Ten Things I've Learned from Beauford
By Silver Wainhouse
Silver Wainhouse is the author of Amazing Grace Is Yellow, a three-act play that presents Beauford's life as he moves from Knoxville to Boston, Boston to New York, and New York to Paris.
This is a warning!
Beauford Delaney has an infectious power. Start reading about him and looking at his work and he will infuse you, captivate you, get into your blood …
I am living proof of this experience. I was already drawn in by his story when I went to visit his grave. From that moment on, I have been under his continuing spell.
Silver Wainhouse at Beauford's Gravesite
© Discover Paris!
Beauford’s spirit is palpable - he speaks to me in a way that allowed me to write Amazing Grace Is Yellow. Below is a list of things I have learned from him.
1. Beauford was generous; sometimes even to a fault.
You always have enough to share.
2. He constantly sought those from whom he could learn, and took their advice as to when to move.
Mentors are life changers.
3. Beauford continued to study and take lessons from other painters he admired. He studied and incorporated newly-learned techniques.
Even genius needs practice and benefits from it.
4. One of his joys was to meet with friends in French cafés. There, he found people who cared about him and would check in on him, something he needed more and more as his health declined.
An artist needs community.
Café Scene
(1966) Oil on canvas
© Estate of Beauford Delaney
by permission of Derek L. Spratley, Esquire,
Court Appointed Administrator
5. Beauford loved all kinds of music. His favorite was the spiritual “Amazing Grace.”
Music fortifies you and will get you through.
6. Beauford was homosexual. The hiding he did was such tremendous pressure.
The closet takes a toll.
The Eye
(1965) Oil on canvas
Private Collection
© Estate of Beauford Delaney
by permission of Derek L. Spratley, Esquire,
Court Appointed Administrator
7. Beauford was a God-fearing man. Son of a preacher, faith was instilled in him at birth.
Believe in something greater than yourself.
8. Beauford had several personas and selected the appropriate one to adapt to the environment in which he found himself.
When someone calls your name, the part of you that answers depends upon who is calling.
9. Beauford’s legacy is real.
One has the ability to continue to touch lives after physical death.
10. Beauford always sought the sun, the son, and the light.
When we seek the light, we find grace -- and that grace is amazing!
Untitled
(circa 1960) Oil on canvas
Signed at lower right and on back of canvas
84 x 75 cm
© Estate of Beauford Delaney,
by permission of Derek L. Spratley, Esquire,
Court Appointed Administrator
Silver Wainhouse is the author of Amazing Grace Is Yellow, a three-act play that presents Beauford's life as he moves from Knoxville to Boston, Boston to New York, and New York to Paris.
This is a warning!
Beauford Delaney has an infectious power. Start reading about him and looking at his work and he will infuse you, captivate you, get into your blood …
I am living proof of this experience. I was already drawn in by his story when I went to visit his grave. From that moment on, I have been under his continuing spell.
© Discover Paris!
Beauford’s spirit is palpable - he speaks to me in a way that allowed me to write Amazing Grace Is Yellow. Below is a list of things I have learned from him.
1. Beauford was generous; sometimes even to a fault.
You always have enough to share.
2. He constantly sought those from whom he could learn, and took their advice as to when to move.
Mentors are life changers.
3. Beauford continued to study and take lessons from other painters he admired. He studied and incorporated newly-learned techniques.
Even genius needs practice and benefits from it.
4. One of his joys was to meet with friends in French cafés. There, he found people who cared about him and would check in on him, something he needed more and more as his health declined.
An artist needs community.
(1966) Oil on canvas
© Estate of Beauford Delaney
by permission of Derek L. Spratley, Esquire,
Court Appointed Administrator
5. Beauford loved all kinds of music. His favorite was the spiritual “Amazing Grace.”
Music fortifies you and will get you through.
6. Beauford was homosexual. The hiding he did was such tremendous pressure.
The closet takes a toll.
(1965) Oil on canvas
Private Collection
© Estate of Beauford Delaney
by permission of Derek L. Spratley, Esquire,
Court Appointed Administrator
7. Beauford was a God-fearing man. Son of a preacher, faith was instilled in him at birth.
Believe in something greater than yourself.
8. Beauford had several personas and selected the appropriate one to adapt to the environment in which he found himself.
When someone calls your name, the part of you that answers depends upon who is calling.
9. Beauford’s legacy is real.
One has the ability to continue to touch lives after physical death.
10. Beauford always sought the sun, the son, and the light.
When we seek the light, we find grace -- and that grace is amazing!
(circa 1960) Oil on canvas
Signed at lower right and on back of canvas
84 x 75 cm
© Estate of Beauford Delaney,
by permission of Derek L. Spratley, Esquire,
Court Appointed Administrator
The Art Story: Beauford Delaney
I'm taking a couple of weeks off to enjoy Paris and do some research on Beauford but did not want this week to pass without publishing something about him.
One of my readers shared the following link to a detailed Web page about him and I'm pleased to pass it along:
https://www.theartstory.org/artist/delaney-beauford/
1973 Invitation Card - Darthea Speyer Gallery
The page has a table of contents that makes it easy for readers to navigate the information shared. Several of the resources cited point back to this blog and the work I've done through Les Amis de Beauford Delaney to promote and preserve Beauford's legacy, which is gratifying!
What I like best about this page is the commentary presented on several of Beauford's paintings. I hope you enjoy it!
One of my readers shared the following link to a detailed Web page about him and I'm pleased to pass it along:
The page has a table of contents that makes it easy for readers to navigate the information shared. Several of the resources cited point back to this blog and the work I've done through Les Amis de Beauford Delaney to promote and preserve Beauford's legacy, which is gratifying!
What I like best about this page is the commentary presented on several of Beauford's paintings. I hope you enjoy it!
Beauford at the Luxembourg Garden
The Luxembourg Garden is my favorite place in Paris.
So I was tickled to read in correspondence between two of Beauford's dearest friends, Charley Boggs and Larry Calcagno, that Beauford enjoyed the garden as well!
Boggs wrote to Calcagno that he and Beauford visited the garden in early April 1965 and enjoyed the spring weather, sitting in the sun and watching the children play with their sailboats at the octagonal pond near the palace. He left Beauford there, sitting in a rented chair, while he went back to his atelier.
For those of you who are not familiar with the garden, here are some photos of the area mentioned in Boggs' letter.
Boat basin
© Discover Paris!
Father assists daughter with sailboat
© Discover Paris!
Children on a field trip
© Discover Paris!
Motorboats at the basin
© Discover Paris!
Fountain in boat basin
© Discover Paris!
Happily, sitting in chairs at the garden is now free of charge!
********
We're staging a reading of the Beauford Delaney play
Amazing Grace is Yellow
in Paris on October 16, 2019.
You can become a part of Beauford's legacy by supporting this event!
"Adopt an actor" to contribute 450€ or $500 for rehearsals and the actual reading by clicking HERE!
So I was tickled to read in correspondence between two of Beauford's dearest friends, Charley Boggs and Larry Calcagno, that Beauford enjoyed the garden as well!
Boggs wrote to Calcagno that he and Beauford visited the garden in early April 1965 and enjoyed the spring weather, sitting in the sun and watching the children play with their sailboats at the octagonal pond near the palace. He left Beauford there, sitting in a rented chair, while he went back to his atelier.
For those of you who are not familiar with the garden, here are some photos of the area mentioned in Boggs' letter.
© Discover Paris!
© Discover Paris!
© Discover Paris!
© Discover Paris!
© Discover Paris!
Happily, sitting in chairs at the garden is now free of charge!
Amazing Grace is Yellow
in Paris on October 16, 2019.
"Adopt an actor" to contribute 450€ or $500 for rehearsals and the actual reading by clicking HERE!
Beauford Delaney: A Study in Portraiture
On August 6, 2019, the Wells International Foundation (WIF) announced the opening for Beauford Delaney: A Study in Portraiture. This digital exhibition, curated by Maija Brennan, examines the evolution of Beauford’s style as he rendered images of persons he loved and admired.
Brennan is WIF’s 2019 summer intern. A rising senior at Smith College, she is majoring in art history – with a concentration in museum studies – and French. She is interested in learning how non-profit organizations work to fund artists and help them show their work and is passionate about making art available to the general public. She is especially interested in exploring how contemporary artists who struggle to promote their work can “even the playing field” using technology.
Maija Brennan
Wells International Foundation 2019 Summer Intern
Image courtesy of Wells International Foundation
WIF’s founder and CEO, Dr. Monique Y. Wells, learned of Brennan’s interest in WIF’s Summer Internship Program through Columbia Global Centers | Paris. Brennan was finishing her junior year abroad there when her French professor, who also served as Associate Director of Smith College in Paris, introduced her to Dr. Wells. She had been made aware of the 2016 art exhibition, Beauford Delaney: Resonance of Form and Vibration of Color, that WIF organized at Columbia Global Centers | Paris, and was excited about the prospect of creating a project around this artist’s work.
Brennan spent six weeks compiling research on Delaney’s art production, focusing on his portraiture and how these works represent some of the most important relationships in his life. She investigated the evolution of the composition and style of Delaney’s portraits as he matured as an artist and produced increasing numbers of Abstract Expressionist paintings. Based on this research, she selected several works for the exhibition.
Beauford Delaney: A Study in Portraiture presents portraits from three periods in Delaney’s life – the years he spent in Boston, New York City, and Paris. A fourth segment of the exhibition presents several self-portraits from the New York and Paris years. A timeline of the artist’s life provides additional perspective on each segment of the exhibition.
A large part of the challenge of creating this exhibition in a format that is easily navigable and pleasing to view on all kinds of devices, from widescreen desktop computers to smartphones. Viewers can click on each portrait to access a larger image and one to two paragraphs of information on a dedicated page about the work.
Another important aspect of the process was planning and implementing the marketing strategy that would make the exhibition known to the public. Brennan evaluated how to maximize her existing social media connections, strengthen profiles and make new connections that she will heavily rely upon in her professional life, and incorporate the many blog posts she wrote about Delaney’s portraits into her strategy. She formulated a plan over the course of a week and implemented the plan during the last week of her internship.
Instagram post announcing A Study in Portraiture
Detail of Café Scene (1966)
Image courtesy of Maija Brennan
On July 29, Brennan presented an extensive preview of the exhibition to a study abroad group from the University of Tennessee Knoxville. (Knoxville was Beauford’s hometown.) The students were enrolled in the "Art History in Paris" course taught by Professor Mary Campbell. Professor Campbell wrote the critique of A Study in Portraiture found on the exhibition Web site.
Maija Brennan presents exhibition to UTK students
Image courtesy of the Wells International Foundation
A total of twenty-one (21) portraits are displayed in the exhibition. The full depth and breadth of Delaney’s artistic genius are represented in the works selected for this online show.
Brennan had the following to say about the exhibition:
To access Beauford Delaney: A Study in Portraiture, click HERE.
