Beauford Coming to the Nantes Musée d'Arts
On June 7-8, 2019, NYU's Grey Art Gallery is hosting a colloquium in conjunction with the upcoming exhibition entitled Americans in Paris: Artists in the City of Light, 1946-1968, which will be shown at the gallery from September 10 to December 5, 2020 and at the Nantes Musée d'arts from February to May 2021.
Pymouss44
Creative Commons License BY-SA 3.0
Comprising some 120 works by approximately 20 artists, Americans in Paris will be the first major museum exhibition to feature American artists working in Paris after the Second World War and their influence on contemporary art movements. Co-curators Lynn Gumpert and Debra Bricker Balken plan to include works by Beauford in the show.
The colloquium consists of short talks and informal discussions that address topics including visual arts, literature, and jazz. Among the presentations listed on the agenda, two are directly relevant to Beauford: Valerie Mercer of the Detroit Institute of Arts is speaking on "African-American Artists in Postwar Paris" and Nicholas Boggs of Nicholas Boggs of NYU's English department is speaking on "James Baldwin and Beauford Delaney."
A third presentation is indirectly relevant to Beauford: Natalie Adamson of the University of St. Andrews is speaking on "Sam Francis and Paris in the 1950s." Francis strongly influenced Beauford's first experiments in French abstraction and the two artists' works were displayed in at least two group exhibitions in Paris.
Courtesy of Galerie Darthea Speyer
Cannes Film Festival Screening a Success
A major milestone in the creation of Beauford Delaney: So Splendid a Journey* was passed on May 21 when the trailer for the documentary was screened at the Cannes Film Festival. It was shown at the Grey d’Albion Hotel, one of the main screening locations for the Cannes Film Market.
Image courtesy of 2 Bulls on the Hill Productions
Producer Zachary Miller of 2 Bulls on the Hill Productions gave presentations and hosted Q&A sessions for two back-to-back showings of the trailer. Two different audiences viewed the trailer, with the first audience leaving the screening room to make way for the second group of viewers. Audience members included representatives of several companies interested in distributing the film once it is completed.
The trailer was well received, and numerous questions were posed after both screenings.
During the festival, a major grant / funding organization that could contribute to the completion of the film requested a meeting with Miller. The result of this encounter, which took place during an event held at Miller's villa in Cannes, was the scheduling of a follow-up meeting to be held in NYC in the coming weeks.
Image courtesy of 2 Bulls on the Hill Productions
The next step in the process for completing So Splendid a Journey is conducting research for information that can support narration to be included in the film. This will take place at the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture in New York. The Beauford Delaney archive there contains correspondence with colleagues, friends, gallery owners, and family members, as well as printed material documenting Beauford's life in Paris.
Raising funds for completing the full-length documentary remains a priority. An active GoFundMe campaign provides a platform for donations in support of the $20,000 budget for the production. Funds will be used for archival images, music, sound design, editing and other items mentioned in the itemized budget found on the GoFundMe page.
*Beauford Delaney: So Splendid a Journey will be the first full-length documentary about Beauford.
Amazing Grace is Yellow - A Play
Beauford is in the air!
An increasing number of projects and programs on both sides of the Atlantic are serving to honor him and extend his legacy. These include the Gathering Light project in Knoxville, Tennessee and the Classes Duo program that connects elementary school students in Paris, France and Knoxville through Beauford’s life and art.
The latest project to emerge in France is Amazing Grace is Yellow – the life of Beauford Delaney, painter. This play, written by Silver Wainhouse, will bring Beauford’s life to the stage in three acts that follow him from Knoxville to Paris.
(circa 1960) Oil on canvas
© Estate of Beauford Delaney
by permission of Derek L. Spratley, Esquire,
Court Appointed Administrator
An excerpt from the play’s introduction reads as follows:
Amazing Grace is Yellow was inspired when, during a conversation with Dr. Monique Wells about the life of Beauford Delaney, I said that his life should be presented in a play. She replied, “Why don’t you write it?” This play is the result of my having undertaken her challenge. Beauford Delaney is a beautiful haunt prodding all who take time to explore his richness, complexities, and beauty to make known his contribution to art.Not surprisingly, the main characters in the play include James Baldwin
© Estate of Beauford Delaney
Individual images reproduced
by permission of Derek L. Spratley, Esquire,
Court Appointed Administrator
and Beauford’s mother, Delia.
(1933) Pastel on paper
Knoxville Museum of Art
© Estate of Beauford Delaney
by permission of Derek L. Spratley, Esquire,
Court Appointed Administrator
Eleven additional characters, fictional and real, named and unnamed, round out the cast.
In preparation for a full stage production, a reading of Amazing Grace is Yellow has been scheduled at Columbia Global Centers | Paris, Reid Hall, on October 16, 2019. Casting for the play is currently underway.
Beauford and "The Rhythm of New York"
In the book entitled Making Race: Modernism and “Racial Art” in America, author Jacqueline Francis devotes roughly two pages of text to Beauford's work from the early New York years in her chapter on "Type/Face/Mask: Racial Portraiture." She cites a quote that Beauford gave to the New York Telegraph in a 1930 interview:
"I never drew a decent thing until I felt the rhythm of New York. New York has a rhythm as distinct as the beating of a human heart. And I'm trying to put it on canvas..."
Today I'm sharing images of a few of the paintings Beauford created in the years subsequent to this interview to capture the landscape of New York.
Greene Street
(1940) Oil on canvas
Image by André Moran from the Artsmia Web site
© Estate of Beauford Delaney
by permission of Derek L. Spratley, Esquire,
Court Appointed Administrator
Greenwich Village
(1945) Oil on canvas
Image by Manu Sasoonian, from Amazing Grace
© Estate of Beauford Delaney
by permission of Derek L. Spratley, Esquire,
Court Appointed Administrator
Exchange Place
(1943) Oil on panel
Image Courtesy of Michael Rosenfeld Gallery, LLC, New York , NY
© Estate of Beauford Delaney
Derek L. Spratley, Esquire,
Court Appointed Administrator
Untitled (Washington Square Park)
(1952) Oil on canvas
Myron Kunin Collection of American Art
Minneapolis Institute of Art
© Estate of Beauford Delaney
by permission of Derek L. Spratley, Esquire,
Court Appointed Administrator
Untitled (Trees)
(c. 1945) Oil on canvas
Image courtesy of Michael Rosenfeld Gallery LLC, New York, NY
© Estate of Beauford Delaney
by permission of Derek L. Spratley, Esquire,
Court Appointed Administrator
"I never drew a decent thing until I felt the rhythm of New York. New York has a rhythm as distinct as the beating of a human heart. And I'm trying to put it on canvas..."
