Les Amis de Beauford Delaney
A blog that describes the efforts of a small group of individuals to preserve the French gravesite and the memory of painter Beauford Delaney.
Beauford Delaney - 1953 portrait by Carl Van Vechten
Beauford Delaney (1901 - 1979) was a consummate artist and a warmhearted man.
He was a great teacher and a great listener.
He was psychologically troubled, yet a profound inspiration to many.
His life and his talent were gifts to the world.
Classes Duo Paris/Knoxville: Legacy
Nine years have passed since the Wells International Foundation (WIF) first contacted the City of Paris about organizing a groundbreaking cross-cultural exchange between elementary school students in Paris and Beauford’s hometown of Knoxville, TN.
After eight months of preparation, students from Nature’s Way Montessori School met the children at Jean Zay Elementary School via Zoom for the first time in January 2018.
And in October 2018, Nature’s Way students traveled to Paris to meet the Jean Zay students in person.
As part of WIF’s 10th anniversary celebration, Founder and CEO Dr. Monique Y. Wells reached out to the parents of participating students to learn what impact Classes Duo Paris/Knoxville has had for their children. She was able to interview three of the students who participated in the two-year program and also made the trip to Paris.
WIF banner for Classes Duo Paris/Knoxville Web page
Jesse Wojcik
Jesse (pictured at the far right in the banner above) had been to Paris several times prior to this visit due to traveling with his mom, Dr. Mary Campbell of the University of Tennessee Knoxville.
Because of this, he had the opportunity to meet a few of the Jean Zay students before the entire Knoxville cohort came to Paris.
Jean Zay students and Jesse (far right) at the Luxembourg Garden
© Wells International Foundation
Jesse said he enjoyed the Classes Duo excursion because he was able to go with friends that he knew from school. He recalled having fun at the boys’ sleepover event and mentioned seeing some of the students from Jean Zay again during a subsequent visit to Paris. He recalled visiting landmarks like the Eiffel Tower and the Arc de Triomphe with the Knoxville group and said he would recommend the program to others.
Jesse’s rendition of Beauford Delaney’s Curvy Trees
© Wells International Foundation
Andrew Stone
Andrew (pictured in the center of the banner above) was a 14-year-old freshman enrolled at Bearden High School in Knoxville at the time of the interview. He was only six years old when he started the program and seven years old when made the trip to Paris. It was the first time he had traveled by plane, and he described it as being exciting but also scary, particularly due to the long 7-8 hour flight.
Andrew Stone
Courtesy of Joy Stone
Among his favorite memories of places were the picnic in the Jardin Atlantique (Atlantic Garden) atop the Montparnasse train station and the visit to the Eiffel Tower on a cold, foggy day. He remembered the art projects that were part of the Classes Duo curriculum, including creating scenes of Knoxville and clay sculptures of Josephine Baker and her cheetah, Chiquita.
Andrew’s drawing of the Delaney House, soon to be the Delaney Museum at Beck
© Wells International Foundation
Andrew said he likes to doodle and finds that he often feels compelled to add more and more to these drawings until they become quite intricate. He described them as “detailed randomness.”
He mentioned seeing some of his fellow Knoxville students occasionally but not actively keeping in touch with them.
Andrew’s mom, Joy, also participated in the call. She shared that the family had kept every piece of artwork Andrew created during the program and that she took over 4,000 photos during the Paris trip. She would be happy if Andrew would consider doing a junior year abroad.
Mia Ghenov
Mia (pictured at the far left of the banner above) was a senior at West High School at the time of the interview. She was pursuing plans to either attend culinary school or travel and cook. She expressed how the Paris trip influenced her desire to travel.
Mia Ghenov
Photo courtesy of Mia Ghenov
Mia's favorite memory from her overall Classes Duo experience was connecting with students and learning about Beauford's work while traveling abroad.
Her favorite memory from the Paris trip was attending school and experiencing a typical French school day, including French classes and lunch in the cafeteria. She noted that this trip was her first time traveling abroad and had a significant impact on her, inspiring her to pursue a career in culinary arts. She was learning Italian as well as French culinary terms in support of her intent to apply to culinary schools and internships in Rome and France, and she shared her aspirations to become a chef or open her own restaurant.
Mia shared her thoughts about learning about Beauford's impact on Black communities in America and France, particularly his influence on James Baldwin. She highlighted her favorite art project from Classes Duo, which involved sculpting a clay portrait of Josephine Baker (which she still has), and noted that Beauford did not create any paintings of her despite his admiration for her.
Mia’s bust of Josephine Baker
© Wells International Foundation
In reflecting on what she would tell other students about participating in Classes Duo, Mia commented on the value of having experienced the program at such a young age. She recognized that colleges and some high schools offer such opportunities and said it would be great if they could be offered to other students more frequently.
Nature’s Way Educators
Dr. Wells also interviewed two of the educators who were instrumental in the success of Classes Duo.
Dawn Kunkel was the art teacher who built the curriculum alongside French educator Juliette Blache. She organized the outreach to Nature’s Way parents for the Legacy project.
She said the following about the program:
It was incredible … one of the big highlights of my life! I photographed probably everything that the kids did.
What has been so great about having gone through Classes Duo is seeing all of the sort of recognition that the Delaneys are now getting in Knoxville.
Dr. Monique Y. Wells and Dawn Kunkel at the Jardin Atlantique in Paris
© Wells International Foundation
Matt Hilton was the science teacher whose contributions to the curriculum made Classes Duo a true STEAM education initiative.
He commented on the program as follows:
I think the opportunity for the students learn French was a huge benefit of it. This language was not being offered at Nature's Way at the time.
Also, there was the opportunity to interact with children from a different country and get a new perspective. I know we have the connection through Delaney, but connecting with people who live all the way on the other side of the world and have a completely different experience helps you broaden your horizons.