Brennan is WIF’s 2019 summer intern. A rising senior at Smith College, she is majoring in art history – with a concentration in museum studies – and French. She is interested in learning how non-profit organizations work to fund artists and help them show their work and is passionate about making art available to the general public. She is especially interested in exploring how contemporary artists who struggle to promote their work can “even the playing field” using technology.
Wells International Foundation 2019 Summer Intern
Image courtesy of Wells International Foundation
WIF’s founder and CEO, Dr. Monique Y. Wells, learned of Brennan’s interest in WIF’s Summer Internship Program through Columbia Global Centers | Paris. Brennan was finishing her junior year abroad there when her French professor, who also served as Associate Director of Smith College in Paris, introduced her to Dr. Wells. She had been made aware of the 2016 art exhibition, Beauford Delaney: Resonance of Form and Vibration of Color, that WIF organized at Columbia Global Centers | Paris, and was excited about the prospect of creating a project around this artist’s work.
Brennan spent six weeks compiling research on Delaney’s art production, focusing on his portraiture and how these works represent some of the most important relationships in his life. She investigated the evolution of the composition and style of Delaney’s portraits as he matured as an artist and produced increasing numbers of Abstract Expressionist paintings. Based on this research, she selected several works for the exhibition.
Beauford Delaney: A Study in Portraiture presents portraits from three periods in Delaney’s life – the years he spent in Boston, New York City, and Paris. A fourth segment of the exhibition presents several self-portraits from the New York and Paris years. A timeline of the artist’s life provides additional perspective on each segment of the exhibition.
A large part of the challenge of creating this exhibition in a format that is easily navigable and pleasing to view on all kinds of devices, from widescreen desktop computers to smartphones. Viewers can click on each portrait to access a larger image and one to two paragraphs of information on a dedicated page about the work.
Another important aspect of the process was planning and implementing the marketing strategy that would make the exhibition known to the public. Brennan evaluated how to maximize her existing social media connections, strengthen profiles and make new connections that she will heavily rely upon in her professional life, and incorporate the many blog posts she wrote about Delaney’s portraits into her strategy. She formulated a plan over the course of a week and implemented the plan during the last week of her internship.
Detail of Café Scene (1966)
Image courtesy of Maija Brennan
On July 29, Brennan presented an extensive preview of the exhibition to a study abroad group from the University of Tennessee Knoxville. (Knoxville was Beauford’s hometown.) The students were enrolled in the "Art History in Paris" course taught by Professor Mary Campbell. Professor Campbell wrote the critique of A Study in Portraiture found on the exhibition Web site.
Image courtesy of the Wells International Foundation
A total of twenty-one (21) portraits are displayed in the exhibition. The full depth and breadth of Delaney’s artistic genius are represented in the works selected for this online show.
Brennan had the following to say about the exhibition:
Beauford Delaney was an astonishingly talented painter whose works hang in some of today’s most culturally and artistically important institutions. I hope that this digital exhibit can be a reference point and educational tool for those who want to further their understanding of his life and art in the same way they would have had they visited one of these institutions. I also hope that visitors find the exhibition to be a place to simply celebrate the beautiful and sensitively rendered portraits he created throughout his lifetime.
To access Beauford Delaney: A Study in Portraiture, click HERE.
Give to Support the Beauford Delaney Documentary Screening at Cannes
The appetite and the market for films on historic Black individuals and the Black experience in general are very strong right now..."
~Zachary Miller, owner of 2 Bulls on the Hill Productions and producer of the Beauford Delaney documentary
SUPPORT THE SCREENING OF THE
BEAUFORD DELANEY DOCUMENTARY AT THE
2019 CANNES FILM FESTIVAL!
Beauford Delaney’s Self-portrait,1944
By Maija Brennan
Maija Brennan is the Wells International Foundation's 2019 summer intern. A rising senior at Smith College, she majors in French and art history with a concentration in museum studies. Her eight-week internship focuses on researching the life and art of painter Beauford Delaney and creating an online exhibition of a selection of his works.
One of the best-known Beauford Delaney paintings hangs in the American Art Gallery of the Art Institute of Chicago. A vividly stunning exploration of color and paint, Self-portrait, 1944 is one of his earliest self-portraits in circulation. Beauford was living on Greene Street at the time he created this painting, pushing his abilities with abstraction and the marks he was creating with paint and brush.
Self-portrait
(1944) Oil on canvas
Art Institute of Chicago, Chicago
© Estate of Beauford Delaney
By permission of Derek L. Spratley, Esquire,
Court Appointed Administrator
In this self-portrait, Beauford stares at viewers from a three-quarters turn to his right in front of a muddy orange background. His skin tone and facial features are a beautiful mix of warm and cool tones: the browns and reds in his face are broken up by thick and gestural brushstrokes of green and blue. He wears a vibrant red cap and shirt with a blue garment draped over his shoulders.
Despite his bold use of color, the focal point of this self-portrait is Beauford’s asymmetrically large left eye, with the corresponding brow raised in suspicion. This element of Self-portrait, 1944 recurs in almost every subsequent self-portrait of Beauford: asymmetry in size and placement of the eyes, with one pupils represented asymmetrically regarding size and color. Beauford never spoke with anyone on this artistic decision, yet it has been commented on in previous posts on the Les Amis blog.
Self-portrait
(1964) Oil on canvas
Private collection
© Estate of Beauford Delaney
By permission of Derek L. Spratley, Esquire,
Court Appointed Administrator
The eye is seen as a link between our exterior and interior selves, the “window to the soul.” Because of this, artists have used the eyes as symbols of something larger for centuries. Zeus, the King of the Gods in Greek mythology, was considered to be the “all-seeing eye,” a metaphor that connects sight and eyes to religion and God. Large, exaggerated eyes became synonymous with the portraiture in Egyptian art. The eyes in Egyptian images represented the presence of the divine.1
When making connections between Beauford’s depictions of eyes in his self-portraits with possible artistic influences, it is first important to consider where and when he could have been exposed to certain art periods during his lifetime. The asymmetry of the eyes, along with the different coloration in the pupils he depicted, is reminiscent of early Christian art - specifically that of Byzantium.
Byzantine art is often characterized by the static nature in which figures are represented. Byzantine artists departed from classical methods of realistic depictions to focus on religious iconography and symbolism, and eyes became an important feature in conveying divine presence in religious images. The icon of Christ Pantocrator at St. Catherine’s Monastery Sinai is the most well-known example of how eyes were used in religious imagery to illustrate the presence of divinity.
Christ the Savior (Pantokrator)
Anonymous
(6th century) Encaustic on panel
Saint Catherine's Monastery, Mount Sinai
Public domain
This painting of Christ has been interpreted to represent his dual nature as God and human. Christ’s left side (the viewer’s right) is more three-dimensional in his deep-set eye and hollowed cheekbones, his hand clutching a book of Gospel - the word of God. This side is said to represent the human qualities of Christ. His right side (the viewer’s left) is more flat and static, the eye staring flatly and widely out at viewers with his hand held up in the sign of a blessing. These elements illustrate his divine qualities, his godly traits.
Beginning with the French Symbolists in the 1890s, there was a renewed interest in Byzantine art. The Symbolists’ works leaned towards more decoration and abstraction, relying on religious symbols and iconography used by earlier Byzantine artists.
The Cyclops
Odilon Redon
(circa 1898) Oil on cardboard mounted on panel
65.8cm x 52.7cm
Kröller-Müller Museum Collection, Otterlo
Public Domain
This continued into the twentieth century with the Post-Impressionists. Art critic Roger Fry wrote extensively on Cézanne in particular, comparing the abstract simplicity of his work to the mosaics at Ravenna. He coined the term “Proto-Byzantines” and used it to describe Cézanne and Gauguin, but the name did not stick.2
The first art historian to make a direct link between modernist art and Byzantium was Matthew Stewart Prichard, an American art historian who eventually befriended Henri Matisse and introduced him to Byzantine style. Prichard was deputy director at the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum in Boston at the turn of the century, eventually moving to Europe in 1906.3 Isabella Stewart Gardner had a collection of Byzantine art that was on display in the museum, and she often received letters from Prichard on his discoveries overseas and his blossoming friendships with modern artists.
The Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum was one of Beauford Delaney’s favorites when he lived in Boston during the 1920s. He even exchanged words with Ms. Gardner herself at one point. Because of the close connection the Gardner Museum had formed with Byzantine art and Matthew Prichard, we can conclude that Beauford could have been exposed to this period of art as early as his Boston years, inspired by the simple and abstract forms.
The first exhibition of Byzantine art in Paris did not occur until 1931. Beauford would not move to Paris for another 22 years, but even in New York he was aware of and inspired by French modernists who were experiencing a revival of Byzantine art in their country. Matisse became especially enamored with Byzantine coins, stating in 1914 that the Byzantine expression and his have the same aim with the reductionist and stylized use of line.5 His self-portrait from 1906 is eerily similar in expression and style to Beauford’s.
Self-Portrait in a Striped T-shirt
(1906) Oil on canvas
55cm x 46cm
Statens Museum for Kunst, Copenhagen
Public domain in the U.S.
Click HERE to view a full-sized image.
Whether or not Beauford was directly exposed to Byzantine art during his studies and museum visits, he found inspiration in Matisse, who was incorporating Byzantine aesthetics into his artwork when Beauford was only a child.
Beauford was a deeply religious person his entire life. His father was a Methodist preacher, and he entertained friends at parties with the gospel songs he knew by heart throughout his lifetime. Many of his portraits are imbued with religious symbolism, with those closest to him often represented with their hands held up in benediction and halos glowing over their heads. His abstractions from his Paris years were studies in the “religious light” he found upon arriving in France. It is not at all unlikely that he was aware of, and greatly touched by, the early Christian art of Byzantium.
1 Fingesten, Peter. “Sight and Insight: A Contribution Toward An Iconography of the Eye.” Criticism, vol. 1, no. 1, 1959, pp. 20-21. JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/23091098. Accessed July 26, 2019.
2 Fry, Roger. “Letter to the Editor,” The Burlington Magazine, XII, 1908, pg. 58.
3 Bullen, J. B. “Byzantinism and Modernism 1900-14.” The Burlington Magazine, vol. 141, no. 1160, 1999, pp. 668. JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/888554. Accessed July 24, 2019.
4 Byron, Robert. “The Byzantine Exhibition in Paris.” The Burlington Magazine for Connoisseurs, vol. 59, no. 340, 1931, pp. 27. JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/864716. Accessed July 25, 2019.
5 Betancourt, Roland, and Maria Taroutina. Byzantium/Modernism: the Byzantine as Method in Modernity, pg 25. Brill, 2015.
Maija Brennan is the Wells International Foundation's 2019 summer intern. A rising senior at Smith College, she majors in French and art history with a concentration in museum studies. Her eight-week internship focuses on researching the life and art of painter Beauford Delaney and creating an online exhibition of a selection of his works.