Today I'm sharing images of a few of the paintings Beauford created in the years subsequent to this interview to capture the landscape of New York.
(1940) Oil on canvas
Image by André Moran from the Artsmia Web site
© Estate of Beauford Delaney
by permission of Derek L. Spratley, Esquire,
Court Appointed Administrator
(1945) Oil on canvas
Image by Manu Sasoonian, from Amazing Grace
© Estate of Beauford Delaney
by permission of Derek L. Spratley, Esquire,
Court Appointed Administrator
(1943) Oil on panel
Image Courtesy of Michael Rosenfeld Gallery, LLC, New York , NY
© Estate of Beauford Delaney
Derek L. Spratley, Esquire,
Court Appointed Administrator
(1952) Oil on canvas
Myron Kunin Collection of American Art
Minneapolis Institute of Art
© Estate of Beauford Delaney
by permission of Derek L. Spratley, Esquire,
Court Appointed Administrator
(c. 1945) Oil on canvas
Image courtesy of Michael Rosenfeld Gallery LLC, New York, NY
© Estate of Beauford Delaney
by permission of Derek L. Spratley, Esquire,
Court Appointed Administrator
Beauford at the Galerie Prisme
According to biographer David Leeming, Beauford had his first solo show at the Galerie Prisme in May 1956. Leeming describes the works as being "abstractions marked by large areas of paint applied thickly in swirls and various colors - blues, pinks, softer colors than those of the Greene Street period." He remarks that these paintings may represent a transition between Beauford's use of "Fauve-like coloration" in his New York paintings and the use of "tightly textured, less varied coloration" during his Paris years.
"...paint applied thickly in swirls and various colors..." implies that the abstractions from the Galerie Prisme show were done with oils.
Composition 16 is a painting that fits this description, but I do not know that it was shown at the Galerie Prisme.
Composition 16
(1954-1956) Oil on canvas
Museum of Modern Art, New York City
© Estate of Beauford Delaney
by permission of Derek L. Spratley, Esquire,
Court Appointed Administrator
While I have no additional images of oil paintings from 1955 / 1956 that fit this description, I am sharing below images of two works on paper that Beauford created during this period. Effectively, the coloring is softer in these works.
Untitled
(1956) Watercolor on paper
© Estate of Beauford Delaney
by permission of Derek L. Spratley, Esquire,
Court Appointed Administrator
Abstract Circles
(1956) Pastel on paper
Knoxville Museum of Art
Knoxville, Tennessee
© Estate of Beauford Delaney
by permission of Derek L. Spratley, Esquire,
Court Appointed Administrator
Beauford's work was also included in a group show called L'Insurréction Contre La Forme at Galerie Prisme in June 1957. The gallery was located at 6, rue Monsieur-le-Prince in the 6th arrondissement.
, Beauford had his first solo show at the Galerie Prisme in May 1956. Leeming describes the works as being "abstractions marked by large areas of paint applied thickly in swirls and various colors - blues, pinks, softer colors than those of the Greene Street period." He remarks that these paintings may represent a transition between Beauford's use of "Fauve-like coloration" in his New York paintings and the use of "tightly textured, less varied coloration" during his Paris years."...paint applied thickly in swirls and various colors..." implies that the abstractions from the Galerie Prisme show were done with oils.
Composition 16 is a painting that fits this description, but I do not know that it was shown at the Galerie Prisme.
(1954-1956) Oil on canvas
Museum of Modern Art, New York City
© Estate of Beauford Delaney
by permission of Derek L. Spratley, Esquire,
Court Appointed Administrator
While I have no additional images of oil paintings from 1955 / 1956 that fit this description, I am sharing below images of two works on paper that Beauford created during this period. Effectively, the coloring is softer in these works.
(1956) Watercolor on paper
© Estate of Beauford Delaney
by permission of Derek L. Spratley, Esquire,
Court Appointed Administrator
(1956) Pastel on paper
Knoxville Museum of Art
Knoxville, Tennessee
© Estate of Beauford Delaney
by permission of Derek L. Spratley, Esquire,
Court Appointed Administrator
Beauford's work was also included in a group show called L'Insurréction Contre La Forme at Galerie Prisme in June 1957. The gallery was located at 6, rue Monsieur-le-Prince in the 6th arrondissement.
Student-Parent Reception for Classes Duo Art Exhibition at KMA
On April 6, I posted an article about the Classes Duo Paris/Knoxville exhibition that is being shown at the Knoxville Museum of Art:
KMA Mounts Classes Duo Paris / Knoxville Exhibition
This week, I'm pleased to share some of the photos taken at the Student-Parent reception, held on Sunday, April 28.
Knoxville Classes Duo Students and art teacher Dawn Kunkel
Image courtesy of Dawn Kunkel
Around the refreshment table
Image courtesy of Dawn Kunkel
Students Chloe and Sarah admire refreshments
Image courtesy of Mary Campbell
The students' works shown were inspired by Beauford's Les Embruns, Greece, Untitled (Trees), and the self-portrait that graces the cover of the 2016 Resonance of Form and Vibration of Color catalog.
Resonance of Form catalog cover
Jean Zay student portraits of Beauford
Image courtesy of Mary Campbell
Additional works represent portraits of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., created during Black History Month 2018.
Nature's Way student portraits of Martin Luther King, Jr.
Image courtesy of Mary Campbell
The exhibition will be available for viewing for several additional weeks (closing date: June 23). KMA's executive director, David Butler, is pleased to report that the show is drawing many visitors.
To see additional photos, visit the gallery on the Wells International Foundation's Web site:
KMA Art Exhibition
Enjoy!
KMA Mounts Classes Duo Paris / Knoxville Exhibition
This week, I'm pleased to share some of the photos taken at the Student-Parent reception, held on Sunday, April 28.
Image courtesy of Dawn Kunkel
Image courtesy of Dawn Kunkel
Image courtesy of Mary Campbell
The students' works shown were inspired by Beauford's Les Embruns, Greece, Untitled (Trees), and the self-portrait that graces the cover of the 2016 Resonance of Form and Vibration of Color catalog.
