Beauford Delaney’s Street Scene (1968): An Expanded View
Shortly after having published the post entitled “Two Street Scenes,” I received a message from Stephen Wicks, Barbara W. and Bernard E. Bernstein Curator at the Knoxville Museum of Art (KMA)—owner of the largest and most comprehensive public collection of Beauford Delaney’s work.
Wicks wrote to inform me about several Beauford Delaney works on paper in the museum’s collection that provide insight into the geographical location depicted in the magnificent yellow painting of a street scene that is currently being displayed at the Paris Noir exhibition in Paris.
He graciously shared his observations and supporting images from the KMA’s Beauford Delaney collection and the University of Tennessee Library’s Beauford Delaney Papers in the article below.
Beauford Delaney’s Street Scene (1968): An Expanded View
By Stephen Wicks
Monique Wells’ post, “Two Street Scenes,” provided a welcome opportunity to share some images and information concerning a group of related urban landscapes that Beauford Delaney created on two continents over a period of three decades.
Monique reconsidered her initial assessment that the Paris-era Street Scene (1968), sold by Phillips in December 2020, represents the City of Light after she saw the strikingly similar mid-1940s canvas called Untitled (Greenwich Village Street), which was sold at Swann Auction Galleries on October 3, 2024 from the collection of Delaney’s friend, Kenneth Lash.
(1968) Oil on canvas
Courtesy of Michael Rosenfeld Gallery LLC, New York, N. Y.
Signed and dated "BEAUFORD DELANEY 1968" lower right
© Estate of Beauford Delaney,
by permission of Derek L. Spratley, Esquire,
Court Appointed Administrator Michael Rosenfeld Gallery
(circa 1945-46) Oil on linen canvas
457x546 mm; 18x21½ inches.
Signed and dated (indistinctly) in oil, lower right recto.
Signed (three times) and inscribed "181 Greene St" (twice)"
and "NY" in oil on the stretcher bars, verso.
© Estate of Beauford Delaney
by permission of Derek L. Spratley, Esquire,
Court Appointed Administrator
While Delaney’s inventive studio approach often leaves the interpretation of subject and location open to multiple possibilities, considerable evidence supports the notion that these and other related scenes by the artist indeed depict elevated train tracks in New York City. They may represent a location not far from Delaney’s 181 Greene Street studio in Greenwich Village, which he occupied from 1936 to 1952.
First, Swann’s description of the painting indicates that inscribed on the back are "NY” and “181 Greene St.”
Second, related studies in a variety of media can be found in the artist’s New York-era sketchbooks; the time span they cover (mid 1940s-1967) and their number attest to the fact that this was a New York City scene of enduring interest to the painter.
Some studies take the form of pencil contour drawings.
Untitled (El study), circa 1940
Graphite on spiral sketchbook paper, approximately 4 x 6 inches
Beauford Delaney Papers, MS.3967,
Betsey B. Creekmore Special
Collections and University Archives,
University of Tennessee, Knoxville
© The Estate of Beauford Delaney
by permission of Derek L. Spratley, Esquire,
Court Appointed Administrator
Others are pastels or gouaches on spiral notebook paper that feature luminous environments punctuated by loose marks suggesting a fire hydrant or pedestrian.
Pastel on spiral notebook paper, approximately 4 x 6 inches
Knoxville Museum of Art, 2018 Beauford Delaney Acquisition
© The Estate of Beauford Delaney
by permission of Derek L. Spratley, Esquire,
Court Appointed Administrator
Pastel on spiral notebook paper, approximately 4 x 6 inches
Knoxville Museum of Art, 2018 Beauford Delaney Acquisition
© The Estate of Beauford Delaney
by permission of Derek L. Spratley, Esquire,
Court Appointed Administrator
Watercolor and gouache on spiral notebook paper, 4 1/8 x 7 inches
Knoxville Museum of Art, 2014 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
Third, I discovered in one of Delaney’s albums a black and white photograph from the artist’s New York era depicting the canvas sold in 2024 by Swann. It is accompanied by an inscription identifying the title of the painting as “Third Avenue” and “owned by Mr. Kenneth Lash, University of New Mexico.”
Photograph of Delaney painting Third Avenue
identical to Untitled (Greenwich Village Street)
Beauford Delaney Papers, MS.3967,
Betsey B. Creekmore Special Collections and University Archives,
University of Tennessee, Knoxville
© The Estate of Beauford Delaney
by permission of Derek L. Spratley, Esquire,
Court Appointed Administrator
Detail: inscription for photograph of Third Avenue:
“Third Avenue, owned by Mr. Kenneth Lash, University of New Mexico”
With this information in hand, I consulted period photographs of elevated passenger train tracks along Third Avenue. I found that the Third Avenue El (demolished in 1954) ran roughly two blocks east of Delaney’s Greene Street studio, and that both canvases in question are likely based on views of the Third Avenue El from a nearby intersection. Perhaps the artist was aware that the city’s elevated tracks were being phased out in the 1940s-50s and was inspired to pay tribute.
which passed roughly two blocks east of Delaney’s
181 Greene Street studio.
Photograph by Sid Kaplan.
This array of evidence confirms Street Scene (1968) as a New York cityscape Delaney created some fifteen years after moving to Paris that evolved compositionally and chromatically over the course of several sketchbook studies. Perhaps the painter created Street Scene from memory, or perhaps he consulted the black and white photograph of his canvas Third Avenue as a visual reference.
In any case, Delaney’s decision to depict this Manhattan setting decades after moving to Paris attests to his enduring fascination with New York City’s urban landscape, and with this particular location.