One of the best-known Beauford Delaney paintings hangs in the American Art Gallery of the Art Institute of Chicago. A vividly stunning exploration of color and paint, Self-portrait, 1944 is one of his earliest self-portraits in circulation. Beauford was living on Greene Street at the time he created this painting, pushing his abilities with abstraction and the marks he was creating with paint and brush.
(1944) Oil on canvas
Art Institute of Chicago, Chicago
© Estate of Beauford Delaney
By permission of Derek L. Spratley, Esquire,
Court Appointed Administrator
In this self-portrait, Beauford stares at viewers from a three-quarters turn to his right in front of a muddy orange background. His skin tone and facial features are a beautiful mix of warm and cool tones: the browns and reds in his face are broken up by thick and gestural brushstrokes of green and blue. He wears a vibrant red cap and shirt with a blue garment draped over his shoulders.
Despite his bold use of color, the focal point of this self-portrait is Beauford’s asymmetrically large left eye, with the corresponding brow raised in suspicion. This element of Self-portrait, 1944 recurs in almost every subsequent self-portrait of Beauford: asymmetry in size and placement of the eyes, with one pupils represented asymmetrically regarding size and color. Beauford never spoke with anyone on this artistic decision, yet it has been commented on in previous posts on the Les Amis blog.
(1964) Oil on canvas
Private collection
© Estate of Beauford Delaney
By permission of Derek L. Spratley, Esquire,
Court Appointed Administrator
The eye is seen as a link between our exterior and interior selves, the “window to the soul.” Because of this, artists have used the eyes as symbols of something larger for centuries. Zeus, the King of the Gods in Greek mythology, was considered to be the “all-seeing eye,” a metaphor that connects sight and eyes to religion and God. Large, exaggerated eyes became synonymous with the portraiture in Egyptian art. The eyes in Egyptian images represented the presence of the divine.1
When making connections between Beauford’s depictions of eyes in his self-portraits with possible artistic influences, it is first important to consider where and when he could have been exposed to certain art periods during his lifetime. The asymmetry of the eyes, along with the different coloration in the pupils he depicted, is reminiscent of early Christian art - specifically that of Byzantium.
Byzantine art is often characterized by the static nature in which figures are represented. Byzantine artists departed from classical methods of realistic depictions to focus on religious iconography and symbolism, and eyes became an important feature in conveying divine presence in religious images. The icon of Christ Pantocrator at St. Catherine’s Monastery Sinai is the most well-known example of how eyes were used in religious imagery to illustrate the presence of divinity.
Anonymous
(6th century) Encaustic on panel
Saint Catherine's Monastery, Mount Sinai
Public domain
This painting of Christ has been interpreted to represent his dual nature as God and human. Christ’s left side (the viewer’s right) is more three-dimensional in his deep-set eye and hollowed cheekbones, his hand clutching a book of Gospel - the word of God. This side is said to represent the human qualities of Christ. His right side (the viewer’s left) is more flat and static, the eye staring flatly and widely out at viewers with his hand held up in the sign of a blessing. These elements illustrate his divine qualities, his godly traits.
Beginning with the French Symbolists in the 1890s, there was a renewed interest in Byzantine art. The Symbolists’ works leaned towards more decoration and abstraction, relying on religious symbols and iconography used by earlier Byzantine artists.
Odilon Redon
(circa 1898) Oil on cardboard mounted on panel
65.8cm x 52.7cm
Kröller-Müller Museum Collection, Otterlo
Public Domain
This continued into the twentieth century with the Post-Impressionists. Art critic Roger Fry wrote extensively on Cézanne in particular, comparing the abstract simplicity of his work to the mosaics at Ravenna. He coined the term “Proto-Byzantines” and used it to describe Cézanne and Gauguin, but the name did not stick.2
The first art historian to make a direct link between modernist art and Byzantium was Matthew Stewart Prichard, an American art historian who eventually befriended Henri Matisse and introduced him to Byzantine style. Prichard was deputy director at the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum in Boston at the turn of the century, eventually moving to Europe in 1906.3 Isabella Stewart Gardner had a collection of Byzantine art that was on display in the museum, and she often received letters from Prichard on his discoveries overseas and his blossoming friendships with modern artists.
The Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum was one of Beauford Delaney’s favorites when he lived in Boston during the 1920s. He even exchanged words with Ms. Gardner herself at one point. Because of the close connection the Gardner Museum had formed with Byzantine art and Matthew Prichard, we can conclude that Beauford could have been exposed to this period of art as early as his Boston years, inspired by the simple and abstract forms.
The first exhibition of Byzantine art in Paris did not occur until 1931. Beauford would not move to Paris for another 22 years, but even in New York he was aware of and inspired by French modernists who were experiencing a revival of Byzantine art in their country. Matisse became especially enamored with Byzantine coins, stating in 1914 that the Byzantine expression and his have the same aim with the reductionist and stylized use of line.5 His self-portrait from 1906 is eerily similar in expression and style to Beauford’s.
(1906) Oil on canvas
55cm x 46cm
Statens Museum for Kunst, Copenhagen
Public domain in the U.S.
Click HERE to view a full-sized image.
Whether or not Beauford was directly exposed to Byzantine art during his studies and museum visits, he found inspiration in Matisse, who was incorporating Byzantine aesthetics into his artwork when Beauford was only a child.
Beauford was a deeply religious person his entire life. His father was a Methodist preacher, and he entertained friends at parties with the gospel songs he knew by heart throughout his lifetime. Many of his portraits are imbued with religious symbolism, with those closest to him often represented with their hands held up in benediction and halos glowing over their heads. His abstractions from his Paris years were studies in the “religious light” he found upon arriving in France. It is not at all unlikely that he was aware of, and greatly touched by, the early Christian art of Byzantium.
1 Fingesten, Peter. “Sight and Insight: A Contribution Toward An Iconography of the Eye.” Criticism, vol. 1, no. 1, 1959, pp. 20-21. JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/23091098. Accessed July 26, 2019.
2 Fry, Roger. “Letter to the Editor,” The Burlington Magazine, XII, 1908, pg. 58.
3 Bullen, J. B. “Byzantinism and Modernism 1900-14.” The Burlington Magazine, vol. 141, no. 1160, 1999, pp. 668. JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/888554. Accessed July 24, 2019.
4 Byron, Robert. “The Byzantine Exhibition in Paris.” The Burlington Magazine for Connoisseurs, vol. 59, no. 340, 1931, pp. 27. JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/864716. Accessed July 25, 2019.
5 Betancourt, Roland, and Maria Taroutina. Byzantium/Modernism: the Byzantine as Method in Modernity, pg 25. Brill, 2015.
Beauford Delaney’s Balzac by Rodin
By Maija Brennan
Maija Brennan is the Wells International Foundation's 2019 summer intern. A rising senior at Smith College, she majors in French and art history with a concentration in museum studies. Her eight-week internship focuses on researching the life and art of painter Beauford Delaney and creating an online exhibition of a selection of his works.
An interesting study in form and color, Balzac by Rodin is an oil painting Beauford completed circa 1968, which depicts a statue that Rodin made in memory of the French novelist, Honoré Balzac.
This painting is a beautiful exploration of color blocking and composition. In the foreground, Rodin’s sculpture of Balzac is in the center left. It is defined by thick lines of green and fushia pink, with occasional blobs of yellow dotting Balzac’s torso. Beauford’s view is lower than the sculpture; viewers are looking up at Balzac’s upturned face. Hills of solid green and orange ramble throughout the background of the painting underneath a pink-white sky with an amorphous blue form dotting the surface. Two trees flank Rodin’s sculpture, one of which bends slightly, giving the impression that this was painted on a windy day.
The subject of the painting is a curious choice. The history of Auguste Rodin’s sculpture is intriguing, not just in and of itself, but also for Rodin’s methods in creating a portrait. It is possible Beauford admired the work of art not just for its aesthetic attributes, but also for how it related to his own ideas of portraiture.
Balzac by Rodin
(ca. 1968) Oil on canvas
24 x 19 1/2 in (61x50 cm)
© Estate of Beauford Delaney
(Fair use claim)
Monument to Balzac is a sculpture Auguste Rodin created between 1892 and 1897 in memory of Balzac. The work of art was commissioned by the Société des Gens de Lettres in 1891, and Rodin was given 18 months to finish the project. Instead, he took seven years. The sculptor became enamored with the novelist and devoured all of his literature. He also extensively researched Balzac’s personality, an approach taken by the writer himself when developing characters for his novels. Rodin traveled to Balzac’s hometown and completed dozens of portrait studies to achieve the writer’s likeness.
Monument to Balzac, 1898
Bronze
Musée Rodin, Paris
Photo by Beyond My Ken
Creative Commons License
However, by the end of the project in 1898, Rodin explained that likeness to his subject was not his ultimate goal. Through his readings, voyages and studies, Rodin set out to capture the inner essence, the persona, of Honoré Balzac, rather than physical likeness.
In a letter composed at the completion of the sculpture, Rodin said:
“The only thing I realize today is that the neck is too strong. Through the exaggerated neck I wanted to represent strength. I realize that the execution exceeded the idea.”
When the sculpture was presented at the Salon de la Société Nationale des Beaux-Arts, critics found it to be too grotesque and garish. Despite the backlash, Rodin’s contemporaries - Paul Cézanne, Toulouse-Lautrec and Claude Monet - supported the artist and what he had set out to do.
Monument to Balzac is a symbol in art history for Rodin’s approach to portraiture. Creating a sculpture in Balzac’s image became less about capturing his features to a painstakingly accurate degree, and more about encapsulating the subject’s essence.
It is possible that Beauford painted Rodin’s sculpture because he saw it as an important icon in the Parisian landscape. More likely than not though, he appreciated and admired Rodin’s method of creating Balzac’s portrait. While Beauford never took seven years to extensively research the subjects of his own paintings, he had a strong point of view about how he wanted to portray those sitting for him. He cared less about depicting facial characteristics accurately, and more about making visible the subjects’ inner personalities and characters.
Beauford’s portraits were testaments of love to those he painted and drew - his friends, family, and public figures he admired. Auguste Rodin’s sculpture was in much the same way a declaration of admiration and appreciation for Honoré Balzac as an artist and person. In painting Balzac by Rodin, perhaps Beauford was expressing a kinship felt for his artistic predecessor and simultaneously paying homage to both Rodin and Balzac.
Maija Brennan is the Wells International Foundation's 2019 summer intern. A rising senior at Smith College, she majors in French and art history with a concentration in museum studies. Her eight-week internship focuses on researching the life and art of painter Beauford Delaney and creating an online exhibition of a selection of his works.
An interesting study in form and color, Balzac by Rodin is an oil painting Beauford completed circa 1968, which depicts a statue that Rodin made in memory of the French novelist, Honoré Balzac.