Image courtesy of Mary Campbell
Additional works represent portraits of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., created during Black History Month 2018.
Image courtesy of Mary Campbell
The exhibition will be available for viewing for several additional weeks (closing date: June 23). KMA's executive director, David Butler, is pleased to report that the show is drawing many visitors.
To see additional photos, visit the gallery on the Wells International Foundation's Web site:
KMA Art Exhibition
Enjoy!
Beauford at Notre Dame Cathedral
In the wake of the devastating news about the fire that ravaged Notre Dame Cathedral last week, I'm sharing links to two Les Amis blog posts that talk about Beauford at Notre Dame.
Beauford and Emery: The Delaney Brothers at Notre Dame Cathedral
Beauford's Paris: Notre Dame Cathedral and Fauré's Requiem
I'm also sharing several photos of the cathedral that Discover Paris! (now Entrée to Black Paris) has taken over the years.
Notre Dame viewed from square René Viviani
© Discover Paris!
Spires
© Discover Paris!
Notre Dame viewed from quai de Montebello
© Discover Paris!
Arch of central portal and gargoyles
© Discover Paris!
Notre Dame viewed from rue Saint Julien le Pauvre
© Discover Paris!
"Point Zero" for France is located in the square in front of Notre Dame. The number of miles to any place in the country is measured from this spot.
Point Zero
© Discover Paris!
The cathedral of "Our Lady" will be rebuilt!
Beauford and Emery: The Delaney Brothers at Notre Dame Cathedral
Beauford's Paris: Notre Dame Cathedral and Fauré's Requiem
I'm also sharing several photos of the cathedral that Discover Paris! (now Entrée to Black Paris) has taken over the years.
© Discover Paris!
© Discover Paris!
© Discover Paris!
© Discover Paris!
© Discover Paris!
"Point Zero" for France is located in the square in front of Notre Dame. The number of miles to any place in the country is measured from this spot.
© Discover Paris!
The cathedral of "Our Lady" will be rebuilt!
Beauford's Post-War Art
Within the last six months, Beauford's work has been sold at two auctions whose titles reference the Post-war (WWII) period: Christie's Post-war to Present sale and Ader Nordmann's Art d'après-guerre & contemporain (Post-war and contemporary art) sale.
I recently came across an archival Web site for a major exhibition entitled Postwar: Art Between the Pacific and the Atlantic, 1945-1965, which delved extensively into what transpired in the art world in the aftermath of World War II. The site describes the exhibition as
I was pleased to find that two of Beauford's paintings were included in this show, which ran from October 14, 2016 through March 26, 2017. It was held at Haus der Kunst in Munich, Germany.
One of the works was a portrait of James Baldwin, currently held at the Philadelphia Museum of Art.
Portrait of James Baldwin
(1945) Oil on canvas
Philadelphia Museum of Art
© Estate of Beauford Delaney
by permission of Derek L. Spratley, Esquire,
Court Appointed Administrator
The other was a yellow abstract held by the Michael Rosenfeld Gallery.
Untitled
(c.1958) Oil on canvas
signed and dated
© Estate of Beauford Delaney
by permission of Derek L. Spratley, Esquire,
Court Appointed Administrator
Image courtesy of Michael Rosenfeld Gallery LLC, New York, NY
The exhibition was divided into eight chapters and the artists whose works were shown were listed in one or more of these chapters. Beauford's name was listed in the chapters "Form Matters" and "New Images of Man."
The essay for the chapter entitled "Form Matters" indicates that the exhibition
The essay that describes "New Images of Man" indicates that
In visiting the Web pages that present the works included in each chapter, I found an image of Beauford's abstract in the "Form Matters" section.
However, the image of his portrait of James Baldwin was included in the chapter called "Realisms." The essay for this section focuses primarily on art produced in socialist / communist countries, but it also mentions that the section includes "ideologically programmatic art by such U.S. artists as Norman Rockwell, who was associated with realist rendering and popular audiences."
I recently came across an archival Web site for a major exhibition entitled Postwar: Art Between the Pacific and the Atlantic, 1945-1965, which delved extensively into what transpired in the art world in the aftermath of World War II. The site describes the exhibition as
"an in-depth, global study, the exhibition shows painting, sculpture, installation, collage, performance, film, artist books, documents, photography, in total more than 350 works by 218 artists from 65 countries."
I was pleased to find that two of Beauford's paintings were included in this show, which ran from October 14, 2016 through March 26, 2017. It was held at Haus der Kunst in Munich, Germany.
One of the works was a portrait of James Baldwin, currently held at the Philadelphia Museum of Art.
(1945) Oil on canvas
Philadelphia Museum of Art
© Estate of Beauford Delaney
by permission of Derek L. Spratley, Esquire,
Court Appointed Administrator
The other was a yellow abstract held by the Michael Rosenfeld Gallery.
(c.1958) Oil on canvas
signed and dated
© Estate of Beauford Delaney
by permission of Derek L. Spratley, Esquire,
Court Appointed Administrator
Image courtesy of Michael Rosenfeld Gallery LLC, New York, NY
The exhibition was divided into eight chapters and the artists whose works were shown were listed in one or more of these chapters. Beauford's name was listed in the chapters "Form Matters" and "New Images of Man."
The essay for the chapter entitled "Form Matters" indicates that the exhibition
"emphasizes the affinity of ideas and materials among artists who emigrated to the U.S. from Europe. It also documents the encounters of artists from around the world who gathered in such metropolitan centers as Paris, London, and Mexico City; and reviews the proximity and circulation of art works in international exhibitions and small press publications."
The essay that describes "New Images of Man" indicates that
"Philosophers and artists sought to inquire more deeply into human nature itself, in debates that included the discourses of négritude and existentialism, and the rights of individuals and groups within larger (often oppressive) social and political entities. 'New Images' features pictorial versions of such inquiries, in which humans often appear battered, deformed by the horror of modern life, rent by the question of their own value."
In visiting the Web pages that present the works included in each chapter, I found an image of Beauford's abstract in the "Form Matters" section.
However, the image of his portrait of James Baldwin was included in the chapter called "Realisms." The essay for this section focuses primarily on art produced in socialist / communist countries, but it also mentions that the section includes "ideologically programmatic art by such U.S. artists as Norman Rockwell, who was associated with realist rendering and popular audiences."