Beauford Delaney Papers, MS.3967,
Betsey B. Creekmore Special Collections and University Archives,
University of Tennessee, Knoxville
© The Estate of Beauford Delaney
by permission of Derek L. Spratley, Esquire,
Court Appointed Administrator
Coincidentally or not, Beauford Delaney’s interest in this particular urban setting represents a fascinating point of intersection with the studio practice of his New York-based younger brother Joseph Delaney (1904-1991), who specialized in bold figurative paintings and drawings that capture the ebb and flow of urban life along New York City's bridges and boulevards.
But that’s another story for another day.
Two Street Scenes
In an article entitled "Beauford's Street Scenes," published on August 17, 2024, I expressed my belief that the painting shown in the image below represented the elevated train (metro) that serves the south and southwest parts of the city of Paris.
My reasoning was based on the date of the painting, which is 1968. (Beauford never returned to New York City after he moved to Paris in 1953.)
(1968) Oil on canvas
Signed and dated "BEAUFORD DELANEY 1968" lower right
© Estate of Beauford Delaney,
by permission of Derek L. Spratley, Esquire,
Court Appointed Administrator
When I recently compared it to the painting sold by Swann Auction Galleries in October 2024, I was prompted to rethink my original supposition.
(circa 1945-46) Oil on linen canvas
457x546 mm; 18x21½ inches.
Signed and dated (indistinctly) in oil, lower right recto.
Signed (three times) and inscribed "181 Greene St" (twice)"
and "NY" in oil on the stretcher bars, verso.
© Estate of Beauford Delaney
by permission of Derek L. Spratley, Esquire,
Court Appointed Administrator
Though the color palettes used for these works is strikingly dissimilar, the composition of the scenes depicted is virtually identical.
In both works, a viaduct dominates the center of the scene. Three of its pillars are clearly visible, and a street lamp with a round lantern is visible beneath it.
In both works, buildings are depicted behind the viaduct. The angles at which they are portrayed are somewhat different, but there is similarity in the roof lines (note the step-like structure of the roof of the second of the four buildings at the right of both paintings).
The placement of the buildings in relation to the viaduct's pillars on the right side of the painting is identical. On the left side of the 1968 painting, a building appears to be "missing."
The horizontal center of both paintings is filled with ground-level building façades. Beauford favored round windows for these structures in his circa 1945-46 work, whereas only the building at the far left has (indistinctly) round "windows" in the 1968 work.
In the 1940s painting, Beauford has clearly indicated a short, round street sign in the foreground.
In the 1968 painting, he has included a similar but indistinct object of the same size and approximate placement.
Finally, Beauford has placed two figures - one stationary and one walking - in each painting. Their locations are different, and the stationary figures are not clearly identifiable as human.
Given the similarity of these works, created almost 25 years apart, one has to wonder whether Beauford worked from a photo of this location when he painted each of these street scenes.
Another possibility is that he had a photo of his 1940s work that inspired the one he painted in 1968.
A future visit to the University of Tennessee Libraries to peruse the photos in the Beauford Delaney Papers might yield some answers!
* Street Scene, 1968 is the first work of art people see when they visit the Paris Noir exhibition at the Centre Pompidou in Paris. Read about Beauford's prominence in the exhibition HERE.
Beauford's Portrait of John Koenig Sold by Swann Auction Galleries
Almost two years ago today, I published an article about Beauford and John-Franklin Koenig.
In it, I reported that Beauford's portrait of Koenig was auctioned by Sotheby's during its March 9, 2011 Contemporary Art sale and purchased for $7,500.
(1968) Oil on linen canvas
Signed and dated, lower right recto
Signed and dated in graphite, verso
Signed and titled in ink, the crossbar
25½x21¼ in.
647x552 mm.
© Estate of Beauford Delaney,
by permission of Derek L. Spratley, Esquire,
Court Appointed Administrator
This painting was offered for sale by Swann Auction Galleries during its African American Art sale (Sale 2698) on April 3, 2025.
Assigned Lot Number 45, its estimated sale price was $40,000 to $60,000.
Swann sold the painting for $40,000, including buyer's premium.
For more information about this auction, click HERE.
Jazz Pianist Donald Brown Creates Music Inspired by Beauford
The Big Ears Festival is the flagship event of the Tennessee nonprofit of the same name. The festival explores the influences that inspire and connect musicians and artists, crossing the boundaries of musical genres as well as artistic disciplines.
This year, one of the artists on the roster for this three-day mega-event performed music inspired by Beauford!
Jazz pianist Donald Brown is a prolific and masterful composer of jazz music. Perhaps best known for his performances with Art Blakey and the Jazz Messengers in the early 80s, one of his compositions earned Wynton Marsalis a Grammy nomination for the 29th edition of the awards.
Brown began teaching at Berklee College of Music in 1983. Though health problems curtailed his ability to perform, he remained active as a composer and left the position in 1985 to resume performing.
He joined the faculty of the University of Tennessee Knoxville (UTK) in 1988, where he continued to compose and perform throughout his tenure. He retired from his post in 2020.
Brown brought three new compositions to the 2025 Big Ears Festival as a result of having participated in Boundless: Artists in the Archives, a seven-year-old UTK initiative that invites musicians and other artists to visit the UT Libraries' Betsey B. Creekmore Special Collections and University Archives and create original works inspired by the unique primary sources preserved there.
He not only researched the Beauford Delaney Papers at the library, but also interacted with students who consulted the papers as part of an independent study course at the university.
Donald Brown interacting with UTK students
and consulting the Beauford Delaney Papers
Images courtesy of UT Libraries
Martha Rudolph, Editor for Marketing & Communication at UT Libraries shared that Brown had wanted to attend Berklee College of Music but could not afford to do so. She said that Brown taught piano, improvisation, and jazz history at the University of Tennessee College of Music for 32 years.
Rudolph described Brown as "a gifted educator who could explain the very complex language of jazz in a manner that is easy to understand."