This painting is a beautiful exploration of color blocking and composition. In the foreground, Rodin’s sculpture of Balzac is in the center left. It is defined by thick lines of green and fushia pink, with occasional blobs of yellow dotting Balzac’s torso. Beauford’s view is lower than the sculpture; viewers are looking up at Balzac’s upturned face. Hills of solid green and orange ramble throughout the background of the painting underneath a pink-white sky with an amorphous blue form dotting the surface. Two trees flank Rodin’s sculpture, one of which bends slightly, giving the impression that this was painted on a windy day.
The subject of the painting is a curious choice. The history of Auguste Rodin’s sculpture is intriguing, not just in and of itself, but also for Rodin’s methods in creating a portrait. It is possible Beauford admired the work of art not just for its aesthetic attributes, but also for how it related to his own ideas of portraiture.
(ca. 1968) Oil on canvas
24 x 19 1/2 in (61x50 cm)
© Estate of Beauford Delaney
(Fair use claim)
Monument to Balzac is a sculpture Auguste Rodin created between 1892 and 1897 in memory of Balzac. The work of art was commissioned by the Société des Gens de Lettres in 1891, and Rodin was given 18 months to finish the project. Instead, he took seven years. The sculptor became enamored with the novelist and devoured all of his literature. He also extensively researched Balzac’s personality, an approach taken by the writer himself when developing characters for his novels. Rodin traveled to Balzac’s hometown and completed dozens of portrait studies to achieve the writer’s likeness.
Bronze
Musée Rodin, Paris
Photo by Beyond My Ken
Creative Commons License
However, by the end of the project in 1898, Rodin explained that likeness to his subject was not his ultimate goal. Through his readings, voyages and studies, Rodin set out to capture the inner essence, the persona, of Honoré Balzac, rather than physical likeness.
In a letter composed at the completion of the sculpture, Rodin said:
“The only thing I realize today is that the neck is too strong. Through the exaggerated neck I wanted to represent strength. I realize that the execution exceeded the idea.”
When the sculpture was presented at the Salon de la Société Nationale des Beaux-Arts, critics found it to be too grotesque and garish. Despite the backlash, Rodin’s contemporaries - Paul Cézanne, Toulouse-Lautrec and Claude Monet - supported the artist and what he had set out to do.
Monument to Balzac is a symbol in art history for Rodin’s approach to portraiture. Creating a sculpture in Balzac’s image became less about capturing his features to a painstakingly accurate degree, and more about encapsulating the subject’s essence.
It is possible that Beauford painted Rodin’s sculpture because he saw it as an important icon in the Parisian landscape. More likely than not though, he appreciated and admired Rodin’s method of creating Balzac’s portrait. While Beauford never took seven years to extensively research the subjects of his own paintings, he had a strong point of view about how he wanted to portray those sitting for him. He cared less about depicting facial characteristics accurately, and more about making visible the subjects’ inner personalities and characters.
Beauford’s portraits were testaments of love to those he painted and drew - his friends, family, and public figures he admired. Auguste Rodin’s sculpture was in much the same way a declaration of admiration and appreciation for Honoré Balzac as an artist and person. In painting Balzac by Rodin, perhaps Beauford was expressing a kinship felt for his artistic predecessor and simultaneously paying homage to both Rodin and Balzac.
Beauford Delaney’s Man in African Dress
By Maija Brennan
Maija Brennan is the Wells International Foundation's 2019 summer intern. A rising senior at Smith College, she majors in French and art history with a concentration in museum studies. Her eight-week internship focuses on researching the life and art of painter Beauford Delaney and creating an online exhibition of a selection of his works.
Of the dozens of portraits completed by Beauford Delaney throughout his lifetime, many portray anonymous subjects that have yet to be identified. Man in African Dress, an oil painting completed in 1972, depicts a black man in a pastel-striped African garment ensemble sitting on a red chair with his legs spread wide and his hands perched on either armrest. Surrounding him are abstracted shapes of green and yellow, forms that could be interpreted as foliage - part an outdoor setting.
Man in African Dress, c. 1972
Oil on canvas
21 ¾” x 17 ¾”/ 55.2 x 45.1 cm
© Estate of Beauford Delaney
by permission of Derek L. Spratley, Esquire,
Court Appointed Administrator
Courtesy of Michael Rosenfeld Gallery LLC
New York, NY
The man stares straight at the viewer with slightly furrowed eyebrows; he looks stoic and intimidating. Despite the deep hues of browns, greens, and yellows Beauford used in the man’s face and arms, his physical body becomes background to his vibrant, and dynamic striped clothing. The lines of pink, blue, green, and yellow vary in thickness and bend with the movement of the man’s seated position. The lively dynamism of the African dress, juxtaposed against the man’s tranquil body language, becomes the focal point of this painting.
One of the most beautiful juxtapositions within Man in African Dress is the yellow line on the right leg of the man contrasted with the red of his seat. Such a bright color next to the solid red hue emphasizes the proud nature of the man and his regal chair. The vivid pastels on someone with such stately bearing begs the question of his identity and his country of origin. It is unclear whether the man in the portrait is someone Beauford knew personally in Paris, or an invention of his mind, oil paints and paintbrush. What is immediately understandable from this portrait though, is the story and point of view he was trying to convey regarding the subject. The man in African dress sits tall and strong, his stance and facial expression conveying the fact that he is assured in who he is and where he comes from.
Newlyweds on Holiday, 2016
Charcoal, pastel and pencil on paper
63” x 41”
© Toyin Ojih Odutola
Courtesy of the artist and Jack Shainman Gallery, New York
CLICK HERE to see full-sized image.
This charcoal and pastel drawing by Toyin Ojih Odutola, a contemporary artist, is reminiscent of Beauford’s Man in African Dress in its use of pattern and portrayal of the drawing’s subjects. Odutola was born in Nigeria and raised in Alabama. This particular drawing comes from a series she did of a fictional story surrounding two Nigerian families, one an ancient noble clan and the other made rich by trade and vineyards.
Odutola has garnered attention and critical acclaim not only for her treatment of her medium - she creates deeply complex and textured drawings with ballpoint pen and pastel - but also for her subject matter. In an interview with Vogue Magazine, she talks about how these drawings became an extended narrative on “wealth and nobility” in Nigeria, a way of wondering out loud what might have been possible in Africa if colonization had not occurred.
Every one of her drawings contain a myriad of patterns and textures that jump off the page and move with such fluidity that they seem to dance. In Newlyweds on Holiday, the faces of the two men are so rich in detail from the ballpoint pen that their furrowed, almost sour expressions are hidden by the deep darks and lights created. There are juxtapositions between patterns on every inch of the paper, from the suits of the men, to the carpet, to the floral wallpaper. Odutola has an extremely particular and talented eye for creating dynamic and engaging compositions.
Newlyweds on Holiday is an interesting work of art to compare to Man in African Dress. Created more than 40 years after Beauford’s oil painting, Odutola utilizes many of the same techniques Beauford did in a more contemporary artistic fashion. Both works of art depict African people in a similar manner. The man in Beauford’s paintings and the two in Odutola’s work are represented as majestic, proud and strong individuals. Pattern, in clothing and in surroundings, is used to highlight this fact. While the patterns in Beauford’s painting are those of traditional African dress, Odutola meditates on what Nigerian wealth and nobility would wear in modern times. The artists have differing narratives surrounding their respective works of art, yet their techniques to convey these points of view converge, creating a thread linking artwork being created in 2016 to Beauford’s production in 1972. Whether or not Odutola is aware of and was inspired by Beauford’s artwork directly, at least one other person has included the two artists’ work in an evaluation of similarly-themed paintings.
In Fall/Winter 2018/2019 edition of Pin Up Magazine, Tiana Webb Evans wrote “Folks on Chairs: African-American Home Life As Seen Through the Lens of Art.” In the article, she discusses how racial segregation and social alienation in the United States have led to an invisibility and lack of connection to African-American home life. She included eight works of art by black artists that feature black subjects sitting on chairs, most of which are found in interior spaces. Evans dissects how the chair is used to create a certain mood in the work of art, one that the viewer can understand and relate to. Beauford’s Man in African Dress is featured in this article along with Odutola’s A Grand Inheritance, a charcoal and pastel drawing of a person slouched on a red chair - one not so different from Beauford’s.
A Grand Inheritance, 2016
Charcoal, pastel, and pencil on paper
© Toyin Ojih Odutola
Courtesy of the artist and Jack Shainman Gallery, New York
CLICK HERE to see full-sized image.
Though Evans does not discuss Man in African Dress in her text, her use of the image invites certain comparisons to be made between Beauford’s work and that of the other artists featured in “Folks on Chairs.” The viewer / reader can see that Odutola’s A Grand Inheritance and Man in African Dress make statements on black identity through their use of pattern and color.
Maija Brennan is the Wells International Foundation's 2019 summer intern. A rising senior at Smith College, she majors in French and art history with a concentration in museum studies. Her eight-week internship focuses on researching the life and art of painter Beauford Delaney and creating an online exhibition of a selection of his works.
Of the dozens of portraits completed by Beauford Delaney throughout his lifetime, many portray anonymous subjects that have yet to be identified. Man in African Dress, an oil painting completed in 1972, depicts a black man in a pastel-striped African garment ensemble sitting on a red chair with his legs spread wide and his hands perched on either armrest. Surrounding him are abstracted shapes of green and yellow, forms that could be interpreted as foliage - part an outdoor setting.
Oil on canvas
21 ¾” x 17 ¾”/ 55.2 x 45.1 cm
© Estate of Beauford Delaney
by permission of Derek L. Spratley, Esquire,
Court Appointed Administrator
Courtesy of Michael Rosenfeld Gallery LLC
New York, NY
The man stares straight at the viewer with slightly furrowed eyebrows; he looks stoic and intimidating. Despite the deep hues of browns, greens, and yellows Beauford used in the man’s face and arms, his physical body becomes background to his vibrant, and dynamic striped clothing. The lines of pink, blue, green, and yellow vary in thickness and bend with the movement of the man’s seated position. The lively dynamism of the African dress, juxtaposed against the man’s tranquil body language, becomes the focal point of this painting.
One of the most beautiful juxtapositions within Man in African Dress is the yellow line on the right leg of the man contrasted with the red of his seat. Such a bright color next to the solid red hue emphasizes the proud nature of the man and his regal chair. The vivid pastels on someone with such stately bearing begs the question of his identity and his country of origin. It is unclear whether the man in the portrait is someone Beauford knew personally in Paris, or an invention of his mind, oil paints and paintbrush. What is immediately understandable from this portrait though, is the story and point of view he was trying to convey regarding the subject. The man in African dress sits tall and strong, his stance and facial expression conveying the fact that he is assured in who he is and where he comes from.