Another Beauford Abstract Sells at Auction
Help us finalize the first full-length documentary about Beauford and screen it at this year's Cannes Film Festival!
Click on the following link to give:
Cannes Screening for Beauford Delaney Documentary
**********
Swann Auction Galleries held its spring African-American Fine Art Sale on April 4. Three Beauford Delaney works were made available for purchase.
Untitled (Still Life) is an exquisite example of Beauford's early work and is one of the rare still lifes that he is known to have created. In 1932, the year from which this work dates, a reviewer described his work as displaying "careful, deliberate draughtsmanship."
(1932) Color pastels on green wove paper
584x419 mm; 23x16 1/2 inches
Signed and dated in pastel, lower right
© Estate of Beauford Delaney
by permission of Derek L. Spratley, Esquire,
Court Appointed Administrator
The estimated sale price for this piece was set at $25,000 - $30,000.
Beauford created the untitled abstract shown below in 1963. In Amazing Grace
, biographer David Leeming indicates that Beauford was especially inspired to paint that spring and summer.
(1963) Watercolor and pencil on thin wove paper
660x508 mm; 12 1/2x9 1/2 inches. Signed and dated in ink, lower right
© Estate of Beauford Delaney
by permission of Derek L. Spratley, Esquire,
Court Appointed Administrator
Untitled (Red and Yellow Composition), which was once owned by James and Gloria Jones, was shown in the Studio Museum in Harlem exhibition entitled Collected. Propositions on the Permanent Collection in 2009. Its estimated sale price was $6,000 - $9,000.
The final Beauford Delaney work offered for sale was Portrait of a Bearded Young Man Reading, dated 1971-1972. Leeming describes the portraiture from this period as being "vehicles for Beauford's concern with color and the production of light" and says that Beauford's purpose in painting portraits during this time seemed to have been more about celebrating the art of painting itself than about portraying the inner essence of his subjects.
Portrait of a Bearded Young Man Reading
(1971-72) Oil on linen canvas
647x546 mm; 25 1/2x21 1/4 inches
Signed and dated "1972" in pencil, lower left
Signed and dated "1971" in pencil, lower right
© Estate of Beauford Delaney
by permission of Derek L. Spratley, Esquire,
Court Appointed Administrator
The estimated sale price for this painting was $7,000 - $10,000.
Untitled (Red and Yellow Composition) was the only work that sold during the auction. It fetched a hammer price of $17,000, which increased to $21,250 with the addition of the buyer's premium*.
*At auction, there are two prices--the hammer price, or the price at which the item sells during the auction, and the price with the buyer's premium. All auction houses have a buyer's premium that the buyer pays to the auction house in addition to the hammer price. The buyer’s premium for items purchased directly through Swann is 25%. Swann Auction Galleries now reports the "hammer price" and the price that include the buyer's premium in its online catalog.
KMA Mounts Classes Duo Paris / Knoxville Exhibition
On April 2, the Knoxville Museum of Art (KMA) opened an exhibition of works by the children who are participating in the Classes Duo Paris / Knoxville cultural exchange program based on Beauford's life and art.
Knoxville Museum of Art
© Wells International Foundation
In October 2018, participants in the program from Knoxville's Nature's Way Montessori School and their families visited Paris and had their works shown at an exhibition at the town hall of the 14th arrondissement (district) alongside those of their Paris counterparts from Jean Zay Elementary School.
Jean Zay (left) and Nature's Way (right) students' copies of
Untitled (Trees)
at the Mairie of the 14th arrondissement
© Wells International Foundation
Educators from Nature's Way also made the trip to Paris and brought works by the Jean Zay students back to Knoxville for the KMA exhibition.
The students' works will be displayed from April 2-June 23, 2019. The students' and parents' reception will take place on Sunday, April 28.
Jean Zay portraits of Beauford Delaney (left)
and Nature's Way portraits of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. (right)
at the Knoxville Museum of Art
© Dawn Kunkel
This may well be the first time that elementary school children's art from a single project has been exhibited on both sides of the Atlantic!
© Wells International Foundation
In October 2018, participants in the program from Knoxville's Nature's Way Montessori School and their families visited Paris and had their works shown at an exhibition at the town hall of the 14th arrondissement (district) alongside those of their Paris counterparts from Jean Zay Elementary School.
Untitled (Trees)
at the Mairie of the 14th arrondissement
© Wells International Foundation
Educators from Nature's Way also made the trip to Paris and brought works by the Jean Zay students back to Knoxville for the KMA exhibition.
The students' works will be displayed from April 2-June 23, 2019. The students' and parents' reception will take place on Sunday, April 28.
and Nature's Way portraits of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. (right)
at the Knoxville Museum of Art
© Dawn Kunkel
This may well be the first time that elementary school children's art from a single project has been exhibited on both sides of the Atlantic!
Cannes Film Festival - Possible Venue for Beauford Documentary Screening
In a blog post that I published almost eight years ago, I spoke about a film project that centered on the celebration of the laying of Beauford's tombstone at the Parisian cemetery of Thiais.
At the time, Zachary Miller of 2 Bulls on the Hill Productions wanted to create a short film (less than 30 minutes) about the many facets of Beauford's life in Paris and to share images of a few of his works owned by private collectors.
Because of the richness and volume of footage obtained, Miller also thought that a full-length documentary could be produced.
Zachary Miller
Proprietor, 2 Bulls on the Hill Productions
© Entrée to Black Paris
Miller has acquired additional material for the project and now informs me that he believes a full-length documentary is not only possible, but preferable. The project is ~90% complete and Miller would like to finish it in time to show it at the 2019 Cannes Film Festival, which will take place from May 14-25. His comments on this possibility are as follows:
"The appetite and the market for films on historic Black individuals and the Black experience in general is very strong right now...
"We have the great original footage of the graveyard and the Embassy ceremony scenes, the interviews in Paris, etc. The only thing that is lacking is a strong voice-over narrative that I can write and perform if needed and some archival footage of the cities that he [Beauford] lived in, the Harlem Renaissance, and music from around the time that Beauford was in the USA and in Paris."
