encouraged them to allow Beauford to go to the apartment to see his paintings and try to reestablish a connection with his life as an artist.
Msika felt that remaining in the hospital would be a death sentence for Beauford. To this day, he believes that Beauford "let himself die."
Msika also spoke about the "Committee to Save Beauford Delaney" that is described in Amazing Grace. The biography's account suggests that the members of this group of between 12-15 persons - mostly painters and sculptors - who met at Cité Fleurie were less than "genuinely and seriously concerned with Beauford's welfare." Msika said some of them knew Beauford and others became involved in the group after reading about Beauford's condition in the press. All of them believed that Beauford to deteriorate at Sainte-Anne's, that he would increasingly depressed and amnesic. They wanted to find a way to help Beauford reconnect to his art and his life in Montparnasse.
Amazing Grace book cover
Baldwin informed Msika and the others that he was legally responsible for Beauford and advised them not to implicate themselves in the situation. Msika responded that this was "not a question of legality, but a question of life."
What Msika wanted for Beauford was to have him moved to a retired artist's home where he could have a small studio, easels, etc. and continue to work. He felt that a nurse could have been hired to care for Beauford at that studio. He understood that hospitalization might have been necessary for crisis periods, but believed that Beauford should have been able to return to a home environment when those crises passed. He felt that Beauford was not given the chance to reconnect with his artist's life.
Msika said that award-winning actress Simone Signoret got involved in the affair on Baldwin's behalf, inviting Msika to her apartment to tell him that Baldwin was her friend and that Msika had no right to oppose Baldwin's actions in any way. Msika responded that he and the group had nothing against Baldwin - they were only concerned about Beauford and disagreed with what Baldwin was doing. Given Signoret's political leanings toward Stalin, he dismissed her admonition.
Simone Signoret accepting the 1960 Oscar for Best Actress in Room at the Top
Screenshot from YouTube video
During the course of our interview, Msika repeated many times that he believed what Baldwin was doing was illegal. He said that when someone is in the hospital, nobody can legally touch their home and their belongings and believed that:
He therefore discounted Baldwin's statements about being legally responsible for Beauford.
Msika said that Speyer, Baldwin, and Hassell's* attitude and unwillingness to communicate about Beauford led Msika and others to be suspicious of their motives. He thought they would be eager to inform persons who cared about Beauford of what they were planning, but instead, they rebuffed those concerned. This is what engendered all the subsequent events described above.
Msika noted that "a lot of evil in the world comes from a lack of communication." He feels that he was ungraciously portrayed in the Leeming biography as a result of bad faith.
*Darthea Speyer, James Baldwin, and Bernard Hassell were members of the tutelle that the French government formed to look after Beauford's affairs while he was at Sainte-Anne's Hospital.
© Discover Paris!
Many in the audience were touched by his statements and I asked him whether he would grant me an interview to learn more about what he shared that day. Shortly thereafter, he invited me to his home at the Cité Fleurie - an artist's colony in the 13th arrondissement - and elaborated on the story that he told at Reid Hall.
© Discover Paris!
Msika told me that in all the time he knew Beauford (they met in the late 1960s), he never saw Beauford in an "altered" mental state. He was surprised to learn that Beauford had such serious health problems and that he had been committed to Sainte-Anne's Hospital. He referred to a passage in Amazing Grace
, the biography of Beauford written by David Leeming, which describes him as a "drinking companion" of Beauford (the implication being that Beauford and Msika consumed alcohol together). The book states that, according to one story, a man named Barry Tompkins and Msika persuaded Beauford's doctor to release him into their care, and that according to another story, the two men managed to "sneak him out of the hospital on the floor of a taxi." The account goes on to say that when Tompkins and Msika realized how sick Beauford really was, they took him to Hôpital Cochin and had him placed in the geriatrics ward.
© Discover Paris!
Msika emphatically denied drinking alcohol with Beauford, saying the only thing they drank together was coffee. He recounted his remembrance of the situation described in Amazing Grace, saying that he and Tompkins asked Beauford's doctors at Sainte-Anne's to allow Beauford to visit them at Cité Fleurie and that the doctors agreed. He and Tompkins took Beauford directly to Msika's home, where they had lunch. Beauford asked for paper and pencil and immediately began sketching "figures, faces, ideas...".