Then, there was all of the stuff they got to learn about Delaney. I think it really highlighted his work. They probably would not have had that depth of exposure had they not participated in the program.
I didn't come on on the actual trip, and I'm sure that traveling over to France was a huge experience for the kids as well. Seeing how it impacted them is one of the things that stands out the most to me.
Matt Hilton presenting a science lesson on photography
Image courtesy of Dawn Kunkel
The Beauford Delaney-inspired artwork created by the French and U.S. Classes Duo students was publicly displayed in Paris and in Knoxville. This foreshadowed the experience of the Teens of Color Abroad students who participated in the creative writing workshop that Dr. Wells delivered in Aix-en-Provence in July 2026. Their works are to be displayed at the Brooklyn Academy of Music in an exhibition called Between Cézanne and Delaney: A Summer in Aix from September 9-20, 2026.
Resonance: Interpreting Dark Rapture in Sound and Music
Dark Rapture may well be the most fascinating portrait of James Baldwin ever created.
Dark Rapture
(1941) Oil on masonite
Collection of halley k harrisburg and Michael Rosenfeld, New York
© Estate of Beauford Delaney
by permission of Derek L. Spratley, Esquire,
Court Appointed Administrator
Courtesy of Michael Rosenfeld Gallery LLC, New York, NY
In July 2025, Les Amis published an article exploring the many scholarly interpretations of Dark Rapture presented in Amy J. Elias' Speculative Light: The Arts of Beauford Delaney and James Baldwin (2025).
Today, the Wells International Foundation is presenting the first known musical interpretation of this work.
A few weeks ago, we published “Washington Square I,” an original composition and video created by George Henry for the Resonance program that we are developing as part of The Beauford Delaney Project.
“Dark Rapture” is Henry’s second original composition for Resonance: Art & Sound in Conversation.
For Henry, the painting became an exploration of the tension between distance and presence, nostalgia and melancholy, and the surreal and the human. Beginning with a warm, nostalgic piano, they layered field recordings made around Delaney's former studio at 181 Greene Street with strings, brass, choir, synths, and guitar. Familiar sounds are transformed through pitching, reverb, and other processing, creating an atmosphere that is at once grounded in everyday experience and distinctly otherworldly.
Throughout the composition, Henry was also drawn to the idea of breath and human presence. Ghostly vocal textures, environmental recordings, and a shimmering reverb that makes the music seem to breathe contribute to their effort to capture the humanity and essence of the person at the center of Delaney's surreal portrait.
Listen to them express these sentiments and more in the Studio Notes they recorded for the composition.
Henry is hard at work on their third composition, which is inspired by another of Beauford’s paintings of Washington Square.
Wadada Leo Smith and Beauford – The Red Bar
I have always said that Beauford Delaney’s spirit creates magic, evokes magic—is magic.
The story behind legendary trumpetist Wadada Leo Smith’s performance at The Drawing Center during its 2025 solo exhibition entitled In the Medium of Life: The Drawings of Beauford Delaney is a perfect example of this.
Smith and N’da Kulture, an avant-garde musical ensemble formed by Smith in the 1990s, gathered at The Drawing Center on July 25, 2025, to regale a packed house with music Smith composed after encountering Beauford’s Untitled (Red Bar) (1962).
Untitled (Red Bar)
(1962) Gouache on paper
© Estate of Beauford Delaney
by permission of Derek L. Spratley, Esquire,
Court Appointed Administrator
Courtesy of Michael Rosenfeld Gallery, LLC, New York, NY
After the performance, Smith said the following about this work:
“Aimee (Good) had invited me down to see the exhibit. And I looked at everything. Then, when I got to the Red Bar, I understood something that was really clear and direct and unclouded.
“What does the Red Bar represent? It's not a bar, by the way, but it's a structure or a stroke in which any bar can be constructed and only understood by the receiver who understood...”
Wadada Leo Smith
Bimhuis Amsterdam 12 October 2014
Dirk Neven, photographer
CC-BY-2.0
Smith encountered Good when she went to see his exhibition, Kosmic Music, at the American Academy of Arts and Letters. The works shown there represented over 50 years of what Smith calls art scores—artistic representations of a performable musical language called Ankhrasmation.
Kosmic Music, The Dream, 2008
© Wadada Leo Smith
Gel, inks, and acrylic on paper
12x18”
Good heard Smith perform at the Academy and asked him to contact her. When he did, she extended the invitation for him to perform at In the Medium of Life. At the time, she was unaware that he had met Beauford in Paris 56 years before.
Smith granted Les Amis an exclusive interview during which he recounted the story of that meeting.
As part of the iconic Association for the Advancement of Creative Musicians in Chicago, he relocated to Paris with the other members of the group during the summer of 1969. Violinist Leroy Jenkins, who Smith described as a close colleague, was told that a famous painter was going to be present at a luncheon to be held at a Montparnasse restaurant. He invited Smith to come along.
Smith didn’t know anyone at the event, and his only vocal interaction with Beauford was a timid “Hello”:
“… just from observing him, I kind of got a good, beautiful vibe. We didn’t talk, and it was a brief moment in my life.
“But you know, some people believe that eye contact is the essence of meeting. I’m one of those people.”
Smith felt that the invitation to perform at The Drawing Center brought him and Beauford together again in a way that transcended time and space, and he visited In the Medium of Life several times in preparation for the performance. Though he was “only” asked to perform, he felt compelled to compose a piece for the occasion.
When he saw Untitled (Red Bar), Smith was inspired by what he described as a “huge, beautiful patch inside that big Beauford yellow.” He took out his notebook and began writing music for the performance on the spot, knowing that he would “construct several red bars” in the composition. He described them as being sonic vertical stacks that would continuously evolve and constantly shift in this patch of color. He said he added a horizontal line throughout the piece that consisted of different voices represented by the instruments played by the ensemble.