As you might expect, funds are required to complete the documentary and reserve a screening room for its presentation at Cannes. The budget is as follows:
Cannes Market Accreditation: 500 Euros
Cannes Screening Room: 500 Euros
Publicity, Post Card Printing: 250 Euros
Producer Rep / Marketing / Prints & Advertising: 2,500 Euros
Film footage, music, and archival stock and news footage: 2,000 Euros
Total: 5,750 Euros (needed ASAP)
Monies must be submitted to Cannes for marketing accreditation and booking the screening room no later than April 30.
Please give to support this endeavor! All you need to do is click on the Donate button below.
If you would like to become a private investor in the project, contact me as soon as possible at .
At the time, Zachary Miller of 2 Bulls on the Hill Productions wanted to create a short film (less than 30 minutes) about the many facets of Beauford's life in Paris and to share images of a few of his works owned by private collectors.
Because of the richness and volume of footage obtained, Miller also thought that a full-length documentary could be produced.
Proprietor, 2 Bulls on the Hill Productions
© Entrée to Black Paris
Miller has acquired additional material for the project and now informs me that he believes a full-length documentary is not only possible, but preferable. The project is ~90% complete and Miller would like to finish it in time to show it at the 2019 Cannes Film Festival, which will take place from May 14-25. His comments on this possibility are as follows:
"The appetite and the market for films on historic Black individuals and the Black experience in general is very strong right now...
"We have the great original footage of the graveyard and the Embassy ceremony scenes, the interviews in Paris, etc. The only thing that is lacking is a strong voice-over narrative that I can write and perform if needed and some archival footage of the cities that he [Beauford] lived in, the Harlem Renaissance, and music from around the time that Beauford was in the USA and in Paris."
As you might expect, funds are required to complete the documentary and reserve a screening room for its presentation at Cannes. The budget is as follows:
Cannes Market Accreditation: 500 Euros
Cannes Screening Room: 500 Euros
Publicity, Post Card Printing: 250 Euros
Producer Rep / Marketing / Prints & Advertising: 2,500 Euros
Film footage, music, and archival stock and news footage: 2,000 Euros
Total: 5,750 Euros (needed ASAP)
Monies must be submitted to Cannes for marketing accreditation and booking the screening room no later than April 30.
Please give to support this endeavor! All you need to do is click on the Donate button below.
If you would like to become a private investor in the project, contact me as soon as possible at .
40th Anniversary of Beauford's Transition
Tuesday, March 26th will mark the 40th anniversary of Beauford's transition.
In commemoration, Les Amis is taking a look at what he was doing during his 40th year of life.
In 1941, Beauford was living at 181 Greene Street in Manhattan. According to his biographer, David Leeming, he was "already experimenting with pure abstractions concerned with light and color without reference to objective forms" at this time.
1941 was also the year that Beauford "came out" as a modernist with a one-man show at the Vendome art gallery in midtown Manhattan. His paintings entitled Greene Street,
Greene Street
(1940) Oil on canvas
Photo by André Moran from the Artsmia Web site
© Estate of Beauford Delaney
by permission of Derek L. Spratley, Esquire,
Court Appointed Administrator
Untitled (The Artist and Woman Seated),
Untitled (The Artist and Woman Seated)
(1940) Oil on linen canvas
762x914 mm; 30x36 inches
Signed and dated in oil, lower left
Image courtesy of Swann Auction Galleries
© Estate of Beauford Delaney
by permission of Derek L. Spratley, Esquire,
Court Appointed Administrator
and Dark Rapture
Dark Rapture
(1941) Oil on masonite
© Estate of Beauford Delaney
by permission of Derek L. Spratley, Esquire,
Court Appointed Administrator
were exhibited in this show.
In December 1941, several of Beauford's paintings were shown alongside the works of other African-American artists in an exhibition at Edith Halpert's Downtown Gallery. The New Yorker magazine singled out one of his abstract paintings, a "swirling red-and-yellow 'Still Life'" for comment.
In commemoration, Les Amis is taking a look at what he was doing during his 40th year of life.
In 1941, Beauford was living at 181 Greene Street in Manhattan. According to his biographer, David Leeming, he was "already experimenting with pure abstractions concerned with light and color without reference to objective forms" at this time.
1941 was also the year that Beauford "came out" as a modernist with a one-man show at the Vendome art gallery in midtown Manhattan. His paintings entitled Greene Street,
(1940) Oil on canvas
Photo by André Moran from the Artsmia Web site
© Estate of Beauford Delaney
by permission of Derek L. Spratley, Esquire,
Court Appointed Administrator
Untitled (The Artist and Woman Seated),
(1940) Oil on linen canvas
762x914 mm; 30x36 inches
Signed and dated in oil, lower left
Image courtesy of Swann Auction Galleries
© Estate of Beauford Delaney
by permission of Derek L. Spratley, Esquire,
Court Appointed Administrator
and Dark Rapture
(1941) Oil on masonite
© Estate of Beauford Delaney
by permission of Derek L. Spratley, Esquire,
Court Appointed Administrator
were exhibited in this show.
In December 1941, several of Beauford's paintings were shown alongside the works of other African-American artists in an exhibition at Edith Halpert's Downtown Gallery. The New Yorker magazine singled out one of his abstract paintings, a "swirling red-and-yellow 'Still Life'" for comment.
A Musical Interlude
Beauford loved and had quite an eclectic taste for music.
In a letter that Beauford wrote to his friend Al Hirschfeld in 1940, he talks about painting while listening to Billie Holiday and he recommends other recordings that he thinks his friend will benefit from having. One of these is "She's a Trucking Little Baby" by Blind Boy Fuller.
I had not heard of this artist before and looked up the song. Here it is for your enjoyment!
In a letter that Beauford wrote to his friend Al Hirschfeld in 1940, he talks about painting while listening to Billie Holiday and he recommends other recordings that he thinks his friend will benefit from having. One of these is "She's a Trucking Little Baby" by Blind Boy Fuller.
I had not heard of this artist before and looked up the song. Here it is for your enjoyment!
Beauford in the "Four Sunday Painters" Exhibition at the Whitney Studio Galleries
Several years ago, I published an article about how Beauford came to show works at the Whitney Studio Galleries soon after he arrived in New York. I've recently learned more about this and am sharing the information below.
The show was entitled Exhibition by four Sunday painters : Arthur E. Cederquist, Beauford Delaney, Prosper Invernizzi, Kalman Oswald.
Cover for exhibition checklist
Source: Digital Culture of Metropolitan New York
Fair use
Beauford contributed twelve of the 40 works displayed in the exhibition, which ran from February 26-March 8, 1930. They are listed in the center panel of the image below.