Brown is a native Tennessean (born in Memphis in 1954) who currently resides in Knoxville. As a prelude to Big Ears, he and a small group of acclaimed jazz musicians performed his Beauford-inspired compositions at the Knoxville Museum of Art (KMA) on Wednesday, March 26.
According to the Knoxville News Sentinal, they are entitled "$5 Blues for Beauford Delaney," "Theme for Beauford's Mom," and "A Letter from James Baldwin."
UT Libraries Modern Papers Archivist Kris Bronstad attended the event and thoroughly enjoyed it:
I attended, it was wonderful. The music was incredible, the musicians were incredible, and everyone was in a good mood. Donald Brown had 3 pieces ....
He talked about Delia Delaney and imagining what she was like (for the first composition), then about Beauford and Baldwin being Black and gay (second composition). The final composition was a boogie-woogie inspired piece ....
I can’t help but imagine that Beauford would have loved it.
For additional details about Brown's career, his participation in Boundless, and the three works he performed at KMA, read the Knox News article entitled Knoxville jazz icon returns to writing, and Beauford Delaney is the focus: See the debut!
To see additional photos of Brown interacting with UTK students at the library, read the Knox News article entitled Jazz pianist to debut new piece based on Beauford Delaney archives.
Beauford Is Front and Center at Paris Noir
The groundbreaking Paris Noir exhibition opened at the Centre Pompidou museum on March 19, 2025.
And Beauford's Street Scene, 1968 is the first thing people see when they walk into the show!
Artwork © Estate of Beauford Delaney
By permission of Derek L. Spratley, Esquire,
Court Appointed Administrator
Photo © Entrée to Black Paris
The full title of the exhibition is Paris Noir: Circulations artistiques et luttes anticoloniales 1950-2000.
The museum describes it as follows:
From the creation of the Présence Africaine review to that of Revue noire, “Black Paris” retraces the presence and influence of Black artists in France from the 1950s to 2000. The exhibition celebrates 150 artists coming from Africa, the Americas and the Caribbean, whose works have often never been displayed in France before.
While Beauford's work has been shown in group shows in Paris many times before, those occasions pale in comparison to this one.
Fourteen (14) of his best paintings are on display in multiple sections of Paris Noir, including the dazzling 1965 self-portrait held by the Whitney Museum of American Art.
This painting, which is my favorite work in the entire show, is hung next to one of two portraits of James Baldwin in Room 2.
Artwork © Estate of Beauford Delaney
By permission of Derek L. Spratley, Esquire,
Court Appointed Administrator
Photo © Entrée to Black Paris
One of Beauford's portraits of an older James Baldwin hangs on the wall behind Street Scene, 1968 in Room 2 and seemingly gazes at the two portraits across the room.
(1967) Oil on canvas
Artwork © Estate of Beauford Delaney
By permission of Derek L. Spratley, Esquire,
Court Appointed Administrator
Photo © Entrée to Black Paris
The Centre Pompidou is displaying its large Beauford Delaney abstract in the "Le saut dans l'abstraction" section, next to two of Beauford's yellow abstractions.
(1967) Oil on canvas
Artworks © Estate of Beauford Delaney
By permission of Derek L. Spratley, Esquire,
Court Appointed Administrator
Photo © Entrée to Black Paris
© Entrée to Black Paris
© Estate of Beauford Delaney
by permission of Derek L. Spratley, Esquire,
Court Appointed Administrator
The last time the museum showed this work was in 2013, when it hung in the Multiple Modernities 1905-1970 exhibition.
(1957) Oil on canvas
© Discover Paris!
© Estate of Beauford Delaney
by permission of Derek L. Spratley, Esquire,
Court Appointed Administrator
The Virginia Museum of Fine Arts has loaned its Portrait of Marian Anderson to the show.
(1965) Oil and egg tempera emulsion on canvas
Artwork © Estate of Beauford Delaney
By permission of Derek L. Spratley, Esquire,
Court Appointed Administrator
Photo © Entrée to Black Paris
The remainder of the paintings were loaned by private collectors and the Michael Rosenfeld Gallery. They include Beauford's portrait of Ahmed Bioud, Bernard Hassell, and an unidentified young man.
Beauford shows up in Paris Noir in other ways. The Ina film clip of him being interviewed in his Clamart studio plays on the same wall where paintings by his friends Ed Clark, Herb Gentry, and Larry Potter hang.
R to L: Ed Clark, Herb Gentry, and Larry Potter
© Entrée to Black Paris
Reproductions of the invitation card for his monographic show at the Galerie Lambert in Paris are on display on the wall in the Paris Dakar Lagos section of the show.
© Entrée to Black Paris
© Entrée to Black Paris
And you can catch a couple of glimpses of him in a video clip from "Meeting the Man: James Baldwin in Paris 1970," during which James Baldwin "holds court" in Beauford's rue Vercingétorix studio.
from the BBC's "Meeting the Man"
© Entrée to Black Paris
© Entrée to Black Paris
Outside the exhibition itself, UTK Professor Mary Campbell spoke about the Beauford-Baldwin friendship during the first day of the exhibition colloquium. She spoke passionately about her view of how Baldwin inspired Beauford's art, focusing on the portrait of Baldwin that Beauford named Dark Rapture.
© Entrée to Black Paris
On Day 2 of the colloquium, I spoke about the two Beauford Delaney walking tours that I created for Entrée to Black Paris during a presentation called "Paris Places and Spaces." I cited the 2016 Resonance of Form and Vibration of Color exhibition in Paris as the catalyst for the first tour and the 2024 UTLibraries visit to Paris in preparation for the exhibition they are preparing for the inauguration of the Beauford Delaney Papers as the catalyst for the second one.
