Beauford Potpourri 3
The Art Story - Beauford Delaney
The Art Story has published a thoughtful and easily digestible summary of Beauford's life and artistic influence.
Beginning with his birth date, death date, and a timeline,
it is presented in six sections:
- Summary
- Accomplishments
- Important Art
- Biography
- Influences and Connections
- Useful Resources
It even mentions Les Amis de Beauford Delaney at the end of the biography section!
University of Tennessee Humanities Center Director Amy J. Elias wrote a scintillating evaluation of an untitled 1969 tempura work on paper that was shown in the Transcending Race & Time exhibition at the UT Downtown Gallery in 2020-2021.
Beauford used the front page of the May 24-25, 1969 edition of the International Herald Tribune as the support medium for this work, deliberately choosing to paint over the article published about the 1969 Greensboro Uprising.
Letters Reveal Beauford Delaney and Palmer Hayden’s Lifelong Friendship
This brief article presents images of correspondence by Palmer and Miriam Hayden that mentions Beauford as well as a letter that Beauford wrote to his brother, Joseph Delaney. It includes an image of paintings by Beauford and Hayden that were shown in proximity during the Dirty South exhibition that was hosted by the Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art in Bentonville, AK in 2022.
(1941) Oil on paperboard
© Estate of Beauford Delaney
by permission of Derek L. Spratley, Esquire,
Court Appointed Administrator
The third link at the end of this article leads to a recording of an excellent conversation between Kristi McMillan, Director of Learning and Engagement at the Asheville Art Museum in North Carolina, and Dr. Mary Campbell, Professor of Art History at the University of Tennessee Knoxville regarding the Through the Unusual Door exhibition that was mounted by the Knoxville Museum of Art in 2020 and the Beauford Delaney's Metamorphosis into Freedom exhibition mounted by the Asheville Art Museum in 2021.
To read previously published Beauford Potpourri articles, click on the links below.
Beauford Delaney Research Grant 2023/2024
Kelly-Christina Grant, an art history doctoral candidate at the University of Paris Nanterre, is the 2023/2024 winner of the Bourse Beauford Delaney-Villa Albertine (Beauford Delaney Research Grant).
Supported by the Ford Foundation, this grant funds travel and other expenses related to research projects on African-American art undertaken by France-based academics and scholars.
Grant's project, L’Atlantique noire de Loïs Mailou Jones (The Black Atlantic of Loïs Mailou Jones), examines "the political, social, gender, and racial issues surrounding Jones’ practice of landscape painting."
LinkedIn Photo
This work is also the focus of her Terra Foundation for American Art predoctoral fellowship at the Smithsonian American Art Museum.
Beauford and Jones met during Beauford's Boston years. Jones was a student at the Boston Museum School at the time, and Beauford had established himself in the city with the support of Knoxville artist Lloyd Branson. While it is not clear how well the two knew each other, they both frequented Boston's museums and the Ford Hall Forum on Boyleston Street. Both took classes at the Massachusetts Normal Art School (aka Boston Normal Art School).
Both artists were also masters at landscape painting.
(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
Loïs Mailou Jones
(ca 1948) Oil on canvas
Smithsonian American Art Institute
Grant had the following to say about Beauford and his work:
Like Loïs Mailou Jones, Beauford Delaney was an extraordinary colorist whose art spanned many styles and who captured on canvas the mood of the places who inspired him the most, from New York to Paris. He's a major Modernist painter in the history of American art.
Read Grant's research article entitled "African-American Women Artists in French Public Collections: Acquisitions from the 1970s to the Present Day" by clicking HERE.
A Chance Meeting Features Beauford's Art on Cover
Rachel Cohen is a Beauford Delaney aficionada and a superb writer.
She send me the following message a few days ago:
I am delighted that New York Review of Books Classics is reissuing my first book A Chance Meeting at its 20th anniversary. The book traces more than a century of encounters among American writers and artists. The new edition has a wonderful Beauford Delaney cover, a forward by Vijay Seshadri and a new afterword by me, and it goes on sale tomorrow, March 19th. The book is NYRB's March book of the month; information and a way to purchase are here.
The artwork that graces the cover of the latest edition of Cohen's book is Untitled (Village Street Scene), (1948) Oil on canvas.
Since 2014, Les Amis has published five articles that feature Cohen's insightful commentary on Beauford's life and art. Her work is a joy to read!
Find links to the articles below.