Exhibition checklist
Source: Digital Culture of Metropolitan New York
Fair use
Juliana Force, director of purchasing and exhibition at the Whitney, bought two of Beauford's pastels on the first day of the show: Girl in Yellow Dress and Profile of Boy. She paid $25 for each work. (In today's dollars, she would have paid ~$730 per pastel.)
Shipping receipt for Juliana Force purchase
Source: Digital Culture of Metropolitan New York
Fair use
By the end of the show, all but two pastels were sold.
The show was entitled Exhibition by four Sunday painters : Arthur E. Cederquist, Beauford Delaney, Prosper Invernizzi, Kalman Oswald.
Source: Digital Culture of Metropolitan New York
Fair use
Beauford contributed twelve of the 40 works displayed in the exhibition, which ran from February 26-March 8, 1930. They are listed in the center panel of the image below.
Source: Digital Culture of Metropolitan New York
Fair use
Juliana Force, director of purchasing and exhibition at the Whitney, bought two of Beauford's pastels on the first day of the show: Girl in Yellow Dress and Profile of Boy. She paid $25 for each work. (In today's dollars, she would have paid ~$730 per pastel.)
Source: Digital Culture of Metropolitan New York
Fair use
By the end of the show, all but two pastels were sold.
Christie's Sells Beauford's Abstraction No. 4
Beauford's Abstraction No. 4 was auctioned by Christie's New York during its Post-War to Present sale on February 28.
Abstraction No. 4
(ca. 1965) Oil on canvas
51 x 38 1/8 in. (129.5 x 96.8 cm.)
signed 'Beauford Delaney' (upper right)
© Estate of Beauford Delaney
by permission of Derek L. Spratley, Esquire,
Court Appointed Administrator
The seller acquired the painting from Beauford's brother, Joseph, who acquired it from Beauford.
Abstraction No. 4's estimated sale price was $100,000 to $150,000. It sold for $387,000, including a buyer's premium of 20%.
For more information about the Post-War to Present sale, click HERE.
(ca. 1965) Oil on canvas
51 x 38 1/8 in. (129.5 x 96.8 cm.)
signed 'Beauford Delaney' (upper right)
© Estate of Beauford Delaney
by permission of Derek L. Spratley, Esquire,
Court Appointed Administrator
The seller acquired the painting from Beauford's brother, Joseph, who acquired it from Beauford.
Abstraction No. 4's estimated sale price was $100,000 to $150,000. It sold for $387,000, including a buyer's premium of 20%.
For more information about the Post-War to Present sale, click HERE.
Beauford at Christie's New York
A beautiful yellow abstract by Beauford is being auctioned by Christie's New York during its Post-War to Present sale on February 28.
Abstraction No. 4
(ca. 1965) Oil on canvas
51 x 38 1/8 in. (129.5 x 96.8 cm.)
signed 'Beauford Delaney' (upper right)
© Estate of Beauford Delaney
by permission of Derek L. Spratley, Esquire,
Court Appointed Administrator
The date given for the painting is circa 1965. In November of that year, Beauford wrote the following to his dear friend, Henry Miller:
"Something has happened to my color and the paintings seem to have sunlight and the feeling sometimes of all you wonderful people it has been my privilege to have as friends and architects of the spirit."
Abstraction No. 4 seems to embody this spirit. It is listed as Lot 3 in the Christie's catalog and its estimated sale price is $100,000 to $150,000.
For more information about the sale, click HERE.
(ca. 1965) Oil on canvas
51 x 38 1/8 in. (129.5 x 96.8 cm.)
signed 'Beauford Delaney' (upper right)
© Estate of Beauford Delaney
by permission of Derek L. Spratley, Esquire,
Court Appointed Administrator
The date given for the painting is circa 1965. In November of that year, Beauford wrote the following to his dear friend, Henry Miller:
"Something has happened to my color and the paintings seem to have sunlight and the feeling sometimes of all you wonderful people it has been my privilege to have as friends and architects of the spirit."
Abstraction No. 4 seems to embody this spirit. It is listed as Lot 3 in the Christie's catalog and its estimated sale price is $100,000 to $150,000.
For more information about the sale, click HERE.
Beauford in Ink
From what I've seen over the years, Beauford rarely used ink when he created colored abstract works on paper. Because of a recent inquiry regarding the sale of one of his paintings from Darthea Speyer's collection at Christie's in Paris in 2010, I was reminded of this beautiful work on paper, which was sold at the same auction.
Untitled
(1961) Ink, inkwash, and aquarelle on paper
© Estate of Beauford Delaney
by permission of Derek L. Spratley, Esquire,
Court Appointed Administrator
Beauford signed and dated this work and dedicated it as follows:
"Mallorca 1961 for miss Darthea Speyer"
Beauford traveled to San Telmo in Mallorca in late August 1961 with Charley and Gita Boggs; their son, Gordon, and Joe and Bernice O'Reilly. The Boggses were dear, long-time friends who had sent out a plea for funds to pay for Beauford's medical expenses after his mental breakdown in Greece the month before. They took responsibility for him upon his return to France while they and other friends sought a solution for his precarious physical and mental state. Beauford had traveled to Greece to meet Darthea Speyer; it was she who organized his medical care in Greece and his return to France.
From biographer David Leeming's account of this trip in Amazing Grace, we know that Beauford was soothed by the company of Gita and Bernice and that he "even began to do some watercolors."
In this work, the brilliant yellow background is overlaid by wide, irregular, sinuous bands of black with smudged to feathery edges, some of which are tinged with blue and / or outlined in white. These latter areas almost seem electric. Perhaps we can interpret the black bands as the darkness that permeated his spirit during these difficult days and the "electric" zones as sparks of hope that he would once again feel whole and happy in the light represented by the yellow backdrop.
The only other colored ink abstract work that I recall seeing was shown in the 2016 Resonance of Form and Vibration of Color exhibition in Paris.
Untitled
(1956) Inks on paper
© Estate of Beauford Delaney
by permission of Derek L. Spratley, Esquire,
Court Appointed Administrator
1956 was the first year Beauford stayed in Clamart. Richard A. Long, who organized the first retrospective of Beauford’s work at the Studio Museum of Harlem in 1978, described works from this period as being characterized “either by a somber palette or by the sheer power of clashing color masses”.