© Entrée to Black Paris
For many reasons, Paris Noir is an exhibition that should not be missed.
In my book, getting "up close and personal" with several brilliant Beauford Delaney paintings is one of the top three!
Beauford and Loïs Mailou Jones
While performing an Internet search last week, I came across an image of a painting by Loïs Mailou Jones that had been erroneously attributed to Beauford.
by Loïs Mailou Jones
The image of The Pink Table Cloth clearly shows Jones' signature at the bottom right corner of the painting, so I presume the error was clerical.
The vivid hues in this work first made me think of Beauford's mastery of the juxtaposition of colors on his canvases.
It then caused me to remember that the two artists knew each other and had several things in common (in addition to being fabulous colorists).
Loïs Mailou Jones
(1940) Casein on board
Smithsonian American Art Museum
Fair use claim
They both
- took classes at the Massachusetts Normal Art School in Boston in the 1920s,
- spent considerable time in France,
- created multiple self-portraits,
- represented African art and artifacts in their artwork,
- traveled extensively (Beauford in Western Europe; Jones in Haïti and Subsaharan Africa), and
- produced hundreds of works in their lifetimes.
Both also had their work featured in the Studio Museum in Harlem's Explorations in the City of Light: African-American Artists in Paris 1945-1965 exhibition that was also shown in Chicago, New Orleans, Fort Worth, and Milwaukee in 1996-1997.
Beauford Delaney
(1944) Oil on canvas
Art Institute of Chicago
© Estate of Beauford Delaney
By permission of Derek L. Spratley, Esquire,
Court Appointed Administrator
In the biography Amazing Grace: A Life of Beauford Delaney, author David Leeming mentions Jones twice in the chapter called "Boston and Harlem" but does not state outright that the two artists were friends or even communicated directly with each other.
A note found in the Beauford Delaney Papers at the University of Tennessee Knoxville provides evidence that they did have a social connection. It is written on a card that Jones used when she was a professor at Howard University.
Beauford Delaney Papers, MS.3967.
University of Tennessee Libraries, Knoxville,
Betsey B. Creekmore Special Collections and University Archives.*
Image by Wells International Foundation
Jones wrote the month in French (15 août is August 15) and used the salutation Cher (Dear) in addressing Beauford. She says she is "so sorry" to have missed seeing him.
The closing salutation is also in French (A bientôt - See you soon).
Because she joined the faculty at Howard in 1930 and worked there until 1977, and because no envelope (and therefore no postmark) was associated with the card, we don't know when this encounter was to have taken place.
*Conditions Governing Use
Estate of Beauford Delaney,
by permission of Derek L. Spratley, Esquire,
Court Appointed Administrator.
Held in the Beauford Delaney Papers, MS.3967,
Betsey B. Creekmore Special Collections and University Archives,
University of Tennessee, Knoxville.
Beauford's Art on View - Current Exhibitions
Beauford's work is currently on display in exhibitions across the U.S. through June 1, 2025.
Art Institute of Chicago - Chicago, IL
Project a Black Planet: The Art and Culture of Panafrica (December 15, 2024 - March 30, 2025)
Co-organized by the Art Institute of Chicago and MACBA Museu d’Art Contemporani de Barcelona in collaboration with KANAL-Centre Pompidou Bruxelles, Project a Black Planet is the first major exhibition to survey Pan-Africanism’s cultural manifestations.
Beauford's Self-Portrait in a Paris Bath House 1971, in which he depicts himself in African dress, is on display in the Interiors room of the exhibition.
Listen to Professor Adom Getachew of the University of Chicago describe this work in the YouTube video below (description begins at 6:47).
Read about the exhibition HERE.
National Portrait Gallery - Washington, D.C.
This Morning, This Evening, So Soon: James Baldwin and the Voices of Queer Resistance (July 12, 2024 – April 20, 2025)
This exhibition is a celebration of the "queer voices" of James Baldwin and a circle of friends who maintained various degrees of silence about their sexuality at the same time that they were outspoken about racial injustice during the Civil Rights Movement. It features the Art Institute of Chicago's 1944 self-portrait of Beauford and the National Portrait Gallery's 1963 portrait of James Baldwin by Beauford.
(1963) Pastel on Paper
National Portrait Gallery, Smithsonian Institute
© Estate of Beauford Delaney
by permission of Derek L. Spratley, Esquire,
Court Appointed Administrator
Read about the exhibition HERE.
Oglethorpe University Museum of Art - Brookhaven, GA
Fragile Genius: Catherine Wiley and Beauford Delaney (January 30 - May 4, 2025)
According to Curator John Daniel Tilford, this exhibition presents a number of major Beauford Delaney works, including a rather rare early still life that has not been publicly exhibited in several decades and two late masterpieces loaned by Clark Atlanta University.
Untitled: Self Portrait by Beauford Delaney(1964) Oil on canvas
Tennessee State Museum Collection 2001.46
© Estate of Beauford Delaney
by permission of Derek L. Spratley, Esquire,
Court Appointed Administrator
Read about the show HERE.
Spelman College Museum - Atlanta, GA
We Say What Black This Is (February 7 - May 24, 2025)
We Say What Black This Is features mixed media and watercolor paintings by MacArthur award-winning artist Amanda Williams. The exhibition showcases Williams’ abstract paintings alongside works by prominent artists from Atlanta collections,including Spelman College, Clark Atlanta University, and private collectors.
The Spelman College Museum Website indicates that the show "includes works by Betty Blayton, Sheila Pree Bright, Beverly Buchanan, Beauford Delaney, Sam Gilliam, Maren Hassinger, Jacob Lawrence, Deborah Roberts, Thomas Sills, Alma Thomas, and Ming Washington to offer multifaceted perspectives on Black identity. Delaney’s expressive abstract paintings explore spirituality..."