Charcoal, pastel and pencil on paper
63” x 41”
© Toyin Ojih Odutola
Courtesy of the artist and Jack Shainman Gallery, New York
CLICK HERE to see full-sized image.
This charcoal and pastel drawing by Toyin Ojih Odutola, a contemporary artist, is reminiscent of Beauford’s Man in African Dress in its use of pattern and portrayal of the drawing’s subjects. Odutola was born in Nigeria and raised in Alabama. This particular drawing comes from a series she did of a fictional story surrounding two Nigerian families, one an ancient noble clan and the other made rich by trade and vineyards.
Odutola has garnered attention and critical acclaim not only for her treatment of her medium - she creates deeply complex and textured drawings with ballpoint pen and pastel - but also for her subject matter. In an interview with Vogue Magazine, she talks about how these drawings became an extended narrative on “wealth and nobility” in Nigeria, a way of wondering out loud what might have been possible in Africa if colonization had not occurred.
Every one of her drawings contain a myriad of patterns and textures that jump off the page and move with such fluidity that they seem to dance. In Newlyweds on Holiday, the faces of the two men are so rich in detail from the ballpoint pen that their furrowed, almost sour expressions are hidden by the deep darks and lights created. There are juxtapositions between patterns on every inch of the paper, from the suits of the men, to the carpet, to the floral wallpaper. Odutola has an extremely particular and talented eye for creating dynamic and engaging compositions.
Newlyweds on Holiday is an interesting work of art to compare to Man in African Dress. Created more than 40 years after Beauford’s oil painting, Odutola utilizes many of the same techniques Beauford did in a more contemporary artistic fashion. Both works of art depict African people in a similar manner. The man in Beauford’s paintings and the two in Odutola’s work are represented as majestic, proud and strong individuals. Pattern, in clothing and in surroundings, is used to highlight this fact. While the patterns in Beauford’s painting are those of traditional African dress, Odutola meditates on what Nigerian wealth and nobility would wear in modern times. The artists have differing narratives surrounding their respective works of art, yet their techniques to convey these points of view converge, creating a thread linking artwork being created in 2016 to Beauford’s production in 1972. Whether or not Odutola is aware of and was inspired by Beauford’s artwork directly, at least one other person has included the two artists’ work in an evaluation of similarly-themed paintings.
In Fall/Winter 2018/2019 edition of Pin Up Magazine, Tiana Webb Evans wrote “Folks on Chairs: African-American Home Life As Seen Through the Lens of Art.” In the article, she discusses how racial segregation and social alienation in the United States have led to an invisibility and lack of connection to African-American home life. She included eight works of art by black artists that feature black subjects sitting on chairs, most of which are found in interior spaces. Evans dissects how the chair is used to create a certain mood in the work of art, one that the viewer can understand and relate to. Beauford’s Man in African Dress is featured in this article along with Odutola’s A Grand Inheritance, a charcoal and pastel drawing of a person slouched on a red chair - one not so different from Beauford’s.
Charcoal, pastel, and pencil on paper
© Toyin Ojih Odutola
Courtesy of the artist and Jack Shainman Gallery, New York
CLICK HERE to see full-sized image.
Though Evans does not discuss Man in African Dress in her text, her use of the image invites certain comparisons to be made between Beauford’s work and that of the other artists featured in “Folks on Chairs.” The viewer / reader can see that Odutola’s A Grand Inheritance and Man in African Dress make statements on black identity through their use of pattern and color.
Parisian Café Culture and Beauford Delaney
By Maija Brennan
Maija Brennan is the Wells International Foundation's 2019 summer intern. A rising senior at Smith College, she majors in French and art history with a concentration in museum studies. Her eight-week internship focuses on researching the life and art of painter Beauford Delaney and creating an online exhibition of a selection of his works.
Induction into the café scene in Paris has been a rite of passage for artists and intellectuals from around the world for over two centuries. A hub for heated discourse, the exchange of new ideas, and a place to build up your network of connections, cafés have been prominent pillars in French society since before the French Revolution.
Café Procope in 1743
Image in public domain
Coffee arrived in Western countries in the 17th century as a result of political and imperial expeditions. Consuming coffee was, at first, reserved for the dominant social classes. During the age of the Enlightenment and the French Revolution, innovative ideas surrounding the political and social spheres in France were exchanged amongst revolutionaries over coffee and alcohol in salons littéraires. By 1909, Paris alone housed 30,000 cafés.
Such “micro-societies” remained at the forefront of fostering new schools of thought in the arts and politics throughout the twentieth century. Expats from other countries began to understand the importance of cafés in finding a community, from German avant-garde artists before World War I to the “Lost Generation” of the 1920s.
Members of the Lost Generation
The Murphys, Pauline Pfeiffer, and the Hemingways
Image in public domain
Beauford Delaney, an African-American Abstract Expressionist painter who traded his artistic life in New York for Paris in 1953, found solace and solidarity in the Parisian cafés he frequented until his death in 1979. It was during his first night in Paris, hungry and restless, that Beauford walked into the Dôme Café on the corner of rue Delambre and boulevard du Montparnasse, returning often after that point. This and other Parisian cafés in Montparnasse and Saint-Germain-des-Près became crucial to Beauford’s well-being and happiness throughout the 26 years he lived in the city.
As an African-American gay man who struggled intensely with his mental and emotional health, the various social circles that existed within the cafés dispersed throughout Paris offered a refuge for fraternity, stimulating conversation, and oftentimes a discounted or free meal when he couldn’t afford one himself as a impoverished painter. The community provided by Parisian café culture for artists and writers of all persuasions, and for African-American artists and writers in particular, was central to Beauford Delaney’s life and the birthplace for many valued relationships he cultivated during his time in France.
Coffee cup and sugar cube
Mickael Favier
Creative Commons License
The strong historical precedent for African-American presence in Paris cafés began in the aftermath of the First World War, when expats flocked to Montmartre for conversations with like-minded individuals. Tyler Stovall described this black experience in Paris Noir: African Americans in the City of Light, stating that by 1919, musical opportunities for black jazz musicians were drying up in the US due to the wartime industrial boom coming to an end. Jazz was becoming wildly popular in France and in Paris, and for many African Americans who relocated, it was a quick way to gain fame and fortune. Montmartre in the 1920s was seen as Harlem transplanted, the jazz clubs being where black and white people alike went for a good time.
Places such as Le Grand Duc and Chez Florence, clubs owned by African Americans, became notorious not only amongst those in Montmartre, but other circles as well; Scott Fitzgerald and other members of the Lost Generation flocked to the area from Montparnasse, knowing it was where the best parties were occurring. Fitzgerald loved Ada Louise Smith (“Bricktop”), an African-American singer, so much that he included her in one of his fictional pieces and bragged about “discovering” her before his other friends.
Ada "Bricktop" Smith
1934 Carl Van Vechten
Image in public domain
The Flea Pit, a café in Montmartre, became a staple for African-American musicians. They would meet there at any point in the day to share a drink and each other’s company.
Quote about the Flea Pit
from Becoming American in Paris
Brooke L. Blower
While this era was not the first for African Americans in Paris or for café culture, it was a time where black creatives could thrive in spaces that were typically dominated by their white peers.
The black community that developed in Paris during the 20s was virtually destroyed as a result of the Depression and the Second World War, and many African Americans recrossed the Atlantic during the 1930s. The community slowly rebuilt itself in the 40s and 50s, this time across the Seine in Montparnasse and Saint-Germain-des-Prés. Herbert Gentry, an African-American painter who sailed to France with Beauford on the SS Liberté, said it best when he said that “it was the Americans who really made Montparnasse.”
Herb Gentry in Paris
c. 1949
Image courtesy of Mary Anne Rose
The artistic community on the Left Bank thrived after World War II. African-American artists and writers began holding court at many of the cafés the white expats and intellectuals frequented during the same period: the Closerie de Lilas, the Coupole, and Café de Flore. Café Tournon and Café Monaco, however, were spots known for its African-American following. Richard Wright and James Baldwin were among those who could be seen every day engrossed in conversation nursing a cup of coffee (or something stronger), and not getting as much writing or work done as they had anticipated. Paris Noir cites the journal of Vertamae Smart-Grosvenor, a black South Carolina native who moved to Paris in 1958. She writes that two hours after landing, a “brother from Senegal” invited her to have coffee at Café Dupont in the 15th arrondissement. She was in awe at finding a “gang” so quickly after arriving.
Beauford Delaney was one of those Americans that made Montparnasse the lively, culturally rich environment that it was known for. The Dôme Café, the place he stumbled upon hours after arriving in Paris, became one of his usual haunts. He loved the Dôme for its affordable prices at the time, yet was often invited to the Coupole (the most expensive of the Montparnasse cafés at the time) as well by his European artist friends. Along with the Dôme and the Coupole, he could be spotted at Café de Flore and Café Tournon, popular spots for friends in his circle. He would spend hours at a table with them, doling out pieces of advice and sharing stories of his upbringing in Tennessee.
Beauford wrote on his adoration for Parisian café culture shortly after moving:
“Some of the cafés never closed. I had never seen such life and could not suppress an eagerness to join into this rhythm. . . . Nights and days we would come together at mealtimes and swap our various experiences or relate how this activity in life and art were fused, what this group or that group thought of this or that school of painting, writing, music.”
Through the relationships formed in Paris cafés, Beauford was being intellectually stimulated like never before, generating new ideas and beliefs surrounding art and the kind of work he wanted to produce. Even in his later years, when his delusions and paranoia were getting the better of him, he would walk into his favorite cafés confused and with little to no money. Patrons and diners alike loved Beauford though; he was a local café celebrity known for his sweet demeanor and constant words of wisdom. Someone would always be there to help him pay for a meal and to guide him home.
Café Floor
Delfo
Creative Commons License
Beauford sailed to France never intending to stay longer than a few months. He fell into the rhythm of Montparnasse, teeming with creative and intellectual energy, and lived out the remaining 26 years of his life there. The café culture for artists in Paris is notorious throughout the globe, and Beauford Delaney is a longstanding symbol of the community and camaraderie synonymous with it.
Maija Brennan is the Wells International Foundation's 2019 summer intern. A rising senior at Smith College, she majors in French and art history with a concentration in museum studies. Her eight-week internship focuses on researching the life and art of painter Beauford Delaney and creating an online exhibition of a selection of his works.
Induction into the café scene in Paris has been a rite of passage for artists and intellectuals from around the world for over two centuries. A hub for heated discourse, the exchange of new ideas, and a place to build up your network of connections, cafés have been prominent pillars in French society since before the French Revolution.
Image in public domain
Coffee arrived in Western countries in the 17th century as a result of political and imperial expeditions. Consuming coffee was, at first, reserved for the dominant social classes. During the age of the Enlightenment and the French Revolution, innovative ideas surrounding the political and social spheres in France were exchanged amongst revolutionaries over coffee and alcohol in salons littéraires. By 1909, Paris alone housed 30,000 cafés.