Sheet music for “Delaney: The Artist Untitled Red Bar”
Image courtesy of Wadada Leo Smith
Once he got home, he started thinking about the work and looking at it in the catalog and online. His inspiration “started to churn,” and he began reflecting on how the image could be “infused” or “submerged as a musical quality.” *
Smith said he wanted to capture “a psychological profile of [Beauford’s] creativity” with “The Artist Untitled Red Bar.” He wanted the music to be “Pure. Fresh.” So, he deliberately chose musicians with whom he had never played before and allowed only 30-35 minutes of rehearsal of the piece on the day of the performance.
The ensemble musicians—Tom Chiu on violin, Joe Fonda on double bass and concert flute, Luke Stewart on double bass, and Eli Keszler on drums—had not encountered Beauford’s work prior to the concert. The Drawing Center gave each of them an exhibition catalog after the performance.
Listen to the entire concert HERE.
*This process inspired the work that The Beauford Delaney Project is pursuing through its Resonance program.
Summer Yellow
Did you know that there is a palette of colors called “Summer Yellow”?
When I came across this during a Web search for the term, I wondered for a second whether Beauford might have used this when he painted scores of works featuring the color “yellow.”
Then I remembered that color palettes are defined digitally and that Beauford died long before the hexadecimal color system was developed.
At any rate, I thought of “Summer Yellow” as I was reflecting on the recent solar eclipse and the third canicule (extreme heat wave) that France is experiencing this season.
And of course, Beauford’s gift for painting with this color sprang to mind.
Here are some of my favorite of his abstract works in this color.
Untitled
(1961) Oil on canvas
Delaware Art Museum
Wilmington, Delaware, USA
© Estate of Beauford Delaney
by permission of Derek L. Spratley, Esquire,
Court Appointed Administrator
Courtesy of Michael Rosenfeld Gallery, LLC, New York, NY
Untitled (Yellow series)
(1962) Oil on linen
Annotated in verso
© Estate of Beauford Delaney,
by permission of Derek L. Spratley, Esquire,
Court Appointed Administrator
Courtesy of Michael Rosenfeld Gallery, LLC, New York, NY
Moving Sunlight
(1965) Oil on canvas
Knoxville Museum of Art, 2018 acquisition
Knoxville, Tennessee, USA
© Estate of Beauford Delaney
by permission of Derek L. Spratley, Esquire,
Court Appointed Administrator
Courtesy of Michael Rosenfeld Gallery, LLC, New York, NY
Untitled
(circa 1960) Oil on canvas
Signed at lower right and on back of canvas
© Estate of Beauford Delaney,
by permission of Derek L. Spratley, Esquire,
Court Appointed Administrator
Courtesy of Michael Rosenfeld Gallery, LLC, New York, NY
Untitled, Paris
(1967) Oil on panel
Signed lower left
Counter-signed, dated and located on the reverse
© Estate of Beauford Delaney
by permission of Derek L. Spratley, Esquire,
Court Appointed Administrator
Courtesy of Michael Rosenfeld Gallery, LLC, New York, NY
Washington Square I—Launching Resonance: Art and Sound in Conversation
Untitled (Washington Square)
(1952) Oil on canvas
Greenville County Museum of Art
Greenville, SC
© Estate of Beauford Delaney
by permission of Derek L. Spratley, Esquire,
Court Appointed Administrator
Courtesy of Michael Rosenfeld Gallery, LLC, New York, NY
One of the aspirations of The Beauford Delaney Project is to preserve and deepen our understanding of Beauford’s extraordinary artistic legacy.
Another is to explore how that legacy continues to inspire new acts of creativity.
Today, we are delighted to share an important milestone toward that goal.
This week, we published “Washington Square I,” an original composition and video by George Henry. It is the first musical contribution to Resonance: Art and Sound in Conversation, an ongoing series of The Beauford Delaney Project that explores contemporary creative responses to Beauford's work.
The “Art and Sound” component of the Resonance series was markedly influenced by Wadada Leo Smith, whose reflections on composing music inspired by one of Beauford's paintings helped shape our thinking about how artists might enter into sustained dialogue with his work. Through Resonance, The Beauford Delaney Project provides an ongoing framework for that kind of engagement, inviting musicians to contribute both original compositions and reflections on their creative process to a growing digital archive.
Henry, a recent graduate of Amherst College with degrees in Black Studies and Computer Science, is the first musician to contribute to this initiative. After spending time with Beauford's paintings, they chose one of Beauford’s Washington Square works as the inspiration for their composition. (Like many subjects that captivated Beauford throughout his career, he painted Washington Square multiple times.)
Instead of seeking to translate the painting into music, “Washington Square I” is an artistic response to it—a conversation across disciplines in which music and painting retain their own voices while enriching one another.
Documenting Creative Practice
An important aspect of Resonance is that it documents not only the finished work but also the creative journey that led to it.
Alongside “Washington Square I,” Henry recorded a companion Studio Notes video and wrote a narrative in which they reflect on their process, discuss their encounter with Beauford's painting, and offer viewers a glimpse into the development of the composition.
By preserving these reflections alongside the music, The Beauford Delaney Project is creating an archive of creative practice as well as creative work. We anticipate that these conversations will become valuable resources for future artists, scholars, educators, and anyone interested in understanding how Beauford continues to inspire new generations.
This commitment to documenting process reflects a broader vision for the project. Whether through music, creative writing, or other modes of inventive collaboration, Resonance seeks to illuminate not only what artists create, but also how they think, observe, question, and respond.
A Growing Archive
The publication of “Washington Square I” follows closely on the release of original writings by students from Teens of Color Abroad, created during our July 2026 workshop at the Leo Marchutz School of Painting and Drawing in Aix-en-Provence. These works are the inaugural contributions to our Resonance: Art and Writing in Conversation series.
Together, these contributions mark the beginning of a living archive of contemporary creative responses to Beauford's work—an archive that will continue to grow as musicians, writers, scholars, and artists from diverse disciplines add their own voices to the conversation.