Rachel Cohen's Tribute to Beauford
Rachel's Musings: Three Articles about Beauford
Stephen Wicks and Rachel Cohen Discuss Baldwin Portrait: Part 1
Stephen Wicks and Rachel Cohen Discuss Baldwin Portrait: Part 2
Beauford's Red, Yellow, Orange Sold by Christie's
Christie's Paris sold Beauford's Red, Yellow, Orange during its Post-War to Present auction on March 13, 2024.
Red, Yellow, Orange
(1963) Gouache on paper
signed, inscribed and dated 'Beauford Delaney Paris 1963' (lower right)
signed again and stamped with the Estate of Beauford Delaney stamp 'Beauford Delaney' (on the reverse)
25 ½ x 19 ½ in. (64.8 x 49.5 cm.)
© Estate of Beauford Delaney
by permission of Derek L. Spratley, Esquire,
Court Appointed Administrator
The estimated sale price was $40,000 - $60,000.
The piece sold for $47,880, including a 26% buyer's premium.
To see other Beauford Delaney works that feature the color "orange," click on the link below:
Beauford and the Color "Orange"Christie's to Auction Beauford Delaney Work on Paper
On March 13, 2024, Christie's Paris will host its Post-War to Present auction.
Beauford's Red, Yellow, Orange will be among the works available for purchase.
Red, Yellow, Orange
(1963) Gouache on paper
signed, inscribed and dated 'Beauford Delaney Paris 1963' (lower right)
signed again and stamped with the Estate of Beauford Delaney stamp 'Beauford Delaney' (on the reverse)
25 ½ x 19 ½ in. (64.8 x 49.5 cm.)
© Estate of Beauford Delaney
by permission of Derek L. Spratley, Esquire,
Court Appointed Administrator
This work was shown at the Beauford Delaney: Internal Light exhibition mounted by Levis Fine Art in May-June 2013.
In 1963, Beauford was under the care of the renowned psychiatrist Dr. Gaston Ferdière.
Biographer David Leeming writes that "With Dr. Ferdière's help Beauford was exploring himself more profoundly than he had been willing to do in the past."
He also writes that Spring 1963 "brought a new burst of painting and a concentrated attempt to translate the 'long interims of probity into our thoughts' into paintings 'which are never what our inner vision expected.'"
I wonder whether the fiery nature of Red, Yellow, Orange is a representation of this effort.
The estimated sale price of Red, Yellow, Orange is $40,000 – $60,000.
For information about the auction, click HERE.
KMA Loans Beauford Delaney Works to National and International Venues
From the desk of Stephen Wicks, Barbara A. and Bernard E. Bernstein Curator at the Knoxville Museum of Art:
The Knoxville Museum of Art is pleased to be able to support loan requests from several museums wishing to borrow works from the KMA’s extensive holdings by Knoxville-born modernist master Beauford Delaney.
Hunter Museum of American Art, Chattanooga, TN, March 2024-March 2025
Exhibition summary: Two works on paper by Beauford Delaney for display in the museum’s collection galleries. The Hunter owns no works by the artist and its curatorial team is hopeful this year-long loan will help them generate additional support for a Delaney acquisition.
Art work:
Watercolor and gouache on paper, 25 ½ x 19 ½ inches
Knoxville Museum of Art, 2015 purchase with funds provided by
the Rachael Patterson Young Art Acquisition Reserve
© The Estate of Beauford Delaney
by permission of Derek L. Spratley, Esquire,
Court Appointed Administrator
Untitled (Yellow, Red, and Black Circles for James Baldwin, Istanbul), 1966
Watercolor and gouache on paper, 25 5/8 x 19 inches
Knoxville Museum of Art, 2018 Beauford Delaney Acquisition
© The Estate of Beauford Delaney
by Permission of Derek L. Spratley, Esquire,
Court Appointed Administrator
Americans in Paris exhibition/tour, March 2024-June 2025:
- Grey Art Museum/NYU, March 2-mid-July 2024
- Addison Gallery of American Art, Andover, MA, September 2024-January 2025
- NYU Abu Dhabi Art Gallery, February-June 2025
Blue-Light Abstraction, circa 1962
Oil on canvas, 25 3/4 x 21 1/2 inches
Knoxville Museum of Art, 2018 Beauford Delaney Acquisition
© The Estate of Beauford Delaney
by permission of Derek L. Spratley, Esquire,
Court Appointed Administrator
Paris Noir exhibition, March 19-June 30, 2025
Untitled (African Figure), circa 1968
Oil and watercolor monoprint on paper, 25 1/2 x 19 1/2 inches
Knoxville Museum of Art, 2018 Beauford Delaney Acquisition
© The Estate of Beauford Delaney
by permission of Derek L. Spratley, Esquire,
Court Appointed Administrator
Scattered Light, 1964
Oil on canvas, 39 x 24 inches
Knoxville Museum of Art,
2015 purchase with funds provided by
by permission of Derek L. Spratley, Esquire,
Court Appointed Administrator
While promoting the KMA’s Delaney collection, these loans are an important means of supporting important museum exhibitions organized by distinguished colleagues, and bringing Beauford Delaney’s extraordinary life and work to the attention of museum audiences around the world.