Such “micro-societies” remained at the forefront of fostering new schools of thought in the arts and politics throughout the twentieth century. Expats from other countries began to understand the importance of cafés in finding a community, from German avant-garde artists before World War I to the “Lost Generation” of the 1920s.
The Murphys, Pauline Pfeiffer, and the Hemingways
Image in public domain
Beauford Delaney, an African-American Abstract Expressionist painter who traded his artistic life in New York for Paris in 1953, found solace and solidarity in the Parisian cafés he frequented until his death in 1979. It was during his first night in Paris, hungry and restless, that Beauford walked into the Dôme Café on the corner of rue Delambre and boulevard du Montparnasse, returning often after that point. This and other Parisian cafés in Montparnasse and Saint-Germain-des-Près became crucial to Beauford’s well-being and happiness throughout the 26 years he lived in the city.
As an African-American gay man who struggled intensely with his mental and emotional health, the various social circles that existed within the cafés dispersed throughout Paris offered a refuge for fraternity, stimulating conversation, and oftentimes a discounted or free meal when he couldn’t afford one himself as a impoverished painter. The community provided by Parisian café culture for artists and writers of all persuasions, and for African-American artists and writers in particular, was central to Beauford Delaney’s life and the birthplace for many valued relationships he cultivated during his time in France.
Mickael Favier
Creative Commons License
The strong historical precedent for African-American presence in Paris cafés began in the aftermath of the First World War, when expats flocked to Montmartre for conversations with like-minded individuals. Tyler Stovall described this black experience in Paris Noir: African Americans in the City of Light, stating that by 1919, musical opportunities for black jazz musicians were drying up in the US due to the wartime industrial boom coming to an end. Jazz was becoming wildly popular in France and in Paris, and for many African Americans who relocated, it was a quick way to gain fame and fortune. Montmartre in the 1920s was seen as Harlem transplanted, the jazz clubs being where black and white people alike went for a good time.
Places such as Le Grand Duc and Chez Florence, clubs owned by African Americans, became notorious not only amongst those in Montmartre, but other circles as well; Scott Fitzgerald and other members of the Lost Generation flocked to the area from Montparnasse, knowing it was where the best parties were occurring. Fitzgerald loved Ada Louise Smith (“Bricktop”), an African-American singer, so much that he included her in one of his fictional pieces and bragged about “discovering” her before his other friends.
1934 Carl Van Vechten
Image in public domain
The Flea Pit, a café in Montmartre, became a staple for African-American musicians. They would meet there at any point in the day to share a drink and each other’s company.
from Becoming American in Paris
Brooke L. Blower
While this era was not the first for African Americans in Paris or for café culture, it was a time where black creatives could thrive in spaces that were typically dominated by their white peers.
The black community that developed in Paris during the 20s was virtually destroyed as a result of the Depression and the Second World War, and many African Americans recrossed the Atlantic during the 1930s. The community slowly rebuilt itself in the 40s and 50s, this time across the Seine in Montparnasse and Saint-Germain-des-Prés. Herbert Gentry, an African-American painter who sailed to France with Beauford on the SS Liberté, said it best when he said that “it was the Americans who really made Montparnasse.”
c. 1949
Image courtesy of Mary Anne Rose
The artistic community on the Left Bank thrived after World War II. African-American artists and writers began holding court at many of the cafés the white expats and intellectuals frequented during the same period: the Closerie de Lilas, the Coupole, and Café de Flore. Café Tournon and Café Monaco, however, were spots known for its African-American following. Richard Wright and James Baldwin were among those who could be seen every day engrossed in conversation nursing a cup of coffee (or something stronger), and not getting as much writing or work done as they had anticipated. Paris Noir cites the journal of Vertamae Smart-Grosvenor, a black South Carolina native who moved to Paris in 1958. She writes that two hours after landing, a “brother from Senegal” invited her to have coffee at Café Dupont in the 15th arrondissement. She was in awe at finding a “gang” so quickly after arriving.
Beauford Delaney was one of those Americans that made Montparnasse the lively, culturally rich environment that it was known for. The Dôme Café, the place he stumbled upon hours after arriving in Paris, became one of his usual haunts. He loved the Dôme for its affordable prices at the time, yet was often invited to the Coupole (the most expensive of the Montparnasse cafés at the time) as well by his European artist friends. Along with the Dôme and the Coupole, he could be spotted at Café de Flore and Café Tournon, popular spots for friends in his circle. He would spend hours at a table with them, doling out pieces of advice and sharing stories of his upbringing in Tennessee.
Beauford wrote on his adoration for Parisian café culture shortly after moving:
“Some of the cafés never closed. I had never seen such life and could not suppress an eagerness to join into this rhythm. . . . Nights and days we would come together at mealtimes and swap our various experiences or relate how this activity in life and art were fused, what this group or that group thought of this or that school of painting, writing, music.”
Through the relationships formed in Paris cafés, Beauford was being intellectually stimulated like never before, generating new ideas and beliefs surrounding art and the kind of work he wanted to produce. Even in his later years, when his delusions and paranoia were getting the better of him, he would walk into his favorite cafés confused and with little to no money. Patrons and diners alike loved Beauford though; he was a local café celebrity known for his sweet demeanor and constant words of wisdom. Someone would always be there to help him pay for a meal and to guide him home.
Delfo
Creative Commons License
Beauford sailed to France never intending to stay longer than a few months. He fell into the rhythm of Montparnasse, teeming with creative and intellectual energy, and lived out the remaining 26 years of his life there. The café culture for artists in Paris is notorious throughout the globe, and Beauford Delaney is a longstanding symbol of the community and camaraderie synonymous with it.
Beauford Delaney and the Mysterious Odalisque
By Maija Brennan
Maija Brennan is the Wells International Foundation's 2019 summer intern. A rising senior at Smith College, she majors in French and art history with a concentration in museum studies. Her eight-week internship focuses on researching the life and art of painter Beauford Delaney and creating an online exhibition of a selection of his works.
As a way to capture likeness or a moment in time, or to represent some key element regarding their identity and the art they create, self-portraits of visual artists date back hundreds of years. Beauford Delaney is known for his elegant and thoughtful portraits of others; he memorialized his friends and family through the loving nature in which he put paint down on the canvas. Alongside those around him, he represented his own face dozens of times throughout his career. His self-portraits are reflections of how he perceived himself outwardly and inwardly.
Self-Portrait with Odalisque, a painting completed in 1943, is a thought-provoking work of art in terms of the subject matter and the intentions behind it. The oil painting depicts Beauford seated on a stool in the lower right hand corner, a guitar in his lap. To his right, a few feet away, is a topless black woman lounging on a mattress. They are surrounded by trees and foliage, a body of water behind them. The portrait is done in a painterly manner - the brush strokes are visible and free, the colors lively and bright.
Untitled (Self-Portrait with Odalisque)
(c. 1943) Oil on panel
© Estate of Beauford Delaney
by permission of Derek L. Spratley, Esquire,
Court Appointed Administrator
Image courtesy of the Michael Rosenfeld Gallery
The original definition of an “odalisque” is a chambermaid in a Turkish seraglio. Seraglios were the living quarters of the women in Turkish households, and odalisques served the women and mistresses of the home. Beginning in the 19th century, many artists from Western civilizations began traveling to countries where odalisques lived - places dubbed “oriental”: The Middle East, Asia, and North Africa. Because of European political interests in “The Orient,” artists and writers from countries such as France and Great Britain became fascinated with the culture and aesthetics of Eastern civilizations that were worlds away from what they knew as familiar. Some of the most notorious and celebrated works by Eugène Delacroix and Jean Auguste Dominique Ingres, two French 19th-century painters, were “oriental” scenes: Turkish baths, village scenes, and richly decorated interior spaces.
Odalisques became frequent subjects in such paintings, and the definition of their social standing and occupation took on new meanings through a Western lens as European artists depicted them as concubines or consorts to the wealthy men with whom they resided. From Ingres, to Picasso and Matisse later in the 20th century, it became common practice to represent these women as sultry and erotic, more often than not lounging on their sides naked and gazing at the viewer. Depictions of “oriental” scenes and people fascinated Western artists and viewers; the “exotic nature” of different ways of life allowed Europeans to both admire the aesthetics of certain things and judge practices that did not correspond with their Western values and beliefs.
Within the context of odalisques in the canon of art history, it is curious that Beauford would decide to depict such a figure in one of his paintings, let alone a self-portrait. During the 1940s, he was in New York City, in the midst of his Greene Street era, and animated works of art representing the scenes and objects he saw in his everyday life were often experiments in abstraction and use of color. It was during this time that Beauford was becoming increasingly interested in modern artists and the techniques they used, both the United States and abroad. A big fan of Henri Matisse and Pablo Picasso, it is possible that he studied and admired their works with odalisques. Perhaps he painted the woman in his self-portrait to create an image of himself as a global modernist, one knowledgeable in the trend of “Orientalism” that had been prominent at the turn of the century.
Self-portraits are oftentimes explorations of new techniques for artists, a way to navigate new methods of creating art. Self-Portrait with Odalisque is more figurative and narrative than the abstract cityscapes and portraits Beauford was completing at the time, so he could have been experimenting with a new method of storytelling in his paintings.
As a gay man wary of sexual promiscuity and eroticism, it is unusual that Beauford would choose to depict a woman that was a symbol for such traits in Western art history. Before completing Dark Rapture (1941), his first portrait of James Baldwin, the girlfriend of Emile Capouya (the man who introduced Baldwin and Beauford) insisted that he paint a nude portrait of her. Beauford was always shy in the figure drawing classes he took at the Art Students’ League with regard to nude portraits and was relieved to know it was against the rules for black artists to be present when there was a white model. The presence of the odalisque, who is black, may be a nod to his painting experience with Emile’s girlfriend, or to the racist rules that were in place in artistic organizations at the time.
Le déjeuner sur l’herbe (Luncheon on the Grass)
Edouard Manet
(1863) Oil on Canvas
Musée d’Orsay, Paris, France
Google Art Project - Image in Public Domain
The immediate comparison that comes to mind when viewing Self-Portrait with Odalisque is its similarities with Le déjeuner sur l’herbe (1863), the ground-breaking painting by Edouard Manet. Producing an outcry from the Paris Salon for the distorted use of perspective and the “pornographic” scene of two business men with scantily-clad women, this painting became infamous in Manet’s time. Certain parallels between Beauford’s self-portrait and Manet’s scene are striking. Beauford’s disengagement with the woman is reminiscent of the dynamics among the figures of Le déjeuner sur l’herbe - the two business men seem to be oblivious of the two naked women accompanying them on the picnic. The setting of Manet’s painting, a forest with a body of water in the distance, appears in Beauford’s self-portrait as well.
Yet another compelling aspect to Beauford’s work of art is the space he and the woman are occupying. Is this an allusion to Manet, or did he have a specific location in mind, perhaps a special place from Knoxville or New York?