Henry is already at work on a second composition inspired by another of Beauford Delaney's Washington Square paintings, continuing an exploration of a subject that fascinated Beauford himself.
We are deeply grateful to Henry for helping inaugurate this new chapter of Resonance: Art and Sound in Conversation. Their generosity, curiosity, and artistic imagination have helped establish a model for the kinds of interdisciplinary conversations we will nurture in the years ahead.
Read Henry’s narrative about their creative process HERE.
And stay tuned as The Beauford Delaney Project continues to build a living archive of contemporary works created through thoughtful reflection and dialogue with Beauford's art.
Resonance Begins: Young Writers in Conversation with Beauford
When ten New York City high school students traveled to southern France this summer, they didn't simply learn about Beauford—they entered into a conversation with his art.
The illustrated poems and narratives and the recorded recitations created during Teens of Color Abroad’s (TOCA’s) two-week excursion to Aix-en-Provence mark an important milestone for The Beauford Delaney Project. They are the first contributions to Resonance, a growing collection of creative responses inspired by Beauford's life and work.
“Watching” and rendition of The Eye
Text and illustration by Grace De-Souza
Image courtesy of Teens of Color Abroad
All rights reserved*
When I first envisioned The Beauford Delaney Project, my conversations with colleagues and collaborative partners always centered on undergraduate, graduate, and postdoctoral students engaging with Beauford's life and work.
But when I was asked if I wanted to provide an opportunity for TOCA youth to experience Beauford’s magic and introduce him to the Leo Marchutz school in the process, I happily accepted the invitation.
This experience broadened my vision for the project. The thoughtfulness of the students' observations, the originality of their poems and narratives, and the confidence with which they shared their work convinced me that high school students—and other community groups of similar age—also have an important place in this creative conversation.
One discovery was especially meaningful. When TOCA's documentarian later shared photographs of the students' illustrated writings, I noticed that two students had chosen to write about paintings that had been introduced only during the orientation session before the trip to Aix-en-Provence - Can Fire in the Park and Untitled (oil on raincoat fragment).
Can Fire in the Park
Text and illustration by Derek Tirado
Image courtesy of Teens of Color Abroad
All rights reserved*
“Strokes”inspired by Untitled (oil on raincoat fragment)
Text and illustration by Alyssa Quiles
Image courtesy of Teens of Color Abroad
All rights reserved*
I was equally delighted to discover that several students had created works inspired by images in the Resonance of Form and Vibration of Color exhibition catalog they received at the conclusion of the workshop.
“Life at Sea” inspired by Grèce
Text and illustration by Fatima Salgado
Image courtesy of Teens of Color Abroad
All rights reserved*
These unexpected choices indicated that the students' engagement with Beauford's art extended beyond the paintings we discussed together that afternoon.
For me, they also affirmed that creative encounters with his work can continue long after a workshop ends.
Resonance has found its first voices!
Explore the photo gallery for the 2026 Writing from Art workshop HERE.
*Reproduction or alteration without prior written consent is strictly prohibited.
A Look Back at Beauford-Inspired Verse
As poets gather at the UT Downtown Gallery in Knoxville for an ekphrastic poetry reading inspired by the Degrees of Separation exhibition, I am reminded that long before the launch of The Beauford Delaney Project, the Les Amis blog has featured poems and essays by writers who found inspiration in Beauford's life and art.
In celebration of today's poetry reading in Knoxville, I’m sharing links to earlier posts that feature poems and images of the works that inspired them.
Click on the links to enjoy the poetry and associated narratives.
Cid Corman’s Poetic Tribute to Beauford
Chartres
(1954) Oil on paperboard
© Estate of Beauford Delaney,
by permission of Derek L. Spratley, Esquire,
Court Appointed Administrator
Courtesy of Michael Rosenfeld Gallery, LLC, New York, NY
Life
Nativity Scene
(1961) Oil on canvas
© Estate of Beauford Delaney
by permission of Derek L. Spratley, Esquire,
Court Appointed Administrator
Courtesy of Michael Rosenfeld Gallery, LLC, New York, NY
Grievances from a Soul of Sorrow
Untitled
(1962-1964) Gouache on paper
Signed and dated "Paris, 1964"
Inscribed: "for Amy(?) Erica + Tully, Paris August 20, 1962, with fond regards"
© Estate of Beauford Delaney,
by permission of Derek L. Spratley, Esquire,
Court Appointed Administrator
Courtesy of Michael Rosenfeld Gallery, LLC, New York, NY
Sunlight Drifters
Untitled
(1966) Oil on canvas
© Estate of Beauford Delaney
by permission of Derek L. Spratley, Esquire,
Court Appointed Administrator
Courtesy of Michael Rosenfeld Gallery, LLC, New York, NY
Woman in an Abstract Field - After Beauford Delaney
Untitled (Woman in an Abstract Field)
(1966) Oil monotype, with hand-painted additions in oil,
on cream wove paper
Image courtesy of Swann Auction Galleries
© Estate of Beauford Delaney
by permission of Derek L. Spratley, Esquire,
Court Appointed Administrator
Courtesy of Michael Rosenfeld Gallery, LLC, New York, NY
When Art Speaks to Art
Ekphrastic Poetry and Music at UT Downtown Gallery
For Beauford, art was never a solitary endeavor. The rhythm of jazz, the cadence of blues, and the elegance of classical music all fed the brilliance of his canvases.
And his dear friend James Baldwin waxed poetic when describing Beauford’s work.
It is in this exact spirit of creative dialogue that the UT Downtown Gallery in Knoxville, TN is hosting a special upcoming event: an afternoon of poetry and music directly inspired by the visual art in its current exhibition of Beauford’s work, entitled Degrees of Separation.
If you’ve never encountered the term, ekphrastic poetry is a beautiful, centuries-old form of writing where a poet uses vivid descriptions to respond to, interpret, or expand upon a work of visual art. Think of it as a bridge between the brushstroke and the written word, allowing us to see a painting through another artist’s eyes and soul.