Read more about We Say What Black This Is HERE.
Bellagio Gallery of Fine Art - Las Vegas, NV
American Duet: Jazz and Abstract Art (November 15, 2024 - June 1, 2025)
As reported in our blog post dated December 7, 2024, two of Beauford's abstracts are on display at the Bellagio Gallery of Fine Art in Las Vegas.
The 1956 blue and rose gouache on illustration board that was selected for this show is one of my favorites!
(1956) Gouache on illustration board
Signed and dated in ink, lower right
© Estate of Beauford Delaney,
by permission of Derek L. Spratley, Esquire,
Court Appointed Administrator
A Successful Trip to Knoxville
My recent visit to Beauford's hometown of Knoxville was quite fruitful!
I spent over five full days perusing the correspondence, photographs, sketchbooks, notebooks, and other documents in the Beauford Delaney Papers held by UT Libraries at the University of Tennessee Knoxville (UTK).
Entrance to Betsey B. Creekmore Special Collections & University Archives
John Hodges Library
© Wells International Foundation
© Wells International Foundation
I delivered two presentations - one for the GeoSym conference hosted by UTK's Department of Geography and Sustainability and the other for a group of collectors of Beauford's work.
© Wells International Foundation
The first event was held on campus and the second at the university's Denbo Center for Humanities & the Arts.
© Wells International Foundation
© Wells International Foundation
I saw the Beauford Delaney works held by the Ewing Gallery at UTK.
© Wells International Foundation
© Wells International Foundation
I viewed the Beauford Delaney collection at the Knoxville Museum of Art.
Higher Ground exhibition information panel at the Knoxville Museum of Art
Beauford Delaney works in Higher Ground exhibition
© Wells International Foundation
© Wells International Foundation
I spent invaluable time viewing the works still held by the Beauford Delaney estate.
© Estate of Beauford Delaney
by permission of Derek L. Spratley, Esquire,
Court Appointed Administrator
Image by Wells International Foundation
© Wells International Foundation
And I was interviewed for a documentary about Beauford that is being organized by the Beauford Delaney estate.
© Wells International Foundation
With heartfelt thanks, I want to acknowledge everyone in Knoxville who contributed to the organization of this visit:
Derek Spratley, Court Appointed Admnistrator of Beauford's estate
Amy Elias, Chancellor's Professor and Director, Denbo Center for Humanities & the Arts
Mike Berry, Official framer of the Beauford Delaney estate
Katrina Stack, Graduate Research Assistant for the Beauford Delaney Papers
Kris Bronstad, Modern Political Archivist and Associate Professor at the University of Tennessee Libraries
Stephen Wicks, Barbara W. and Bernard E. Bernstein Curator at the Knoxville Museum of Art
Traveling to Knoxville
Today, I'm pleased to announce that I'm traveling to Beauford's hometown of Knoxville, TN next week.
As a result of my interactions with key representatives of the University of Tennessee Libraries last summer, I was invited to the GeoSym conference at the University of Tennessee Knoxville (UTK).
The title of my presentation is "Beauford's Odyssey: Art, Travel, and Expatriation."
While in town, I will visit the Knoxville Museum of Art to see their entire collection of Beauford's work (minus the pieces that are currently on loan).
I will also spend several days researching the Beauford Delaney Papers in support of the Beauford Delaney exhibition that UT Libraries will host at its facility in Autumn 2025.
This research will also support a project that the Wells International Foundation and UTK are working on together. It will focus on Beauford's acts of creating art as a way of coping with his mental health issues.
Look for the Les Amis blog to return in early March 2025.
Beauford in the Patricia Scipio-Brim Collection
Patricia Scipio-Brim was an avid collector of postwar and contemporary Black art focusing on abstraction. On February 6, 2025, Swann Auction Galleries hosted a sale of works from her collection.
Among them were two works on paper by Beauford.
Untitled (Abstraction in Yellow, Blue and Red)
(1961) Watercolor on wove paper
655x503 mm; 25⅞x19⅞ inches
Signed and dated in ink, lower right
Image courtesy of Swann Auction Galleries
© Estate of Beauford Delaney
by permission of Derek L. Spratley, Esquire,
Court Appointed Administrator
Untitled (Clamart, Seine)
(1958) Watercolor and gouache on wove paper
654x508 mm; 25¾x20 inches
Image courtesy of Swann Auction Galleries
© Estate of Beauford Delaney
by permission of Derek L. Spratley, Esquire,
Court Appointed Administrator
The yellow, blue, and red abstraction is dated 1961, the year Beauford attempted suicide. Biographer David Leeming wrote that friends took Beauford to San Telmo, Spain after his return from his traumatic trip to Greece and that with the help of Bernice O'Reilly and Gita Boggs, he "managed to maintain a certain calm, and even began to do some watercolors."
Perhaps this work reflects a lightening of his spirit during that time.
The estimated sale price of this work was $30,000 - $40,000.
It sold for ???
The green and blue abstract is dated 1958.
The words "Clamart, Seine" beneath Beauford's signature could easily signify two important events that took place during the summer of that year - the arrival of James and Gloria Jones in Paris (they lived on the Ile Saint-Louis in the middle of the Seine River) and the return of James Baldwin to Clamart.
Beauford spent a great deal of time with all three of them, and the Joneses commissioned several paintings from him.
This abstract was part of the collection of Gloria Jones. Its estimated sale price was $20,000 - $30,000.
It sold for ???
Case Auction Results for Beauford Delaney Watercolor and Catalogs
On January 25, 2025, Case Auctions of Knoxville, TN auctioned a single abstract watercolor and four Beauford Delaney catalogs from the estate of John Z.C. Thomas during Day 1 of its 2025 Winter Fine Art & Antiques sale.