Here, we are clearly in the realm of the latter. The red mass in the center of the paper projects boldly upward at a slight angle, while the tortuous, underlying black mass leads the eye downward in opposition. The red mass seems rigid and inanimate, while the black seems fluid, even serpentine, with the head of the coiled snake poised to strike.
Swaths of lighter color soften the work while simultaneously enhancing the contrast between its two main thrusts of energy, each of which represents power in a different form.
(1961) Ink, inkwash, and aquarelle on paper
© Estate of Beauford Delaney
by permission of Derek L. Spratley, Esquire,
Court Appointed Administrator
Beauford signed and dated this work and dedicated it as follows:
"Mallorca 1961 for miss Darthea Speyer"
Beauford traveled to San Telmo in Mallorca in late August 1961 with Charley and Gita Boggs; their son, Gordon, and Joe and Bernice O'Reilly. The Boggses were dear, long-time friends who had sent out a plea for funds to pay for Beauford's medical expenses after his mental breakdown in Greece the month before. They took responsibility for him upon his return to France while they and other friends sought a solution for his precarious physical and mental state. Beauford had traveled to Greece to meet Darthea Speyer; it was she who organized his medical care in Greece and his return to France.
From biographer David Leeming's account of this trip in Amazing Grace
, we know that Beauford was soothed by the company of Gita and Bernice and that he "even began to do some watercolors."In this work, the brilliant yellow background is overlaid by wide, irregular, sinuous bands of black with smudged to feathery edges, some of which are tinged with blue and / or outlined in white. These latter areas almost seem electric. Perhaps we can interpret the black bands as the darkness that permeated his spirit during these difficult days and the "electric" zones as sparks of hope that he would once again feel whole and happy in the light represented by the yellow backdrop.
The only other colored ink abstract work that I recall seeing was shown in the 2016 Resonance of Form and Vibration of Color exhibition in Paris.
(1956) Inks on paper
© Estate of Beauford Delaney
by permission of Derek L. Spratley, Esquire,
Court Appointed Administrator
1956 was the first year Beauford stayed in Clamart. Richard A. Long, who organized the first retrospective of Beauford’s work at the Studio Museum of Harlem in 1978, described works from this period as being characterized “either by a somber palette or by the sheer power of clashing color masses”.
Here, we are clearly in the realm of the latter. The red mass in the center of the paper projects boldly upward at a slight angle, while the tortuous, underlying black mass leads the eye downward in opposition. The red mass seems rigid and inanimate, while the black seems fluid, even serpentine, with the head of the coiled snake poised to strike.
Swaths of lighter color soften the work while simultaneously enhancing the contrast between its two main thrusts of energy, each of which represents power in a different form.
Beauford in God Made My Face: A Collective Portrait of James Baldwin
Dark Rapture is the first portrait that Beauford painted of James Baldwin.
Dark Rapture
(1941) Oil on masonite
© Estate of Beauford Delaney
by permission of Derek L. Spratley, Esquire,
Court Appointed Administrator
It is one of three featured works of art by Beauford in the exhibition entitled God Made My Face: A Collective Portrait of James Baldwin, curated by writer Hilton Als and showing at the David Zwirner Gallery in New York. New York Times writer Holland Cotter describes Dark Rapture as the centerpiece of the show.
God Made My Face - Dark Rapture
Image courtesy of David Zwirner Gallery
God Made My Face is Als' piercingly personal look at Baldwin's life and work. The first, autobiographical section of the two-part show, called "The Walker in the City," presents Baldwin in New York and Paris. Visitors will find it in the 525 Gallery. This is the section in which Beauford's paintings are hung.
Rehearsal, a 1952 figurative painting, hangs next to a photo of Baldwin's stepfather, David Baldwin (who was a preacher).
Beauford's Rehearsal and photo of David Baldwin
Image courtesy of David Zwirner Gallery
An untitled Beauford Delaney abstract from 1963 hangs next to two black & white photos of 1900s Paris by Eugène Atget.
Beauford's Untitled and Atget photos
Image courtesy of David Zwirner Gallery
Other artists whose works appear in the show include Njideka Akunyili Crosby, Diane Arbus, Richard Avedon, Sedat Pakay, Glenn Ligon, and Kara Walker. One of these artists, Marlene Dumas, contributed a series of fourteen portraits called Baldwin and, 2014-2018 to the show - including one of Baldwin and one of Beauford. Beauford's portrait hangs at the far left of the series.
Marlene Dumas series
Image courtesy of David Zwirner Gallery
Beauford Delaney, 2018
Marlene Dumas
Ink, graphite, and metallic acrylic on paper
DUMMA0818P1
Image courtesy of David Zwirner Gallery
In an article published in The New Yorker, Als describes Beauford as Baldwin's "other father, a gay father." He is planning to curate a show of Beauford's work later this year.
God Made My Face is on display through February 16, 2019.
David Zwirner Gallery
525 and 533 West 19th Street
New York, NY 10011
Telephone: 212-727-2070
*************
Listen to this interview with Hilton Als about God Made My Face. From 5:06 to 10:22, Als and interviewer Savona Bailey-McClain talk about Beauford and James Baldwin.
(1941) Oil on masonite
© Estate of Beauford Delaney
by permission of Derek L. Spratley, Esquire,
Court Appointed Administrator
It is one of three featured works of art by Beauford in the exhibition entitled God Made My Face: A Collective Portrait of James Baldwin, curated by writer Hilton Als and showing at the David Zwirner Gallery in New York. New York Times writer Holland Cotter describes Dark Rapture as the centerpiece of the show.
Image courtesy of David Zwirner Gallery
God Made My Face is Als' piercingly personal look at Baldwin's life and work. The first, autobiographical section of the two-part show, called "The Walker in the City," presents Baldwin in New York and Paris. Visitors will find it in the 525 Gallery. This is the section in which Beauford's paintings are hung.
Rehearsal, a 1952 figurative painting, hangs next to a photo of Baldwin's stepfather, David Baldwin (who was a preacher).
Image courtesy of David Zwirner Gallery
An untitled Beauford Delaney abstract from 1963 hangs next to two black & white photos of 1900s Paris by Eugène Atget.