The Delaney Museum at Beck Needs You
Several days ago, Beck Cultural Exchange Center president Reneé Kesler gave a poignant interview to the Knoxville News Sentinel.
She explained that progress on the renovation of the Delaney family home, which is adjacent to the Beck Cultural Exchange Center and destined to become the Delaney Museum at Beck, has been much delayed due to skyrocketing expenses ...
... and has kicked off a new round of fundraising to bring in the additional $2.3 million required to complete the project.
Les Amis has written about the Delaney Museum at Beck a few times:
Groundbreaking for the Delaney Museum at Beck
The Delaney Museum at Beck: Groundbreaking Ceremony Scheduled for August 30
The Art of Delaney: Redeeming, Reconciling, and Healing
The Wells International Foundation, the U.S. nonprofit organization that mounted the Resonance of Form and Vibration of Color exhibition in Paris in collaboration with Les Amis in 2016, looks forward to hosting events that focus on Beauford's artistic practice as a tool for combatting his mental instability in Knoxville soon after the museum's opening.
The new projected opening date is May 15, 2025.
To support the fundraising campaign for the Delaney Museum at Beck, click HERE.
Living an Inner Life and Learning
"I work and live an inner life and learn."
Biographer David Leeming quotes Beauford as saying this in a letter to Larry Wallrich that he dated February 2, 1957.
Upon reading this, I decided to look for works by Beauford that are dated 1957.
I found surprisingly few of them.
Monique and Beauford's Untitled
(1957) Oil on canvas
114,2 x 162 cm / 44.9 x 63.8 in
© Estate of Beauford Delaney
by permission of Derek L. Spratley, Esquire,
Court Appointed Administrator
Photo © Discover Paris!
(c. 1957) Oil on canvas board
© Estate of Beauford Delaney
by permission of Derek L. Spratley, Esquire,
Court Appointed Administrator
What was Beauford living and learning at this period of his life?
By early 1957, he had lived a year at the Clamart studio. During this time, he "returned seriously to portrait painting" and began working with Paul Facchetti and Darthea Speyer to sell his art.
He sent paintings to be shown at the First New York Exposition of Progress - an event that touted the progress of the Negro - at the Wanamaker Building in Manhattan, contributed works to a group show for "Abstract American" artists at the Galerie Arnaud, and had his first solo exhibition at the Galerie Prisme.
Illustrated double-sided flier (recto)
Fair use claim
To combat depression, he read Buddhist writings, enjoyed the company of friends, and painted.
A "New" Beauford Delaney Urban Landscape Revealed
I was absolutely delighted to read an article entitled "A painting’s long and personal journey" about the Portland Art Museum's recent acquisition of a Beauford Delaney work.
An image of a magnificent urban landscape is the first thing you see after reading the article's lengthy subtitle: "How Beauford Delaney’s Twilight Street got from 119 Waverly Place in New York’s Greenwich Village to the studio of art conservator Nina Olsson to the Portland Art Museum's walls."
(1946) Oil and mixed media on masonite
© Estate of Beauford Delaney
by permission of Derek L. Spratley, Esquire,
Court Appointed Administrator
Can Fire in the Park, which is arguably Beauford's most famous urban landscape, was also created in 1946.
(1946) Oil on canvas
© Estate of Beauford Delaney
by permission of Derek L. Spratley, Esquire,
Court Appointed Administrator
He created one of his Greene Street paintings that year as well.
(1946) Oil on canvas
Virginia Museum of Fine Arts
© Estate of Beauford Delaney
by permission of Derek L. Spratley, Esquire,
Court Appointed Administrator
Martha Ullman West, daughter of painter Allen Ullman, penned this personal piece about how her father and Beauford were friends and how she knew Beauford as a child. She recounts a story about how Beauford, who was always virtually penniless, gave her a quarter to purchase a book she wanted.