This caused Msika to believe that getting Beauford back to his studio at rue Vercingétorix, where he could be amongst his things and resume painting, would be the most advantageous thing for Beauford's mental health:
He was still creative. That's why I thought that the best medicine would be for him to go back to his environment. Unfortunately, it was lost to him.
He and Tompkins subsequently took Beauford to Hôpital Cochin to get a second opinion on Beauford's case and the hospital admitted him. When they returned the following day, they discovered that Hôpital Cochin had sent Beauford back to Sainte-Anne Hospital.
Msika said that after Beauford returned to Sainte-Anne's, he went to see Darthea Speyer to express his concerns. He says she dismissed him, saying that she "did not have to talk to him."
Printed with permission from the U.S. Embassy in Paris
Msika recounted that he and James Baldwin met at Sainte-Anne Hospital at the time that the photograph below was taken.
Photo by Max Petrus
He said he gave Baldwin his name and address and told him
...everything about me. He [Baldwin] told me nothing about himself and what he was doing [with Beauford].
He said that Baldwin's attitude toward him was one of arrogance.
Msika said that Baldwin and Bernard Hassell came to see him at Cité Fleurie and told him not to interfere with Beauford. They did not mention that Beauford's paintings had been moved from rue Vercingétorix to another Paris apartment and that Beauford could have gone there (Msika only learned this years later from reading the Leeming biography). Had they done so, Msika said he would have encouraged them to allow Beauford to go to the apartment to see his paintings and try to reestablish a connection with his life as an artist.
Msika felt that remaining in the hospital would be a death sentence for Beauford. To this day, he believes that Beauford "let himself die."
Msika also spoke about the "Committee to Save Beauford Delaney" that is described in Amazing Grace. The biography's account suggests that the members of this group of between 12-15 persons - mostly painters and sculptors - who met at Cité Fleurie were less than "genuinely and seriously concerned with Beauford's welfare." Msika said some of them knew Beauford and others became involved in the group after reading about Beauford's condition in the press. All of them believed that Beauford to deteriorate at Sainte-Anne's, that he would increasingly depressed and amnesic. They wanted to find a way to help Beauford reconnect to his art and his life in Montparnasse.
Baldwin informed Msika and the others that he was legally responsible for Beauford and advised them not to implicate themselves in the situation. Msika responded that this was "not a question of legality, but a question of life."
What Msika wanted for Beauford was to have him moved to a retired artist's home where he could have a small studio, easels, etc. and continue to work. He felt that a nurse could have been hired to care for Beauford at that studio. He understood that hospitalization might have been necessary for crisis periods, but believed that Beauford should have been able to return to a home environment when those crises passed. He felt that Beauford was not given the chance to reconnect with his artist's life.
Msika said that award-winning actress Simone Signoret got involved in the affair on Baldwin's behalf, inviting Msika to her apartment to tell him that Baldwin was her friend and that Msika had no right to oppose Baldwin's actions in any way. Msika responded that he and the group had nothing against Baldwin - they were only concerned about Beauford and disagreed with what Baldwin was doing. Given Signoret's political leanings toward Stalin, he dismissed her admonition.
Screenshot from YouTube video
During the course of our interview, Msika repeated many times that he believed what Baldwin was doing was illegal. He said that when someone is in the hospital, nobody can legally touch their home and their belongings and believed that:
As long as there is a breath of life in this man [Beauford], he has to be able to go back home.
He therefore discounted Baldwin's statements about being legally responsible for Beauford.
Msika said that Speyer, Baldwin, and Hassell's* attitude and unwillingness to communicate about Beauford led Msika and others to be suspicious of their motives. He thought they would be eager to inform persons who cared about Beauford of what they were planning, but instead, they rebuffed those concerned. This is what engendered all the subsequent events described above.
Msika noted that "a lot of evil in the world comes from a lack of communication." He feels that he was ungraciously portrayed in the Leeming biography as a result of bad faith.
*Darthea Speyer, James Baldwin, and Bernard Hassell were members of the tutelle that the French government formed to look after Beauford's affairs while he was at Sainte-Anne's Hospital.