Image courtesy of David Zwirner Gallery
Other artists whose works appear in the show include Njideka Akunyili Crosby, Diane Arbus, Richard Avedon, Sedat Pakay, Glenn Ligon, and Kara Walker. One of these artists, Marlene Dumas, contributed a series of fourteen portraits called Baldwin and, 2014-2018 to the show - including one of Baldwin and one of Beauford. Beauford's portrait hangs at the far left of the series.
Image courtesy of David Zwirner Gallery
Marlene Dumas
Ink, graphite, and metallic acrylic on paper
DUMMA0818P1
Image courtesy of David Zwirner Gallery
In an article published in The New Yorker, Als describes Beauford as Baldwin's "other father, a gay father." He is planning to curate a show of Beauford's work later this year.
God Made My Face is on display through February 16, 2019.
David Zwirner Gallery
525 and 533 West 19th Street
New York, NY 10011
Telephone: 212-727-2070
Listen to this interview with Hilton Als about God Made My Face. From 5:06 to 10:22, Als and interviewer Savona Bailey-McClain talk about Beauford and James Baldwin.
Happy Birthday, Delia Delaney!
Beauford's mother, Delia Elizabeth Johnson Delaney, was born in Richmond, Virginia on February 1, 1865.
In the Joseph Delaney biography The Life, Art, and Times of Joseph Delaney, author Frederick C. Moffatt describes her as "the family's emotional anchor and its stealthy exhorter." Beauford's biographer, David Leeming, describes her as "the much deferred-to matriarch of the Delaney household."
The portrait of Delia Delaney represented below is my favorite of the ones I have seen by Beauford.
Portrait of Delia Delaney
(1933) Pastel on paper
Knoxville Museum of Art
© Estate of Beauford Delaney
by permission of Derek L. Spratley, Esquire,
Court Appointed Administrator
It would be interesting to know whether Delia actually sat for any of the portraits Beauford did of her!
Photo of the Delaney Family, 1909
Top, left to right: Samuel Emery, John Samuel, Delia
Bottom, left to right: Joseph, Ogust Mae, Beauford, Naomi
Photo from du Closel archive
Image © Discover Paris!
In the Joseph Delaney biography The Life, Art, and Times of Joseph Delaney, author Frederick C. Moffatt describes her as "the family's emotional anchor and its stealthy exhorter." Beauford's biographer, David Leeming
, describes her as "the much deferred-to matriarch of the Delaney household."The portrait of Delia Delaney represented below is my favorite of the ones I have seen by Beauford.
(1933) Pastel on paper
Knoxville Museum of Art
© Estate of Beauford Delaney
by permission of Derek L. Spratley, Esquire,
Court Appointed Administrator
It would be interesting to know whether Delia actually sat for any of the portraits Beauford did of her!
Top, left to right: Samuel Emery, John Samuel, Delia
Bottom, left to right: Joseph, Ogust Mae, Beauford, Naomi
Photo from du Closel archive
Image © Discover Paris!
Beauford and Bob Thompson at the Minneapolis Institute of Art
The Minneapolis Institute of Art (Mia) is taking full advantage of a long term loan of the Myron Kunin Collection of American Art*. Robert Cozzolino, Mia's Patrick and Aimee Butler Curator of Paintings, shared information about Kunin Collection Focus: Bob Thompson, the most recent installation that explores the strengths and character of Kunin's collector's eye.
Image courtesy of Minneapolis Institute of Art
Kunin collected several works by Bob Thompson, a painter who, like Beauford, spent time in New York and Paris. Both artists worked in the Abstract Expressionist style. They participated in a group show along with fellow artist Abe Rattner at the American Artists' Center in Paris in 1962. In a scholarly article published in Nka: Journal of Contemporary African Art (1999), author Geoffrey Jacques says the following about Thompson:
"His sense of color and his way of applying paint may have had their roots in art history (I find echoes of Matisse, and, to some extent, Beauford Delaney)..."
Cozzolino thought it would be good to give Mia visitors a chance to view these paintings and created the exhibition to coincide with Black History Month tours that the museum is hosting in February. It consists of 15 works - nine by Thompson, four by Beauford, one by Jan Müller (a New York-based expressionist artist whose work Thompson appreciated), and one by Baroque painter Johann Georg Platzer (Thompson frequently reinterpreted works by Baroque and Renaissance masters). By including Beauford's paintings in the show, Cozzolino aims to have viewers compare and contract his work with that of Thompson.
Mia owns four Beauford Delaney paintings, two of which are on display in the current exhibition. One of these is the famous raincoat painting from Beauford's early Paris years; the other is an untitled oil on masonite painting from his New York years. The untitled painting is hung next to Thompson's oil on canvas entitled The Wind.
The Wind by Bob Thompson (center)
Image courtesy of Minneapolis Institute of Art
(1947) Oil on masonite
© Estate of Beauford Delaney
by permission of Derek L. Spratley, Esquire,
Court Appointed Administrator
The raincoat painting is displayed alone, mounted on a plinth in the center of the room. Jazz Quartet and Untitled (Washington Square Park), both of which are on loan to the museum, are hung next to each other on one wall of the exhibition. Untitled (Washington Square Park) is part of the Kunin Collection.
Untitled (Washington Square Park) and Jazz Quartet (far right)
Image courtesy of Minneapolis Institute of Art
(1952) Oil on canvas
© Estate of Beauford Delaney
by permission of Derek L. Spratley, Esquire,
Court Appointed Administrator
(1946) Oil on canvas
© Estate of Beauford Delaney
by permission of Derek L. Spratley, Esquire,
Court Appointed Administrator
Mia's sole Bob Thompson painting - Homage to Nina Simone is the focal piece of the exhibition. The remainder of the Thompson paintings on display are from the Kunin Collection.
Kunin Collection Focus: Bob Thompson is located in room G275 at Mia. It is scheduled to run through March 24, 2019. Entry to the museum is free.
Kunin Collection Focus: Bob Thompson
November 3, 2018 - March 24, 2019
Minneapolis Institute of Art
2400 Third Avenue South
Minneapolis, Minnesota 55404
Telephone: (888)642-2787 (Toll Free)
Internet: visit@artsmia.org
*Over the span of four decades, Myron Kunin assembled one of the most important private collections of American paintings from the first half of the 20th century. On extended loan to Mia from the Kunin family, the 396 paintings, 64 prints and drawings, 21 sculptures, and 77 photographs comprise one of the foremost collections of American modern art in private hands.