West goes on to talk relay additional personal anecdotes about her father and Beauford before launching into the topic of how Twilight Street made its way into the collection of the Portland Art Museum. This part of the article presents intricate detail about the restoration of the painting and the woman who restored it.
It also presents several images that illustrate this work.
Finally, the article indicates that Twilight Street will be on display in the Throughlines exhibition at the museum from February 8 through November 1, 2024.
Read "A painting’s long and personal journey" HERE.
Case Antiques Sold Two Beauford Delaney Works
Case Auctions sold both Beauford Delaney works offered during its Fine Arts, Antiques, and Jewelry auction on January 27.
Untitled (Ibiza) (Lot 128) went for $10,980.00, including a 22% buyer's premium.
(1956) gouache and watercolor
18" H x 11 7/8" W
© Estate of Beauford Delaney
by permission of Derek L. Spratley, Esquire,
Court Appointed Administrator
The estimated sale price was $12,000 - $14,000.
.Yellow Abstraction
(Lot 129) sold for $24,400.00, including a 22% buyer's premium.
(1961) gouache on paper
10 1/2" H x 8" W
© Estate of Beauford Delaney
by permission of Derek L. Spratley, Esquire,
Court Appointed Administrator
The estimated sale price was $10,000 - $12,000.
.For more information about the auction, click HERE.
Two Beauford Delaney Works for Sale Today
Case Antiques is holding its Fine Arts, Antiques, and Jewelry auction today and tomorrow (January 27 and 28, 2024).
Among the works for sale are two pieces by Beauford:
(1956) gouache and watercolor
18" H x 11 7/8" W
© Estate of Beauford Delaney
by permission of Derek L. Spratley, Esquire,
Court Appointed Administrator
© Estate of Beauford Delaney
by permission of Derek L. Spratley, Esquire,
Court Appointed Administrator
(1961) gouache on paper
10 1/2" H x 8" W
© Estate of Beauford Delaney
by permission of Derek L. Spratley, Esquire,
Court Appointed Administrator
Both are in excellent condition.
We featured Untitled (Ibiza) in a recent blog post entitled "Ibiza Watercolors."
It was shown in the Beauford Delaney: From New York to Paris exhibition organized by the Minneapolis Institute of Arts (November 20, 2004 - February 20, 2005).Yellow Abstraction was shown in the exhibition entitled Beauford Delaney: Internal Light that was organized by Levis Fine Art in 2013. Les Amis has published multiple articles about this show:
BEAUFORD DELANEY: INTERNAL LIGHT
Jim Levis on Beauford Delaney: Internal Light
Ba'lls to the Wa'll, Y'all - Part 1 and Part 2
Conversations with Beauford - Part 1 and Part 2
Beauford: His Art and His Light
The estimated sale price for Untitled (Ibiza) is $12,000 - $14,000, while the estimate for Yellow Abstraction is $10,000 - $12,000.
For information about the auction, click HERE.Beauford at the Montréal Contemporary Art Museum
The Musée d'Art Contemporain de Montréal (MACM), Montreal's contemporary art museum, owns two works by Beauford.
Sans titre, 1963 Huile sur toile
Collection Musée d'art contemporain de Montréal
Photo : MACM
© Estate of Beauford Delaney
by permission of Derek L. Spratley, Esquire,
Court Appointed Administrator
Madame Biocci, 1967
Charcoal and gouache on paper mounted on cardboard
Collection Musée d'art contemporain de Montréal
Photo : MACM
© Estate of Beauford Delaney
by permission of Derek L. Spratley, Esquire,
Court Appointed Administrator
Both were given to the museum by Guy Joussemet, a prominent art collector who knew Beauford and received the works directly from him. MACM's records indicate that Beauford gave Joussement the abstract oil painting at his rue Vercingétorix studio.
I have not yet been able to determine how the two men met.
Madame Biocci (1967) was painted on newsprint, the text of which appears to be in Italian.
In 1966, Beauford traveled to Venice with his two dear friends, Larry Calcagno and Charley Boggs, to visit the Venice Biennale. Perhaps he obtained the newspaper on which he painted this portrait during that trip.
I do not know if he met Madame Biocci on this trip or at another time, or even if she is an actual person.
Neither work is currently on display at MACM.
Rachel Cohen on Beauford
I'm away from the office for the next few weeks and not able to fully concentrate on the stories I'm developing for the blog.
Because I don't want to "press pause" on the publishing schedule, for this week's post I'm taking the liberty of sharing content that Rachel Cohen wrote about Beauford.