Untitled
(1958) Watercolor on paper
Signed "Beauford Delaney," inscribed "Clamart"
Dated 1958 in black pen, lower right
25"x 18 3/4"
© Estate of Beauford Delaney
by permission of Derek L. Spratley, Esquire,
Court Appointed Administrator
As indicated in the blog post announcing the sale two weeks ago, I believe Beauford painted this work during one of his happy periods in 1958. David Leeming describes several of these in Amazing Grace: A Life of Beauford Delaney—the release of two cases of his paintings stored in New York, a trip to the south to visit René Laubiès, participation in a group show in Germany, a peaceful summer in Clamart with James Baldwin ....
A quote from a letter Beauford wrote to Larry Wallrich in June 1958 may well describe what Beauford wanted to accomplish with this work: "Am today still trying to bring together color compositions from the strange and many-faceted thing that is my life."
The cost estimate for the watercolor and catalogs was $14,000 - $16,000.
The lot sold for $11,590, including buyer's premium.
New Edition of Amazing Grace: A Life of Beauford Delaney
The new edition of David Leeming's biography about Beauford—Amazing Grace: A Life of Beauford Delaney—was released by Karma Books on January 7, 2025 (three weeks later than the December 17, 2024 date that was originally projected).
I pre-ordered my copy well before the end of 2024 and was excited to receive it just a few days ago. I wanted to compare my tattered, thoroughly annotated first edition (Oxford University Press, 1998) with this new version in anticipation of my upcoming visit to Knoxville to peruse the Beauford Delaney Papers that the University of Tennessee Libraries made available to researchers as of January 2024.
I was somewhat taken aback when I read the following in Leeming's foreword:
Given the many meticulously researched exhibition catalogues produced in the last twenty years as well as what is sure to be a comprehensive account of his life from Dr. [Mary] Campbell, Amazing grace is reprinted here without any changes in the original text.
But I was gratified to read that the papers Leeming consulted to write the book are now held at UTLibraries.
This long awaited reprint is graced by a laudatory and intensely personal introduction by Hilton Als, who explains his familiarity with Leeming's writings and describes Leeming's treatment of Beauford's life story as "transcend[ing] the limitations of biography to create a historical narrative of huge scope based on Delaney's vulnerable mind and body."
Als mentions three Beauford Delaney works in his introduction—Portrait of a Young Man (ca. 1937-1940), Dark Rapture (1941), and Abstraction No. 9 (ca. 1963)—and provides his take on the emotions Beauford might have experienced in creating them.
An image of Dark Rapture can be found on page 123 of Amazing Grace.
(1941) Oil on masonite
© Estate of Beauford Delaney
by permission of Derek L. Spratley, Esquire,
Court Appointed Administrator
Unfortunately, images of the other two works are not presented in the book.
(ca. 1937-1940) Color pastel crayons
© Estate of Beauford Delaney
by permission of Derek L. Spratley, Esquire,
Court Appointed Administrator
(circa 1963) Oil on canvas
© Estate of Beauford Delaney
by permission of Derek L. Spratley, Esquire,
Court Appointed Administrator
Image courtesy of the Johnson Collection, Spartanburg, South Carolina
On the last page of his introduction, Als claims Beauford as the brother he's always felt him to be.
Aside from a higher page count in the new book, there are several differences between the first and second editions of Amazing Grace that will be of interest for readers who wish to approach Beauford's life and art from a scholarly perspective:
1) While there are chapter headers at the top margin of the pages in the first edition, there are none in the second edition.
2) Detail in black and white photos is better discerned in the first edition.
3) Color representations of Beauford's art (now on individual pages) are brighter and more vivid in the second edition.
4) There are six fewer references cited in the bibliography of the second edition.
5) Importantly, the second edition has no index. Anyone who does not have the first edition of the book will be hard pressed to find specific information in the reprinted version.
Case Antiques to Auction Beauford Delaney Watercolor and Catalogs
On January 25, 2025, Case Auctions of Knoxville, TN will place a single abstract watercolor and four Beauford Delaney catalogs up for auction during Day 1 of its 2025 Winter Fine Art & Antiques sale.
The items come from the estate of John Z.C. Thomas, one of the people I affectionately call "The Knoxville Eleven," who traveled to Paris for the Beauford Delaney: Resonance of Form and Vibration of Color exhibition in 2016.
They are being offered as a single lot.
Untitled
(1958) Watercolor on paper
Signed "Beauford Delaney," inscribed "Clamart"
Dated 1958 in black pen, lower right
25"x 18 3/4"
© Estate of Beauford Delaney
by permission of Derek L. Spratley, Esquire,
Court Appointed Administrator
The watercolor is a lyrical work with broad, fluid strokes of yellow, orange, and purple - some overlapping and some lying in parallel.
They give me the impression that people are dancing, and I'm guessing that Beauford created this work during one of his happier times in 1958.
The catalogs that complete the lot are the following:
-
BEAUFORD DELANEY: THE COLOR YELLOW (Richard J. Powell, Atlanta: High Museum of Art, 2002)
BEAUFORD DELANEY: RESONANCE OF FORM AND VIBRATION OF COLOR (Les Amis de Beauford Delaney & Wells International Foundation, Paris: Columbia Global Centers - Reid Hall, 2016)
BEAUFORD DELANEY AND JAMES BALDWIN: THROUGH THE UNUSUAL DOOR (Stephen C. Wicks, ed., Knoxville, TN: Knoxville Museum of Art, 2020), with trifold exhibition brochure and single-sheet timeline detailing Baldwin and Delaney's relationship
BE YOUR WONDERFUL SELF: THE PORTAITS OF BEAUFORD DELANEY (New York: Michael Rosenfeld Gallery, 2022).