The poetry performance that centers Beauford’s work will be the second annual event held at the Gallery. The performance debuted last year when Knoxville Poet Laurate Rhea Carmon (aka RheaSunshine) and University of Tennessee (UT) Knoxville Professor Natalie Graham collaborated on a successful inaugural event.
Both poets will recite works at this year’s performance, which will be held on Saturday, July 25 from 1:30 PM to 3:00 PM.
They will be joined by UT Knoxville’s Corey Hodge, Arinze Akpa, and Chiagoziem Jideofor.
Music will be provided by Cal State Fullerton lecturer Tula B. Strong and Black Banjo Reclamation Project founder and executive director Hannah Mayree.
Knoxvillians and visitors have Dr. Graham to thank for the above lineup.
The gallery is located at 106 S. Gay Street, next door to the Arts and Cultural Alliance in the Emporium Building.
All exhibitions and events organized at the gallery are free and open to the public.
Teens of Color Abroad Discover Beauford
Teens of Color Abroad (TOCA) is a U.S. nonprofit organization dedicated to offering students of color immersive global language learning and cultural exchange opportunities. Through four distinct programs, they are changing the world one travel experience at a time.
Student wearing a TOCA t-shirt in Aix-en-Provence
© Entrée to Black Paris
The Wells International Foundation (WIF) and TOCA collaborated for the first time this summer through WIF’s Entrée to Black Paris Cultural Awareness Program. Entrée to Black Paris (ETBP) presented a creative writing workshop for ten students from TOCA’s two-week high school study abroad program, using Beauford Delaney’s life and artwork as their creative anchor.
And WIF is providing a dedicated space for the students’ writing and artwork on The Beauford Delaney Project’s digital hub.
TOCA students participated in a program entitled “Painting in Provence: A Seminar in Vision” that is offered by the Leo Marchutz School of Painting & Drawing in Aix-en-Provence, France.
Entrance to the Leo Marchutz School of Painting and Drawing
© Entrée to Black Paris
Plaque for Leo Marchutz School of Painting and Drawing
© Entrée to Black Paris
Prior to their arrival in Aix, ETBP provided students with an orientation exercise that gave an overview of Beauford’s life story and introduced them to his work. The students responded to questions about three selected paintings and works on paper to prepare them for the creative writing they were to undertake during their time abroad.
The day before the workshop, Leo Marchutz Board President and Director of Artistic Studies Alan Roberts taught the students a lesson on color theory during which he talked about Beauford.
Color Theory session with Director of Artistic Studies Alan Roberts
Image courtesy of Teens of Color Abroad (TOCA)
Display of several Beauford Delaney works
© Entrée to Black Paris
Dr. Monique Y. Wells delivered the “Writing from Art” workshop the following day. She discussed the orientation exercise with the students and gave a brief presentation that
described why she is so passionate about Beauford,
demonstrated the evolution of Beauford’s artistic practice, and
introduced the four works of art that were to serve as the inspiration for their creative writing.
Each student selected one of the four artworks to spark their creativity. Once their pieces were written, everyone took turns presenting their work to the entire group.
Alyssa Quiles on Untitled (1959)
© Entrée to Black Paris
Derek Tirado on The Eye (1965)
© Entrée to Black Paris
Annabella Hernandez Lopez on Composition 16 (1954-1956)
© Entrée to Black Paris
Saliou Diop on Untitled (Self-portrait) (1944)
© Entrée to Black Paris
Participants in the Marchutz School’s five-week “Painting in Provence: Seminar in Vision” program for adults and adults from TOCA and the Marchutz school—including Director Alan Roberts—also participated in the workshop. They were just as inspired as TOCA students and presented their writing to the group as well.
TOCA Director of Global Programs Miriam Piña on The Eye (1965)
© Entrée to Black Paris
Leo Marchutz Director Alan Roberts on The Eye (1965)
© Entrée to Black Paris
After the workshop, Dr. Wells distributed copies of the catalog from the Beauford Delaney: Resonance of Form and Vibration of Color exhibition that WIF mounted in Paris in 2016. Some students were inspired to write new creative pieces about other works of art from that show.
The students are now immortalizing their words on drawing paper, paired with their own illustrations. These pieces, along with videos of the students reciting their poetry and prose, will soon be available for viewing on The Beauford Delaney Project’s digital hub.
WIF views this inspiring collection as the true kickoff to the Project’s mission: to establish a vibrant, multimedia platform for research and creative projects inspired by Beauford’s legacy.
Remembering Ella
Ella Fitzgerald died just over 30 years ago on June 15, 1996.
She was one of Beauford’s favorite performers, and he honored her with an extraordinary portrait.
Portrait of Ella Fitzgerald
(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
Courtesy of Michael Rosenfeld Gallery, LLC, New York, NY
Descriptions of the painting invariably include commentary on Beauford’s use of the color “yellow” to capture Fitzgerald’s essence.
Many have intrigued me.
I am sharing excerpts from a few of these below.
It would have been easy for Delaney to create a standard portrait of Lady Ella, but that would have been an incomplete rendering of the power and the light she made possible through her voice and her music …. The way in which the yellow dominates the painting, almost like the way light pushes itself into a dark room to illuminate it, is just the way Fitzgerald’s voice moves into the ears and hearts of her listeners.
I think it is this dynamism of Fitzgerald’s voice and message that Delaney wished to capture in his painting of her. His use of the color yellow is not solely about an obsession with light, but also an opportunity to look into the internal landscape of a person, and he takes full advantage of this opportunity with Ella.Sojourner Ahébee, “A New Sight: Light & the Color Yellow in Beauford Delaney’s Portraits”
********************It is often said, and is written on the SCAD Museum website entry for Delaney’s Portrait of Ella Fitzgerald, that yellow to Delaney meant “illumination and healing.” But I think there may be some difference in the yellows he uses when they run through and around a face, and when they are in one of the purely abstract paintings. When I look at the yellows in which there is a face, I often feel that I am squinting, that there are edges and injuries. It is a yellow connected to bodies, browns, roses, greens, not only to light and landscape.