She has penned some of the most thoughtful commentary on Beauford's work that I've ever read!
I'm sure you'll enjoy this June 2020 piece, which is entitled
"Beauford Delaney and James Baldwin, Notes of Native Sons."
(1948) Oil on canvas
Signed and dated in oil, lower left.
Image from Swann Auction Galleries Web site
© Estate of Beauford Delaney
by permission of Derek L. Spratley, Esquire,
Court Appointed Administrator
Ibiza Watercolors
A work on paper from Beauford's Clamart years will be auctioned on January 27, 2024.
It is a watercolor and gouache that bears the name of the island of Ibiza above his signature.
© Estate of Beauford Delaney
by permission of Derek L. Spratley, Esquire,
Court Appointed Administrator
© Estate of Beauford Delaney
by permission of Derek L. Spratley, Esquire,
Court Appointed Administrator
The announcement of the sale reminded me that Beauford created several watercolors when he traveled to Ibiza with his dear friend, Larry Calcagno, in 1956.
While on the island, Beauford wrote to Henry Miller of the beauty and power of
the Mediterranean and its surrounding, of the watercolors he was doing,
and how he was "trying to say with my life the unsayable."
Here are images of other works he created during that trip.
© Estate of Beauford Delaney
by permission of Derek L. Spratley, Esquire,
Court Appointed Administrator
(ca. 1956) Gouache on wove paper
Signed lower left and lower right
© Estate of Beauford Delaney,
by permission of Derek L. Spratley, Esquire,
Court Appointed Administrator
Image supplied by Levis Fine Art
In Amazing Grace: A Life of Beauford Delaney, biographer David Leeming indicated that Beauford and Calcagno were joined by James Baldwin, Leslie Schenk, and Baldwin's friend Arnold, and said that Baldwin wrote to a friend how important Beauford's relationship with Calcagno was.
Beauford and his friends spent the month of August together, visiting Majorca as well as Ibiza. Leeming noted that the trip was the "real bright spot of the summer...".
Happy Birthday, Beauford! - A Revisiting
Thirteen years ago today, I published a blog post called Happy Birthday, Beauford!
In it, I announced that I was putting the blog on hiatus and indicated that I would resume regular publication if Les Amis took up one or more specific projects, namely:
• An annual Beauford Delaney commemoration, to be held in Paris
• Placement of a plaque in Beauford’s honor on a building in Paris
• An exposition of Beauford’s paintings in Paris
• A scholarship to support an art student in Beauford’s name.
While I'm proud to say that we've accomplished two of the four projects (the exhibition and TWO plaques), I started the blog again long before Les Amis had concrete plans to pursue anything on the list!
That's because Beauford had gotten "into my blood" or whatever metaphor you use for not being able to let something go.
I published the next post in January 2011 and relaunched weekly posts in March 2011.
And for the most part, I have faithfully published once a week since that time.
This has truly been a journey and a labor of love.
And it will continue.
So once again, I'm please to post the following from this platform:
HAPPY BIRTHDAY, BEAUFORD!
Image © Discover Paris!
© Estate of Beauford Delaney
by permission of Derek L. Spratley, Esquire,
Court Appointed Administrator
Where to Find Beauford's Art - Tennessee State Museum
When I read Matthew Gailani's article entitled "A Man of His Word - the Life and Art of Beauford Delaney," I was reminded that Tennessee State Museum (TSM) in Nashville holds three works by Beauford and that it loaned its brilliant self-portrait of Beauford to the Knoxville Museum of Art for the Through the Unusual Door exhibition in 2020.
Works by Beauford and Joseph Delaney
© Tennessee State Museum
I contacted Gailani to ask what inspired his article and to inquire about the works that the museum holds. Find the interview below.
Les Amis: What prompted you to write "A Man of His Word: The Art and Life of Beauford Delaney"?
MG: What initially prompted writing the article/blog was encouragement from and conversations with colleagues here at the Museum. We are always looking at ways to highlight more parts of our collection, and digital blogs/content has really helped us do that.
Our museum covers Tennessee history from the geological formation of the state to the present. As a result, articles, and blogs like this allow us to dive deeper into stories like that of Beauford Delaney, as well as other artists, events, and topics.
With all the great work being done in Knoxville by institutions like the Beck Cultural Exchange Center, the Knoxville Museum of Art, the artist’s estate, and the University of Tennessee-Knoxville (just to name a few) to preserve and share Beauford Delaney’s art and story, we wanted to write something that acknowledged their work, offered readers a brief overview of Delaney’s life, and highlighted a few of the works in our own collection.