Beauford did not create art in a vacuum. He was entrenched in the political, social and artistic implications of the United States and Europe of the time, and Self-Portrait with Odalisque reflects many aspects of this reality. The painting is intriguing in that it raises more questions than answers when examined closely. A gorgeous exploration of color and painterly brushstrokes, it is peculiar in the context of his other works. Whether a way to put himself in the shoes of the modernist icons before him, or an exercise in painting the elusive nude female figure, the inclusion of the odalisque in this self-portrait is a fascinating choice with no clear rationale.
Maija Brennan is the Wells International Foundation's 2019 summer intern. A rising senior at Smith College, she majors in French and art history with a concentration in museum studies. Her eight-week internship focuses on researching the life and art of painter Beauford Delaney and creating an online exhibition of a selection of his works.
As a way to capture likeness or a moment in time, or to represent some key element regarding their identity and the art they create, self-portraits of visual artists date back hundreds of years. Beauford Delaney is known for his elegant and thoughtful portraits of others; he memorialized his friends and family through the loving nature in which he put paint down on the canvas. Alongside those around him, he represented his own face dozens of times throughout his career. His self-portraits are reflections of how he perceived himself outwardly and inwardly.
Self-Portrait with Odalisque, a painting completed in 1943, is a thought-provoking work of art in terms of the subject matter and the intentions behind it. The oil painting depicts Beauford seated on a stool in the lower right hand corner, a guitar in his lap. To his right, a few feet away, is a topless black woman lounging on a mattress. They are surrounded by trees and foliage, a body of water behind them. The portrait is done in a painterly manner - the brush strokes are visible and free, the colors lively and bright.
(c. 1943) Oil on panel
© Estate of Beauford Delaney
by permission of Derek L. Spratley, Esquire,
Court Appointed Administrator
Image courtesy of the Michael Rosenfeld Gallery
The original definition of an “odalisque” is a chambermaid in a Turkish seraglio. Seraglios were the living quarters of the women in Turkish households, and odalisques served the women and mistresses of the home. Beginning in the 19th century, many artists from Western civilizations began traveling to countries where odalisques lived - places dubbed “oriental”: The Middle East, Asia, and North Africa. Because of European political interests in “The Orient,” artists and writers from countries such as France and Great Britain became fascinated with the culture and aesthetics of Eastern civilizations that were worlds away from what they knew as familiar. Some of the most notorious and celebrated works by Eugène Delacroix and Jean Auguste Dominique Ingres, two French 19th-century painters, were “oriental” scenes: Turkish baths, village scenes, and richly decorated interior spaces.
Odalisques became frequent subjects in such paintings, and the definition of their social standing and occupation took on new meanings through a Western lens as European artists depicted them as concubines or consorts to the wealthy men with whom they resided. From Ingres, to Picasso and Matisse later in the 20th century, it became common practice to represent these women as sultry and erotic, more often than not lounging on their sides naked and gazing at the viewer. Depictions of “oriental” scenes and people fascinated Western artists and viewers; the “exotic nature” of different ways of life allowed Europeans to both admire the aesthetics of certain things and judge practices that did not correspond with their Western values and beliefs.
Within the context of odalisques in the canon of art history, it is curious that Beauford would decide to depict such a figure in one of his paintings, let alone a self-portrait. During the 1940s, he was in New York City, in the midst of his Greene Street era, and animated works of art representing the scenes and objects he saw in his everyday life were often experiments in abstraction and use of color. It was during this time that Beauford was becoming increasingly interested in modern artists and the techniques they used, both the United States and abroad. A big fan of Henri Matisse and Pablo Picasso, it is possible that he studied and admired their works with odalisques. Perhaps he painted the woman in his self-portrait to create an image of himself as a global modernist, one knowledgeable in the trend of “Orientalism” that had been prominent at the turn of the century.
Self-portraits are oftentimes explorations of new techniques for artists, a way to navigate new methods of creating art. Self-Portrait with Odalisque is more figurative and narrative than the abstract cityscapes and portraits Beauford was completing at the time, so he could have been experimenting with a new method of storytelling in his paintings.
As a gay man wary of sexual promiscuity and eroticism, it is unusual that Beauford would choose to depict a woman that was a symbol for such traits in Western art history. Before completing Dark Rapture (1941), his first portrait of James Baldwin, the girlfriend of Emile Capouya (the man who introduced Baldwin and Beauford) insisted that he paint a nude portrait of her. Beauford was always shy in the figure drawing classes he took at the Art Students’ League with regard to nude portraits and was relieved to know it was against the rules for black artists to be present when there was a white model. The presence of the odalisque, who is black, may be a nod to his painting experience with Emile’s girlfriend, or to the racist rules that were in place in artistic organizations at the time.
Edouard Manet
(1863) Oil on Canvas
Musée d’Orsay, Paris, France
Google Art Project - Image in Public Domain
The immediate comparison that comes to mind when viewing Self-Portrait with Odalisque is its similarities with Le déjeuner sur l’herbe (1863), the ground-breaking painting by Edouard Manet. Producing an outcry from the Paris Salon for the distorted use of perspective and the “pornographic” scene of two business men with scantily-clad women, this painting became infamous in Manet’s time. Certain parallels between Beauford’s self-portrait and Manet’s scene are striking. Beauford’s disengagement with the woman is reminiscent of the dynamics among the figures of Le déjeuner sur l’herbe - the two business men seem to be oblivious of the two naked women accompanying them on the picnic. The setting of Manet’s painting, a forest with a body of water in the distance, appears in Beauford’s self-portrait as well.
Yet another compelling aspect to Beauford’s work of art is the space he and the woman are occupying. Is this an allusion to Manet, or did he have a specific location in mind, perhaps a special place from Knoxville or New York?
Beauford did not create art in a vacuum. He was entrenched in the political, social and artistic implications of the United States and Europe of the time, and Self-Portrait with Odalisque reflects many aspects of this reality. The painting is intriguing in that it raises more questions than answers when examined closely. A gorgeous exploration of color and painterly brushstrokes, it is peculiar in the context of his other works. Whether a way to put himself in the shoes of the modernist icons before him, or an exercise in painting the elusive nude female figure, the inclusion of the odalisque in this self-portrait is a fascinating choice with no clear rationale.
Capturing the Shock of Life
In Amazing Grace: A Life of Beauford Delaney
, biographer David Leeming says that in June 1958, Beauford began experimenting with the use of color to convey his inner life, moving toward "a more expressionist use of painting to represent the inner turmoil..." He quotes a letter dated June 24, 1958 in which Beauford said that the "constant gray here creates a marvelous setting in the mind for color" and another letter dated August 22, 1958 in which he said that it is "difficult to capture the shock of life - it's a thing of magic and not technique..."
Today I'm sharing images of some of Beauford's abstracts from 1958 that seem representative of this state of mind.
Untitled (Green Drip Abstraction)
(1958) Gouache on wove paper
Image courtesy of Swann Auction Galleries
© Estate of Beauford Delaney
by permission of Derek L. Spratley, Esquire,
Court Appointed Administrator
Untitled (Yellow Abstraction)
(c. 1958-1959) Oil on paper, laid down on canvas
Image courtesy of Aaron Galleries
© Estate of Beauford Delaney,
by permission of Derek L. Spratley, Esquire,
Court Appointed Administrator
Untitled (Abstract composition)
(1958) Oil on wove paper
Image courtesy of Swann Auction Galleries
© Estate of Beauford Delaney
by permission of Derek L. Spratley, Esquire,
Court Appointed Administrator
Clamart Red
(1958) Oil on canvas
On loan from a private collection
© Estate of Beauford Delaney
by permission of Derek L. Spratley, Esquire,
Court Appointed Administrator
Even during this period, Beauford did not abandon his search for "inner light" through the creations of predominantly yellow paintings such as the one represented below.
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
, biographer David Leeming says that in June 1958, Beauford began experimenting with the use of color to convey his inner life, moving toward "a more expressionist use of painting to represent the inner turmoil..." He quotes a letter dated June 24, 1958 in which Beauford said that the "constant gray here creates a marvelous setting in the mind for color" and another letter dated August 22, 1958 in which he said that it is "difficult to capture the shock of life - it's a thing of magic and not technique..."Today I'm sharing images of some of Beauford's abstracts from 1958 that seem representative of this state of mind.
(1958) Gouache on wove paper
Image courtesy of Swann Auction Galleries
© Estate of Beauford Delaney
by permission of Derek L. Spratley, Esquire,
Court Appointed Administrator
(c. 1958-1959) Oil on paper, laid down on canvas
Image courtesy of Aaron Galleries
© Estate of Beauford Delaney,
by permission of Derek L. Spratley, Esquire,
Court Appointed Administrator
(1958) Oil on wove paper
Image courtesy of Swann Auction Galleries
© Estate of Beauford Delaney
by permission of Derek L. Spratley, Esquire,
Court Appointed Administrator
(1958) Oil on canvas
On loan from a private collection
© Estate of Beauford Delaney
by permission of Derek L. Spratley, Esquire,
Court Appointed Administrator
Even during this period, Beauford did not abandon his search for "inner light" through the creations of predominantly yellow paintings such as the one represented below.
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
Beauford and the Flapper Girl
by Maija Brennan
Maija Brennan is the Wells International Foundation's 2019 summer intern. A rising senior at Smith College, she majors in French and art history with a concentration in museum studies. Her eight-week internship focuses on researching the life and art of painter Beauford Delaney and creating an online exhibition of a selection of his works.
Beauford Delaney’s numerous and vastly diverse portraits were not only a way to capture the outer and inner vision of the subject, but also a means for him to express personal thoughts and emotions. During the first formative years of his new life in New York City, which began in 1929, he earned income by drawing portraits of the dancers at Billy Pierce’s Dancing School and the high society women who came through the establishment. These pencil and charcoal drawings reflect the classical training he received during his Boston years, when he learned how to realistically render facial features.
Charcoal of a Black Woman (1929)
© Estate of Beauford Delaney
by permission of Derek L. Spratley, Esquire,
Court Appointed Administrator
Charcoal of a Black Woman (Flapper Girl) from 1929 is representative of this period in Beauford’s life. This drawing is a profile of a girl adorned in a cloche hat, the headpiece symbolic of flappers from the decade. The term “flapper” was invented during the 1920s to describe a new wave of Western society women who were defying the societal norms and behavior of the era. Flapper girls were characterized by their short dresses and skirts (a departure from the more modest women’s fashion of the 19th century), their short bobbed hair, and their love of jazz music and dancing. Seen as more flamboyant and promiscuous than what was acceptable for women in the past, flappers represented a movement of women taking control of their own autonomy and sexuality.