Rachel Cohen, “Beauford Delaney and Ella Fitzgerald: In Yellow”
********************Ella’s portrait is one of the more abstract ones Beauford created during his career. This is not a painting where the main goal was to capture her likeness. Instead, Beauford created a visual representation of the power and light that existed as a result of her music. Only certain details of her face are visible; the rest is shrouded in clouds of yellows and oranges. Ella Fitzgerald was a force – she illuminated any room her voice was being projected in. Beauford captured the feelings of chaos and tenderness you feel simultaneously when listening to her.
Maija Brennan, Beauford Delaney: A Study in Portraiture
********************One thing I did not know about Ella Fitzgerald was that she was horribly shy and extremely meek when it came to recognizing her own talent ….
That blew me away. I look at this painting of Beauford Delaney and listen to Ella Fitzgerald with this new knowledge of her shyness and hear something very different in her music …. I have a deeper, more profound appreciation for what Delaney conveys in this portrait of her.
Colony Little, “Artist a Day Challenge No. 24: Beauford Delaney x Ella Fitzgerald”
********************He depicts the First Lady of Song not in sweaty performance … but in a state of high-priestess contemplation—”the quiet place” from which, as [Toni] Morrison has said, all art truly emerges.
Robert O’Meally, “Baldwin and Delaney Tell the Story Using Yellows and the Blues” in Speculative Light: The Arts of Beauford Delaney and James Baldwin
Christie’s Sells Beauford’s Portrait of Peter Eyre
Christie’s London offered Beauford’s portrait of Peter Eyre for sale at its Post-War to Present sale on June 25, 2026.
Portrait of a Young Man
(1960) Oil on canvas
© Estate of Beauford Delaney
by permission of Derek L. Spratley, Esquire,
Court Appointed Administrator
Courtesy of Michael Rosenfeld Gallery, LLC, New York, NY
The estimated sale price was 60,000£ – 80,000£.
The work sold for 101,600£, including a 27% buyer’s premium.
In Les Amis’ interview with Eyre (December 2025), we learned that the painting hung in the office of gallerist Paul Facchetti during Beauford’s 1960 solo exhibition at the gallery.
We have published a couple of articles about this exhibition:
Beauford’s Solo Show at the Paul Facchetti Gallery
A Look at Two Beauford Delaney 1960 Abstracts
Beauford’s predominent use of yellow in the Eyre portrait reminds me of the closing words of Richard J. Powell’s essay entitled “The Color of Ecstasy,” which he included in the catalog for the 2002-2003 itinerant exhibition The Color Yellow:
Beauford Delaney’s artistic preoccupation with the color yellow is governed by its capacity to illumine …. Delaney sought in his work and throughout his entire life to experience that state of perfect bliss in nature and society, to reach that nearly unattainable note or apogee of emotional discernment in the arts, and to know that ecstatic feeling of an “excessive and deliberate joy” in life. Oddly enough, by placing himself and his audience in his dense and luxurious yellow zone, he realized these grand ambitions.
Christie’s to Auction Beauford’s Portrait of Peter Eyre
In December 2025, Les Amis published an extensive article about actor Peter Eyre and the portrait Beauford painted of him in 1960:
Beauford’s Portrait of Peter Eyre
Peter Eyre
(1960) Oil on canvas
© Estate of Beauford Delaney
by permission of Derek L. Spratley, Esquire,
Court Appointed Administrator
Courtesy of Michael Rosenfeld Gallery, LLC, New York, NY
On June 25, 2026, Christie’s is auctioning this work during its Post-War to Present sale. They have listed the title as Portrait of a Young Man.
Beauford signed the work and wrote his Clamart address on the rear of the canvas.
Rear of Peter Eyre portrait
Image courtesy of Peter Eyre
Aside from the indication that Eyer’s mother, Dorothy Pelline Eyre, acquired the painting directly from Beauford and that Peter inherited it from her (“Thence by descent to the present owner”), the Web page provides no narrative text to describe the work or any relationship between the Eyres and Beauford.
The estimated sale price is 60,000£ – 80,000£.
Christie’s notes that an Artist’s Resale Right applies to its sale.
Click HERE to view their Web page for this work.
Beauford Delaney: Degrees of Separation
From June 5 through August 8, 2026, the University of Tennessee (UT) Downtown Gallery is showing Beauford Delaney: Degrees of Separation—an exhibition that revisits Beauford’s work and worlds through the lens of the relationships he forged from his hometown of Knoxville to Paris, the last place he called home.
Curated by Derek Spratley, Esquire, Court Appointed Administrator of the Beauford Delaney estate, and Mike Berry, Curator at the UT Downtown Gallery, the show explores “the deeply reciprocal influence the artist had on those he encountered throughout his travels across the domestic and international stage.”
Entrance to Beauford Delaney: Degrees of Separation
Image courtesy of the Estate of Beauford Delaney
CLAMART ‘61
Private Collection
© Estate of Beauford Delaney
by permission of Derek L. Spratley, Esquire,
Court Appointed Administrator
Courtesy of Michael Rosenfeld Gallery, LLC, New York, NY
The exhibition opened on June 5, 2026 at 6:30 PM with a First Friday event called Gallery Talk. Attendees listened to remarks made by curators Spratley and Berry as well as Dr. Mary Campbell, Associate Professor of Art History at UT Knoxville and Stephen Wicks, Barbara W. & Bernard E. Bernstein Curator at the Knoxville Museum of Art.