Furthermore, after spending some time down the street at the John Hope and Aurelia E. Franklin Library at Fisk University, we wanted to add a bit about some primary research we had done there, particularly regarding Beauford Delaney’s experience with the Julius Rosenwald Fund and that of his brother Joseph Delaney.
Les Amis: What inspired the title of the article?
MG: The title itself I chose because of the letter of recommendation Henry Miller wrote for Beauford for his Rosenwald Fund application. In it, Miller wrote:
I can think of no one more capable or more deserving of this award than the above-named applicant who I know personally, whose work I admire and believe in, and whom I have written about precisely in order to call attention to his merits and his needs. He is indeed qualified to undertake the execution of a mural on the subject indicated. He is moreover, scrupulous[ly)?] and loyal, a man of his word. The encouragement offered in this manner will probably mark a turning point in his career. I cannot say too much in his favor.
Les Amis: Which of the works, if any, is currently on display at the museum?
MG: As of December 18, 2023, the Untitled: Self Portrait by Beauford Delaney (2001.46) is on display in the Tennessee State Museum’s “Time Tunnel” gallery, which is located at the heart of the Museum's permanent galleries.
(1964) Oil on canvas
Tennessee State Museum Collection 2001.46
© Estate of Beauford Delaney
by permission of Derek L. Spratley, Esquire,
Court Appointed Administrator
When visitors enter the doors into the permanent galleries, they can follow the “Time Tunnel” all the way down to the start of the “Change and Challenge” gallery. This is where Delaney’s portrait is currently located.
Time Tunnel - Change and Challenge Gallery
© Tennessee State Museum
in the Change and Challenge Gallery
© Tennessee State Museum
With that being said, the Museum is always looking into updating its galleries. As a result, in the future, it is possible the work could be rotated to a different gallery, or even loaned.
Les Amis: Talk about the significance of the Time Tunnel and why Beauford's self-portrait was selected to be represented there.
MG: The “Tennessee Time Tunnel” serves as the backbone of the Museum, combining content rich artifacts, exhibits and stories from our permanent collection with engaging media and thought-provoking interactives for a multilayered experience. Visitors can access the permanent exhibition galleries through different entrances through the Time Tunnel, where they will have the opportunity to experience a more in-depth look at that era of the state’s history.
The inclusion of the Beauford Delaney self portrait in the “Time Tunnel” allows for the artist to be prominently featured in the center of the Museum, while having his work included and displayed with that of other Tennessee artists.
Les Amis: Tennessee State Museum showed Beauford's self-portrait in its exhibition entitled A Creative Legacy: African American Arts in Tennessee in 2014. You loaned the self-portrait to the Knoxville Museum of Art for Through the Unusual Door in 2020. Where else have you shown or loaned Beauford's works in the past?
MG: The following is the exhibition history of the three works owned by TSM:
2001.46
A Century of Progress: Twentieth Century Painting in Tennessee, Cheekwood Museum of Art, Traveling Exhibit Cheekwood Museum of Art, West Tennessee Regional Art Center, The Knoxville Museum of Art, The Carroll Reece Museum, The Morris Museum of Art: (July 13, 2002 - November 17, 2003)
Higher Ground: A Century of the Visual Arts in East Tennessee, Knoxville Museum of Art (2008)
A Creative Legacy: African American Arts in Tennessee, Tennessee State Museum, (February 11, 2014 - August 31, 2014)
Beauford Delaney and James Baldwin: Through the Unusual Door, Knoxville Museum of Art (February 7, 2020- May 10, 2020)
2010.230.1 and 2010.230.2
Untitled: Abstract by Beauford Delaney
Paris 1961, gouache and watercolor
Tennessee State Museum Collection 2010.230.1
© Estate of Beauford Delaney
by permission of Derek L. Spratley, Esquire,
Court Appointed Administrator
Untitled: Abstract by Beauford Delaney
Paris 1963, gouache and watercolor
Tennessee State Museum Collection 2010.230.2
© Estate of Beauford Delaney
by permission of Derek L. Spratley, Esquire,
Court Appointed Administrator
From Realism to Abstraction: Tennessee Painting 1920 to 1970, Tennessee State Museum (2015-2016)
Black & White: Knoxville in the Jim Crow Era, East Tennessee Historical Society (2020-2021)
Les Amis: What loans of Beauford's work has the museum committed to make in the future?