The cost estimate for the watercolor and catalogs is $14,000 - $16,000.
For information about the sale, click HERE.
The Philosophy of Art Seminars
In Amazing Grace: A Life of Beauford Delaney, biographer David Leeming tells us that Beauford held "Philosophy of Art" seminars for several months at his Greene Street studio in Greenwich Village.
Beauford in his Greene Street studio, New York City, 1944
© Estate of Beauford Delaney
by permission of Derek L. Spratley, Esquire,
Court Appointed Administrator
He describes the first seminar in great detail, painting the scene of a candle-lit room filled with portraits of famous African Americans where guests listened to Beauford lecture on "The Enigma of Art," learn how to sketch with charcoal (a live model was present), and enjoy entertainment.
He then informs us that several "hostesses" served tea and caviar to attendees.
I was intrigued by the idea that Beauford would have the means to offer caviar at an event and curious about the hostesses who served it.
Leeming mentioned seven women who served in this role. I was able to find information about three of them.
Nell Occomy Becker was the youngest of three sisters born to Walter Calvert Occomy and Nellie White Occomy in Providence, RI. She graduated with a teaching degree from the State Normal School (now Rhode Island College), and moved to NYC because of the discriminatory practices of Providence public schools. There, she taught junior high school and enrolled in a post-graduate program at the Teachers’ College.
Nell Occomy Becker
Source of original image:
Opportunity: Journal of Negro Life, November 1936, p. 347.
Fair use claim
In the 1930s, Occomy developed skills as an arts and culture writer. She wrote profiles of Black playwrights and served as editor-in-chief of The Krinon, the publication for the Black women educator sorority, Phi Delta Kappa.
Another hostess, Mrs. Gertrude Robinson, was a charter member of Phi Delta Kappa and served as First Supreme Anti-Basileus, then Supreme Basileus at various times from the 1920s - 1940s.
Hostess Dorothy Gates is mentioned several times in Amazing Grace. She and Beauford met through their mutual connection with Alfred Stieglitz, Dorothy Norman, and Georgia O'Keeffe, and they became quite close. Her death in 1956 disturbed him greatly.
While Leeming does not provide precise dates for the months that Beauford hosted the seminars, I infer from his text that they took place during 1949, and perhaps, early 1950.
Happy Holidays from Les Amis de Beauford Delaney
Christmas is fast approaching!
This year, Les Amis is marking the season with jazz saxophonist Charlie Parker's rendition of "White Christmas."
Parker recorded this iconic tune at the Royal Roost in 1948 in New York City. His backup band consisted of Kenny Dorham on trumpet, Al Haig on piano, Tommy Potter on bass, and Max Roach on drums.
Beauford depicted Parker in two paintings created 10 years apart.
(1968) Oil on canvas
Memorial Art Gallery, University of Rochester
Photograph by Joshua Nefsky; Courtesy of
Michael Rosenfeld Gallery LLC, New York, NY
© Estate of Beauford Delaney
by permission of Derek L. Spratley, Esquire,
Court Appointed Administrator
(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
Les Amis will return in January 2025.
We wish you and yours the best during the end-of-year holidays!
Beauford and the Petrucci Family Foundation
When I learned that the Petrucci Family Foundation (PFF) owns the two Beauford Delaney works being shown in the Bellagio Gallery of Fine Art's American Duet: Jazz and Abstract Art exhibition, I immediately reached out to the foundation to learn more about its interest in Beauford.
(1956) Gouache on illustration board
PFF Collection
Signed and dated in ink, lower right
© Estate of Beauford Delaney,
by permission of Derek L. Spratley, Esquire,
Court Appointed Administrator
Director Claudia Volpe graciously granted Les Amis a live interview to respond to my questions. She told me that PFF was founded by Jim Patrucci in 2006 and that it centers its philanthropic activity on the development of inner city youth.
In 2012, PFF decided to begin collecting art. Petrucci's first advisor was Berrisford Boothe, an artist, art historian, and professor of Art & Design at Lehigh University. Because of their recognition of the enormous disparities in representation of Black artists, they decided to pursue collecting art in support of these artists while fulfilling the foundation's overarching mission of providing education for the communities it serves.
Over 200 artists are currently represented in the PFF Collection. The pieces are quite diverse - they date from the 1880s through the present and represent all types of media. Petrucci has a pension for collecting works by contemporary artists who are in their "twilight years" and have not had a major exhibition or attracted major patrons or collectors.
PFF is also committed to art preservation.
Regarding Beauford's work, both of the pieces in the collection were acquired at auction. PFF is interested in acquiring additional works, both figurative and abstract.
(c. 1962-1964) Watercolor on paper
PFF Collection
© Estate of Beauford Delaney
by permission of Derek L. Spratley, Esquire,
Court Appointed Administrator
The Petrucci Family Foundation has a rigorous loan program -- it has loaned works to over 36 exhibitions since the collection's inception. Some of these loans support the implementation of the PFF African American Art History curriculum, which is the product of three collaborations that emerged during the Covid-19 pandemic and the resurgence of racial justice movements in the wake of George Floyd's murder.
The curriculum aims to bridge educational gaps and enhance cultural literacy by integrating the PFF Collection into university art history, museum studies, and Africana studies courses. It is designed to relieve the burden that professors might feel re: creating a course in African-American art, particularly if they are not experts in the field.
Beauford was an important focus for the 2022 University of Mary Washington exhibition called Healing through the Preservation of Our Histories and Ourselves. This show was co-curated by university students, faculty, and community members with the intent to encourage decompression and healing after the collective trauma experienced during the pandemic. Though the collection's Beauford Delaney works were not available for display during this show, students examined Beauford's struggle with maintaining mental health as part of the exhibition theme.