Opening reception for Beauford Delaney: Degrees of Separation
Images courtesy of the UT Downtown Gallery
Derek Spratley, Esquire
Court Appointed Administrator of the Beauford Delaney estate
Image courtesy of UT Downtown Gallery
Dr. Mary Campbell
Associate Professor of Art History at UT Knoxville
Image courtesy of UT Downtown Gallery
Portraits of three of the most important people in Beauford’s life are displayed in the exhibit:
James Baldwin,
James Baldwin, Istanbul, Turkey
(ca. 1965) Ink on paper
Private Collection
© Estate of Beauford Delaney,
by permission of Derek L. Spratley, Esquire,
Court Appointed Administrator
Courtesy of Michael Rosenfeld Gallery, LLC, New York, NY
Dante Pavone,
Dante Pavone
(1948) Pastel on paper
Knoxville Museum of Art
© Estate of Beauford Delaney,
by permission of Derek L. Spratley, Esquire,
Court Appointed Administrator
Courtesy of Michael Rosenfeld Gallery, LLC, New York, NY
and Henry Miller.
Sketch of Henry Miller
Ink on paper
Private Collection
© Estate of Beauford Delaney
by permission of Derek L. Spratley, Esquire
Court Appointed Administrator
Courtesy of Michael Rosenfeld Gallery, LLC, New York, NY
In addition to works by Beauford, the exhibition features works by friends and paintings and drawings from the Ewing Gallery Permanent Collection by Beauford’s brother, Joseph Delaney.
On Saturday, July 25, the gallery will host an afternoon of exphrastic poetry (poetry inspired by visual art). Curated by Dr. Natalie Graham, Inaugural Poet Laureate, Orange County, CA 2022-2024, the performance will feature readings by award-winning local and international poets.
As part of Downtown Knoxville’s First Friday Art Walk, the UT Downtown Gallery is open until 9 PM on the first Friday of each month.
UT Downtown Gallery
106 S. Gay Street
Knoxville TN 37902
Telephone: 865-673-0802
HOURS
W-F: 11am – 6pm
SAT: 10am – 3pm
FIRST FRIDAY: 2pm-9pm
A New Chapter Begins
Launching The Beauford Delaney Project and Its First Creative Initiative
Portrait of Beauford Delaney
© Carl van Vechten 1953
Public domain
Today, Les Amis is pleased to report an important milestone in our efforts to honor, explore, and share the legacy of Beauford Delaney.
We are delighted to announce the launch of The Beauford Delaney Project, a new digital humanities initiative led by the Wells International Foundation (WIF), as well as the launch of the project's first official undertaking—a creative and scholarly soundscape project led by WIF's Summer 2026 intern, George Henry.
For many years, Les Amis has served as a space for sharing research, stories, discoveries, and conversations about Beauford as one of the 20th century's most remarkable artists.
The Beauford Delaney Project represents the next stage of that work—it is creating new opportunities for scholarship, education, artistic engagement, and public access centered on Beauford's life and legacy.
Rather than treating his story as something confined to museums or academic publications, the project seeks to bring Beauford's life into conversation with contemporary audiences—especially students, emerging scholars, artists, and community members. Through research, creative practice, educational programming, and international engagement, WIF is fostering new ways of understanding both his artistic achievements and the broader cultural worlds he inhabited.
The launch of the platform is only the beginning.
The First Project: Listening to Beauford's New York
We are especially pleased to introduce the first project developed under this new initiative.
This summer, George Henry, a recent Amherst College graduate whose work bridges Black Studies, technology, archival practice, and sound, will undertake an innovative exploration of Beauford's New York through audio.
George Henry
Image courtesy of George Henry
Drawing upon archival research and field recordings collected at locations associated with Beauford's life—including Harlem, Greenwich Village, and other neighborhoods where he lived and worked—Henry will create a series of immersive soundscapes designed to evoke the environments that surrounded Beauford during pivotal periods of his career.
The project asks a compelling question: What might we learn about Beauford's world by listening as closely as we look?
By combining scholarship, artistic interpretation, and contemporary audio practice, these soundscapes will offer audiences a new way to engage with Beauford's story—one that complements traditional historical research while inviting deeper sensory and emotional connection.
In many ways, the project reflects the broader vision of overall project: bringing together disciplines, perspectives, and communities to create new pathways into Beauford's life and work.
Looking Ahead
As The Beauford Delaney Project grows, we look forward to sharing new research, creative projects, educational opportunities, and collaborations inspired by Beauford's far-reaching influence.
We are grateful to everyone who has supported Les Amis over the years and invite you to explore the new platform, follow the progress of George Henry's work this summer, and join us as we continue building a space where scholarship, creativity, and community come together.
Find The Beauford Delaney Project HERE.
Beauford’s Portrait of Gaylord
The Worcester Art Museum (WAM) holds Beauford's Portrait of Gaylord in its permanent collection.
Portrait of Gaylord
(1944) Oil on canvas mounted on artist board
© Estate of Beauford Delaney
by permission of Derek L. Spratley, Esquire,
Court Appointed Administrator
Courtesy of Michael Rosenfeld Gallery, LLC, New York, NY
Central to the museum's mission are its collaborations with many of the city’s colleges and universities, serving over 35,000 students annually. It uses its art collection to support the colleges’ curricula and engage students, faculty, and staff in planning and implementing projects that benefit all audiences.
In the fall of 2021, Kristina Wilson, professor of art history at Clark University, taught a course entitled “Art, the Public, and Worcester’s Cultural Institutions,” in which students researched works in the Museum’s collection to create content for a new podcast. “WAM x University” launched in the spring of 2022 and is available for streaming on Spotify. Its success opened the door for future classes and other colleges and universities to contribute new seasons, as an ongoing project for students to present research in new forms.
For the 50th episode of the podcast, Clark University student Lee McKinnon presents an analysis of Portrait of Gaylord that portrays it as a representation of resistance and protest.
Listen to the ~16-minute episode by clicking HERE.
More on Beauford’s Still Life with Idol
Last week, Les Amis published an article about Sotheby's sale of a Beauford Delaney work entitled Still Life with Idol.