MG: While nothing official has been announced for the near future, the Museum is always looking at ways to interpret and display parts of its collection, including working with our partner institutions across the state and country to loan pieces.
Les Amis: What relationship does the museum have with Fisk University and the Fisk University Galleries, if any?
MG: I was privileged to work on an exhibit last year titled Building a Bright Future: Black Communities and Rosenwald Schools in Tennessee. This exhibit was in partnership with Fisk University’s John Hope and Aurelia E. Franklin Library, and we worked closely and traveled with staff at Fisk to develop a temporary exhibition and symposium focusing on Rosenwald Schools in the state.
While the exhibit focused on education and school construction in the early 20th century, it also introduced me to the Julius Rosenwald Fund Archives, which are housed at Fisk University. This not only includes information on the Rosenwald School construction program, but the Julius Rosenwald Fund fellowship program, which provided funding to Black artists. Both Beauford and Joseph Delaney were grant applicants in the 1940s.
If it had not been for working with our colleagues at Fisk University and the John Hope and Aurelia E. Franklin Library on the previous Rosenwald School exhibit, I must admit I would not have known about the extensiveness of the Julius Rosenwald Fund Archives and the valuable information that is preserved about artists such as Beauford Delaney.
Les Amis: Does the museum intend to acquire additional Beauford Delaney works?
MG: While we have nothing to announce at the moment, the Tennessee State Museum is always actively engaged in looking at potential acquisitions that will advance the Museum’s mission statement to procure preserve, exhibit, and interpret objects which relate to the social, political, economic, and cultural history of Tennessee and Tennesseans, and to provide access to education and cultural programs and exhibitions for the people of the state.
Beauford and Negro Music
In an article about Beauford published by Tennessee State Museum, author Matthew Gailani quotes from Beauford's 1948 application for a Rosenwald Fund grant as follows:
I would like to make a mural and other smaller paintings using Music as my subject. It has not yet been started as I feel I will need a year to make the necessary research into the history of Folk, Indian, Mountain (1600-1947), and Negro Music.... I feel that I especially adapted to this subject as I have always been close to American Negro, Folk, and Jazz music.
Though Beauford had experience working on murals (he contributed to the WPA Harlem Hospital mural in 1935-36) and had already produced works with a jazz theme, his application was unsuccessful.
Today, I'm sharing images of some of the "Negro music"-themed works Beauford created over the course of his life.
(1939) Oil on canvas
© Estate of Beauford Delaney
by permission of Derek L. Spratley, Esquire,
Court Appointed Administrator
(1940) Pastel on Paper © Estate of Beauford Delaney
by permission of Derek L. Spratley, Esquire,
Court Appointed Administrator
(1946) Oil on canvas
© Estate of Beauford Delaney
by permission of Derek L. Spratley, Esquire,
Court Appointed Administrator
(1952) oil on canvas
36 1/8" x 30 1/8" / 91.8 x 76.5 cm
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
(1958) Oil on canvas
Smithsonian American Art Museum
Gift of the James F. Dicke Family
© Estate of Beauford Delaney
by permission of Derek L. Spratley, Esquire,
Court Appointed Administrator
(1965) Oil on canvas
Virginia Museum of Fine Arts
J. Harwood and Louise B. Cochrane Fund for American Art
© Estate of Beauford Delaney
by permission of Derek L. Spratley, Esquire,
Court Appointed Administrator
© Estate of Beauford Delaney,
by permission of Derek L. Spratley, Esquire,
Court Appointed Administrator
Photo courtesy of France's Fonds national d'art contemporain
(1968) Oil on canvas
Permanent collection of the SCAD Museum of Art, Savannah
Gift of Dr. Walter O. and Mrs. Linda J. Evans
© Estate of Beauford Delaney
by permission of Derek L. Spratley, Esquire,
Court Appointed Administrator
To see additional images with a jazz theme, see the article entitled "All That Jazz."
Black Art Auction Sells Delaney Abstract
On December 2, 2023, Black Art Auction placed one of Beauford's yellow abstract paintings up for sale during its Winter Signature Auction.
(1957-1960) Oil on canvas
31 x 25 inches
signed
Private Collection
© Estate of Beauford Delaney
by permission of Derek L. Spratley, Esquire,
Court Appointed Administrator
This painting made its way to Portugal from France prior to being sold online by an auction house in St. Louis, Missouri. Beauford created it during his Clamart years.
The estimated sale price was $100,000-$200,000. It sold for $160,000, including a 28% buyer's premium.