Beauford's work was included in the 2024 Mobility: African-American Artists Abroad exhibition at Truman State University. The show focused on African-American artists who broadened their artistic practice through influences experienced when they moved to Mexico, Africa, and Europe.
Director Volpe has a deep interest in Beauford's work. She continues to encourage universities to include his story and his art in their customized course work, even if his physical works are not available for viewing.
Where to Find Beauford's Work This Weekend
Selected Beauford Delaney works are on display at three shows across the U.S. this weekend.
Art Basel Miami Beach - Miami Beach, FL
Beauford's Untitled (Traffic Signals) is featured in an article published by Art Basel's editiorial team that presents their picks for "seven unmissable projects at Art Basel Miami Beach."
(1945) Oil on canvas
© Estate of Beauford Delaney
by permission of Derek L. Spratley, Esquire,
Court Appointed Administrator
Image courtesy of Michael Rosenfeld Gallery
Michael Rosenfeld Gallery is displaying this painting and three additional Beauford Delaney works at this iconic event (Booth C2) from December 6-8, 2024.
Gagosian - New York, NY
Peter Doig selected Beauford's Untitled (Greenwich Village Street, New York) to hang in his specially curated show called The Street. This exhibition is described as being "a portrait of urban life seen through the eyes of painters."
(circa 1945-46) Oil on linen canvas
Signed and dated (indistinctly) in oil, lower right recto.
Signed (three times) and inscribed "181 Greene St" (twice)"
and "NY" in oil on the stretcher bars, verso.
© Estate of Beauford Delaney
by permission of Derek L. Spratley, Esquire,
Court Appointed Administrator
The Street opened on November 1 at 980 Madison Avenue, New York. It will run through December 18, 2024.
Bellagio Gallery of Fine Art - Las Vegas, NV
In partnership with the Petrucci Family Foundation, the Bellagio Gallery of Fine Art has mounted an exhibition entitled American Duet: Jazz and Abstract Art.
This show, which consists of over 61 works by 34 modern and contemporary artists from the Petrucci Family Foundation Collection of African American Art, explores the relationship between jazz and abstract art. Both of the Collection's Beauford Delaney works are displayed there.
(c. 1962-1964) Watercolor on paper
© Estate of Beauford Delaney
by permission of Derek L. Spratley, Esquire,
Court Appointed Administrator
(1956) Gouache on illustration board
724x540 mm; 28 1/2x21 1/4 inches
Signed and dated in ink, lower right
© Estate of Beauford Delaney,
by permission of Derek L. Spratley, Esquire,
Court Appointed Administrator
American Duet can be seen daily at Bellagio Gallery of Fine Art from November 15, 2024 through June 1, 2025, from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. For tickets and more information, click HERE.
Drouot Sells Two Beauford Delaney Abstracts
On November 15, La Gazette Drouot auctioned two untitled Beauford Delaney works from the collection of Beauford' friend and supporter, art critic Jean Grenier.
Lot 81
(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 82
(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
Grenier was a philosopher and art critic whose claim to fame was that he taught Albert Camus when Camus was a high school student. The two men became friends thereafter.
In Amazing Grace: A Life of Beauford Delaney, biographer David A. Leeming tells us that Beauford showed ten abstract gouaches in the Copenhagen exhibition called "10 American Negro Artists." It is tempting to speculate that the gouache sold on November 15 could have been one of them.
Sale prices for the works were as follows:
Lot 81: Estimated: 4,500€ - 5,000€; Sale - 4,500€ (hammer price - no fees included)
Lot 82: Estimated: 10,000€ - 15,000€; Sale - 10,000€ (hammer price - no fees included)
Mahalia and Mozart
In Amazing Grace: A Life of Beauford Delaney, biographer David Leeming writes about the burgeoning of Beauford's relationship with Charley and Gita Boggs soon after he arrived in Paris in Autumn 1953. He says the Boggs frequently invited Beauford over for dinner and that afterward, the three friends enjoyed listening to music on the hi-fi.
Among their favorite artists were Mahalia Jackson and Mozart.
Today I'm bringing you recordings of some of the best-loved pieces by these musical geniuses.
Summertime / Sometimes I Feel Like a Motherless Child
Performed by Mahalia Jackson
The Marriage of Figaro
Performed by Orchestra of The Royal Opera House, Antonio Pappano
How I Got Over
Performed by Mahalia Jackson
Symphony No. 40 - First Movement
Performed by the London Mozart Players
Architects of the Spirit
Beauford wrote the following about his work in a November 1965 letter to Henry Miller:
Something has happened to my color and the paintings seem to have sunlight and the feeling sometimes of all you wonderful people it has been my privilege to have as friends and architects of the spirit.
Whenever I have read this quote before, my attention always turned to Beauford's references to color and sunlight.
When I read the quote again a couple of days ago, I found my attention drawn to the part that refers to "friends and architects of the spirit."
Beauford had many friends and ardent supporters, but by the mid 1960s, I daresay that only a few of them could truly be considered architects of Beauford's spirit.
Less than a handful of them were true confidants with whom Beauford felt he could share his most intimate thoughts and emotions.
I have included Beauford's portraits of them here.
(1965) Oil on canvas
Chrysler Museum, Norfolk, VA
© 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
Image (detail) from Abe Books Web site
(1953) Oil on canvas
31.75" x 25.5" (80.6 cm x 64.8 cm)
© Estate of Beauford Delaney
by permission of Derek L. Spratley, Esquire,
Court Appointed Administrator
(1967) Oil on canvas
Museum of Modern Art, NYC
Image courtesy of Levis Fine Art
© Estate of Beauford Delaney,
by permission of Derek L. Spratley, Esquire,
Court Appointed Administrator