Flapper Dresses by Lidiqnati
Gold Yellow Dress
FANDOM Community CC-BY-SA license
When we think of depictions of flapper girls today, even in 2019, our minds oftentimes follow this narrative. John Held, a well-known cartoonist during the 1920s, popularized the image that we associate them with in the 21st century: brazen and free-spirited girls dancing with and kissing men. With this in mind, Beauford’s portrait of a flapper girl becomes a thought-provoking one, as its technique and depiction contrast starkly with other illustrations of these women that were being produced at the time.
Delia Delaney's photo of Beauford
Fair use claim
This photograph of a young Beauford Delaney, which belonged to his mother, Delia, creates an interesting juxtaposition with the above portrait. Even at first glance, the physical similarities between Beauford’s profile and those of the flapper girl are apparent. There is no photographic evidence of the woman in the charcoal drawing to compare with this artistic portrayal, but her prominent nose and slightly protruding upper lip bear a striking resemblance to Beauford’s features in Delia’s photograph. One can imagine that he used his own facial profile as a guide for the portrait.
Beauford’s portraits of women are far fewer in number than the ones of men, and while there is no clear reason for why this is, Charcoal of a Black Woman (Flapper girl) provides a platform for an analysis of his sentiments or wariness regarding modern women of his time. In Amazing Grace: A Life of Beauford Delaney, David Leeming writes that Beauford was often concerned or “offended” by his brother’s “excessive interest in women,” believing it would “drain his natural talent.” The opposing sexualities between Beauford and Joseph proved to be a point of contention, as Joe, in the same manner in which his brother didn’t trust women, did not want to associate with Beauford’s queer companions.
Eloise Johnson wrote an article on the concept of the “femme fatale” titled “Out of the Ashes: Cultural Identity and Marginalization in the Art of Beauford Delaney” for Notes in the History of Art. In it, she notes that the 19th century’s notion of promiscuous women, or “femme fatales,” was that they were capable of eroding a man’s natural and creative talents through their allure. It is possible that Beauford was wary of such women, the ones he saw in Joe’s life and in his daily excursions around New York City. Flapper girls were the “femme fatales” of the 1920s, and his portrait of this one may represent a desire to “mute” certain qualities associated with the flapper girl stereotype. Her cloche hat is visible, but that is all the information readable to discern her as a flapper. Her facial features are rather masculine, as noted in the comparison with Delia Delaney’s photograph. She is visible only from the neck up; her fashion choice is not rendered in the illustration. The bright colors Beauford became renowned for in later years were not part of his visual vocabulary at this point in time, yet it is interesting to note that he made the decision to portray this flapper girl in black charcoal, rather than pastels. Such a choice in medium creates more of a somber effect, not what is typically imagined when thinking of the vivacious colors associated with flappers of the 20s. His subject appears immersed in thought, engaged in a moment of stillness from a life of jiving and smoking in jazz clubs.
Beauford’s portrait of a flapper girl from 1929 is a fascinating juxtaposition to the culture and media representations of flappers from the era. Whether a subtle indicator of Beauford’s own sentiments revolving flapper girls, or an attempt to subvert the narrative often associated with them, Charcoal of a Black Woman (Flapper Girl) is meaningful nonetheless in the chronology of his life as an artist and portraitist.
Maija Brennan is the Wells International Foundation's 2019 summer intern. A rising senior at Smith College, she majors in French and art history with a concentration in museum studies. Her eight-week internship focuses on researching the life and art of painter Beauford Delaney and creating an online exhibition of a selection of his works.
Beauford Delaney’s numerous and vastly diverse portraits were not only a way to capture the outer and inner vision of the subject, but also a means for him to express personal thoughts and emotions. During the first formative years of his new life in New York City, which began in 1929, he earned income by drawing portraits of the dancers at Billy Pierce’s Dancing School and the high society women who came through the establishment. These pencil and charcoal drawings reflect the classical training he received during his Boston years, when he learned how to realistically render facial features.
© Estate of Beauford Delaney
by permission of Derek L. Spratley, Esquire,
Court Appointed Administrator
Charcoal of a Black Woman (Flapper Girl) from 1929 is representative of this period in Beauford’s life. This drawing is a profile of a girl adorned in a cloche hat, the headpiece symbolic of flappers from the decade. The term “flapper” was invented during the 1920s to describe a new wave of Western society women who were defying the societal norms and behavior of the era. Flapper girls were characterized by their short dresses and skirts (a departure from the more modest women’s fashion of the 19th century), their short bobbed hair, and their love of jazz music and dancing. Seen as more flamboyant and promiscuous than what was acceptable for women in the past, flappers represented a movement of women taking control of their own autonomy and sexuality.
Gold Yellow Dress
FANDOM Community CC-BY-SA license
When we think of depictions of flapper girls today, even in 2019, our minds oftentimes follow this narrative. John Held, a well-known cartoonist during the 1920s, popularized the image that we associate them with in the 21st century: brazen and free-spirited girls dancing with and kissing men. With this in mind, Beauford’s portrait of a flapper girl becomes a thought-provoking one, as its technique and depiction contrast starkly with other illustrations of these women that were being produced at the time.
Fair use claim
This photograph of a young Beauford Delaney, which belonged to his mother, Delia, creates an interesting juxtaposition with the above portrait. Even at first glance, the physical similarities between Beauford’s profile and those of the flapper girl are apparent. There is no photographic evidence of the woman in the charcoal drawing to compare with this artistic portrayal, but her prominent nose and slightly protruding upper lip bear a striking resemblance to Beauford’s features in Delia’s photograph. One can imagine that he used his own facial profile as a guide for the portrait.
Beauford’s portraits of women are far fewer in number than the ones of men, and while there is no clear reason for why this is, Charcoal of a Black Woman (Flapper girl) provides a platform for an analysis of his sentiments or wariness regarding modern women of his time. In Amazing Grace: A Life of Beauford Delaney
, David Leeming writes that Beauford was often concerned or “offended” by his brother’s “excessive interest in women,” believing it would “drain his natural talent.” The opposing sexualities between Beauford and Joseph proved to be a point of contention, as Joe, in the same manner in which his brother didn’t trust women, did not want to associate with Beauford’s queer companions.Eloise Johnson wrote an article on the concept of the “femme fatale” titled “Out of the Ashes: Cultural Identity and Marginalization in the Art of Beauford Delaney” for Notes in the History of Art. In it, she notes that the 19th century’s notion of promiscuous women, or “femme fatales,” was that they were capable of eroding a man’s natural and creative talents through their allure. It is possible that Beauford was wary of such women, the ones he saw in Joe’s life and in his daily excursions around New York City. Flapper girls were the “femme fatales” of the 1920s, and his portrait of this one may represent a desire to “mute” certain qualities associated with the flapper girl stereotype. Her cloche hat is visible, but that is all the information readable to discern her as a flapper. Her facial features are rather masculine, as noted in the comparison with Delia Delaney’s photograph. She is visible only from the neck up; her fashion choice is not rendered in the illustration. The bright colors Beauford became renowned for in later years were not part of his visual vocabulary at this point in time, yet it is interesting to note that he made the decision to portray this flapper girl in black charcoal, rather than pastels. Such a choice in medium creates more of a somber effect, not what is typically imagined when thinking of the vivacious colors associated with flappers of the 20s. His subject appears immersed in thought, engaged in a moment of stillness from a life of jiving and smoking in jazz clubs.
Beauford’s portrait of a flapper girl from 1929 is a fascinating juxtaposition to the culture and media representations of flappers from the era. Whether a subtle indicator of Beauford’s own sentiments revolving flapper girls, or an attempt to subvert the narrative often associated with them, Charcoal of a Black Woman (Flapper Girl) is meaningful nonetheless in the chronology of his life as an artist and portraitist.
Two Beauford Delaney Works Sold at Separate Auctions in Paris
Beauford's work is appearing more and more frequently in sales at Paris auction houses. On June 12, two of his works were sold at auction - each by a different establishment.
Both works were painted in 1963, the year during which Beauford participated in group shows at the Salon des Réalités Nouvelles at the Musée d'Art Moderne and the Musée Cantonal des Beaux-Arts in Lausanne, Switzerland. Biographer David Leeming indicates that Beauford wrote to Henry Miller in July 1963, saying that he was "trying to merge color and form into the essences of things felt and remembered."
ADER Nordmann listed Composition, a stunning red and yellow abstract, at its Post War and Contemporary Art sale.
Composition
(1963) Oil on canvas
Signed and dated, rear
41 x 33 cm; 16.14 x 12.99 in
© Estate of Beauford Delaney
by permission of Derek L. Spratley, Esquire,
Court Appointed Administrator
This painting belonged to Hart Leroy Bibbs, a long-term Paris expatriate who made a name for himself in literature and the visual arts as a poet, actor, painter, sculptor, and photographer.
The estimated sale price for Composition was 10,000€ to 15,000€. It sold for 27,000€ (hammer price) plus an additional 28% for buyer's fees, bringing the total purchase price to 34,560€.
Millon proposed a luminous gouache from a private collection in its Post War & Contemporary Art sale, which began 30 minutes after the ADER sale.
Untitled
(1963) Gouache on paper
Signed and dated, bottom left
32.5 x 50.3 cm; 12.79 x 19.8 in
© Estate of Beauford Delaney
by permission of Derek L. Spratley, Esquire,
Court Appointed Administrator
Its estimated price was 6,000€ to 8,000€. It sold for 7,805€, including a 30% buyer's fee.
Both works were painted in 1963, the year during which Beauford participated in group shows at the Salon des Réalités Nouvelles at the Musée d'Art Moderne and the Musée Cantonal des Beaux-Arts in Lausanne, Switzerland. Biographer David Leeming
indicates that Beauford wrote to Henry Miller in July 1963, saying that he was "trying to merge color and form into the essences of things felt and remembered."ADER Nordmann listed Composition, a stunning red and yellow abstract, at its Post War and Contemporary Art sale.
(1963) Oil on canvas
Signed and dated, rear
41 x 33 cm; 16.14 x 12.99 in
© Estate of Beauford Delaney
by permission of Derek L. Spratley, Esquire,
Court Appointed Administrator
This painting belonged to Hart Leroy Bibbs, a long-term Paris expatriate who made a name for himself in literature and the visual arts as a poet, actor, painter, sculptor, and photographer.
The estimated sale price for Composition was 10,000€ to 15,000€. It sold for 27,000€ (hammer price) plus an additional 28% for buyer's fees, bringing the total purchase price to 34,560€.
Millon proposed a luminous gouache from a private collection in its Post War & Contemporary Art sale, which began 30 minutes after the ADER sale.
(1963) Gouache on paper
Signed and dated, bottom left
32.5 x 50.3 cm; 12.79 x 19.8 in
© Estate of Beauford Delaney
by permission of Derek L. Spratley, Esquire,
Court Appointed Administrator
Its estimated price was 6,000€ to 8,000€. It sold for 7,805€, including a 30% buyer's fee.
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!