Beauford and American Express
"On nearly every weekday Beauford would walk to the American Express Office on the rue Scribe next to the Opéra to pick up his mail."
In Amazing Grace: A Life of Beauford Delaney, biographer David Leeming paints a vivid picture of how essential this location was to Beauford's existence in Paris.
Beauford was heavily reliant on international mail to receive not only updates from friends and family in the U.S., but also money. Leeming reports that Beauford's dear friend Larry Calcagno always sent money with his letters, and he cites other friends and acquaintances that sent funds as well. Among them was Congressman Adam Clayton Powell, who sent Beauford $50 (worth between $550 and $575 today) because he admired Beauford's work.
American Express opened its first foreign office at 6, rue Halévy in Paris in 1895. The company moved to the iconic address at Number 11 in 1905.
A New York Times article described 11, rue Scribe as "one of the most famous addresses in the world." It reported that in 1970, more than 5,000 tourists used American Express facilities daily and that the company processed 8,000 to 10,000 letters each day.
The office was closed in 2009.
© Discover Paris!
November Sales - La Gazette Drouot
On November 17, La Gazette Drouot auctioned six untitled Beauford Delaney oils and gouaches on paper from the collection of Beauford' friend and supporter, art critic Jean Grenier.
Lot 57
(1962) Gouache on paper
Signed and dated "March 1962" lower right.
74.5 x 53 cm.; 29.3 x 20.9 in
© Estate of Beauford Delaney
by permission of Derek L. Spratley, Esquire,
Court Appointed Administrator
Lot 62
(1963) Oil on canvas
Signed, located "Paris," and dated on the back
41 x 33 cm.; 16.1 x 12.9 in
© Estate of Beauford Delaney
by permission of Derek L. Spratley, Esquire,
Court Appointed Administrator
Lot 63
(1963) Oil on canvas
Signed, located "Paris," and dated on the back
41 x 33 cm.; 16.1 x 12.9 in
© Estate of Beauford Delaney
by permission of Derek L. Spratley, Esquire,
Court Appointed Administrator
Lot 64
(1964) Gouache on paper
Signed, located "Paris," and dated on the lower right.
66 x 50 cm.; 25.9 x 19.7 in
© Estate of Beauford Delaney
by permission of Derek L. Spratley, Esquire,
Court Appointed Administrator
Lot 65
(1964) Oil on canvas
Signed, located "Paris," and dated on the back
41 x 33 cm.; 16.1 x 12.9 in
© Estate of Beauford Delaney
by permission of Derek L. Spratley, Esquire,
Court Appointed Administrator
Lot 67
(1965) Oil on canvas
Signed, located "Paris," dated, and dedicated
"Pour mon ami mr Jean Grenier..." on the back
41 x 27 cm.; 16.1 x 10.6 in
© Estate of Beauford Delaney
by permission of Derek L. Spratley, Esquire,
Court Appointed Administrator
According to biographer David A. Leeming, Beauford's friend, M. Bioud, introduced Beauford to Jean Grenier in 1962. In Amazing Grace: A Life of Beauford Delaney, Leeming states that Grenier wrote a "glowing article" about Beauford that was published in the June (1962) issue of Preuves.
All auctioned works are dated 1962 to 1965, the beginning of Beauford's life in the studio at rue Vercingétorix. These years were quite productive, and Beauford's work was displayed in multiple group shows in France, the U.S., and Denmark. His one-man show at the Galerie Lambert was held in 1964.
Sale prices for the works were as follows:
Lot 57: Estimated: 5,000€ - 7,000€; Sale - did not sell
Lot 62: Estimated: 10,000€ - 15,000€; Sale - 9,000€ (hammer price - no fees included)
Lot 63: Estimated:40,000€ - 60,000€; Sale - 36,000€ (hammer price - no fees included)
Lot 64: Estimated:6,000€ - 8,000€; Sale - did not sell
Lot 65: Estimated:40,000€ - 60,000€; Sale - 36,000€ (hammer price - no fees included)
Lot 67: Estimated:30,000€ - 50,000€; Sale - did not sell
A seventh work on paper was attributed to Beauford.
Lot 66
(not dated) Gouache on paper pasted in border on cardboard
66 x 47 cm.; 25.9 x 18.5 in
© Estate of Beauford Delaney
by permission of Derek L. Spratley, Esquire,
Court Appointed Administrator
Its estimated sale price was 1,000€ - 1,500€.
It did not sell.