Lot 336
Still Life with Idol
signed (lower center)
oil on Masonite in artist's chosen frame
36 by 21 in.
91.4 by 53.3 cm.
Executed in 1945.
© Estate of Beauford Delaney
by permission of Derek L. Spratley, Esquire,
Court Appointed Administrator
Courtesy of Michael Rosenfeld Gallery, LLC, New York, NY
In that post, we discussed the differences in title, media, and year of creation ascribed to the work on Sotheby's Website and in the biography entitled Amazing Grace: A Life of Beauford Delaney.
Sylvain Briet worked alongside his brother, Philippe, at the Philippe Briet Gallery in New York. He graciously provided us with additional information about this painting.
He told us that the gallery sold the painting to Jean de Gunzburg and that de Gunzburg already owned it when the gallery displayed it at the Beauford Delaney: The New York Years [1929-1953] exhibition in April - May 1994. He confirmed that it is an oil on masonite.
Briet also told us that neither his brother nor Jean de Gunzburg knew of the title Still Life with Idol and that the work was listed in the exhibition as Untitled, circa 1945. He mentioned that many of the works shown during the gallery's 1994 show also hung in the Seventh Annual Exhibition of Paintings and Sculpture at the Pyramid Club in Philadelphia in 1947.
Beauford's Still Life with Idol Offered by Sotheby's
On Saturday, May 16, 2026, Sotheby's is auctioning Beauford's Still Life with Idol during its Contemporary Day Auction featuring works from the collection of Jean and Terry De Gunzburg.
Lot 336
Still Life with Idol
signed (lower center)
oil on Masonite in artist's chosen frame
36 by 21 in.
91.4 by 53.3 cm.
Executed in 1945.
© Estate of Beauford Delaney
by permission of Derek L. Spratley, Esquire,
Court Appointed Administrator
Courtesy of Michael Rosenfeld Gallery, LLC, New York, NY
According to Sotheby’s, the present owner acquired the work from Philippe Briet Gallery, New York, in 1994. The painting appears to be the work shown second from the left in an installation photograph from the gallery’s Beauford Delaney: The New York Years [1929-1953] exhibition, which was held from April through May 1994.
Beauford Delaney: The New York Years (1994)
© Sylvain Briet
Several years ago, Sylvain Briet shared with Les Amis an invitation card and graphic image produced for the 1994 exhibition. Although the title of the work was not identified on the material provided, Les Amis later located what appears to be the same composition reproduced in the first edition of David Leeming’s biography entitled Amazing Grace: A Life of Beauford Delaney (1998; Oxford University Press).
In the biography, the work is identified as Earth Mother.
Les Amis subsequently included the image in a 2017 post entitled "Beauford's Reflections on Leaving New York".
Earth Mother
(1950) Oil on canvas
© Estate of Beauford Delaney
by permission of Derek L. Spratley, Esquire,
Court Appointed Administrator
Courtesy of Michael Rosenfeld Gallery, LLC, New York, NY
The caption accompanying the black-and-white reproduction of Earth Mother in the second edition of Amazing Grace (2024; Karma Books) lists dimensions that correspond to those given for Still Life with Idol on Sotheby’s Website.
Earth Mother as presented in
Amazing Grace: A Life of Beauford Delaney (2024; Karma Books)
© Les Amis de Beauford Delaney
The Sotheby’s image differs noticeably in coloration from the earlier reproduced image.
David Leeming’s Amazing Grace: A Life of Beauford Delaney identifies the work as Earth Mother (1950, oil on canvas); Sotheby’s identifies it as Still Life with Idol (1945, oil on Masonite).
The estimated sale price of Still Life with Idol is $60,000 - $80,000.
For information about the auction, click HERE.
More Beauford-Inspired Music
I am always intrigued when I learn about musical compositions inspired by Beauford's art.
A few days ago, I learned that a piece called "Brilliant Brushstrokes” (2025) by Dr. Ryan Lindveit was commissioned by the University of Tennessee, Knoxville Wind Ensemble (John Zastoupil, conductor) and debuted at the College Band Directors National Association (CBDNA) National Conference at Texas Christian University in Fort Worth, TX on March 27, 2025.
It was inspired by Beauford's untitled raincoat painting, which is part of the permanent collection at the Minneapolis Institute of Art.
Untitled (raincoat painting)
(1954) Oil on raincoat fragment
Gift of Jacques and Solange du Closel
© Estate of Beauford Delaney
by permission of Derek L. Spratley, Esquire,
Court Appointed Administrator
Courtesy of Michael Rosenfeld Gallery, LLC, New York, NY
The University of Washington Wind Ensemble and Symphonic Band performed this composition as the closing for its April 30, 2026 Scenes and Portraits concert at the school's Katharyn Alvord Gerlich Theater in Meany Hall.
"Brilliant Brushstrokes" was selected as the best composition for Category B (Wind Ensemble) of the 2026 RED NOTE New Music Festival Composition Competition. It is the first movement of Lindveit's new multimovement work titled Color Theory, which was inspired by the myriad ways artists, animals, and filmmakers use color.
Dr. Lindveit is the Teaching Assistant Professor of Music Theory & Composition in the College of Music at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville.
Listen to "Brilliant Brushstrokes" here:
Beauford and James Weldon Johnson
Growing up in Knoxville, Beauford learned about James Weldon Johnson and grew to greatly admire him.
James Weldon Johnson by Carl Van Vechten
Library of Congress, Prints & Photographs Division,
Carl Van Vechten Collection
Public domain
He heard many stories about Johnson, who used to visit the home of Beauford's high school principal, Charles Cansler.
Cansler was well connected in Boston and provided Beauford with letters of introduction to influential people in the city when he learned that Beauford planned to move there in 1923.
Three years later, Beauford had the chance to meet Johnson in that city.
The encounter took place at Boston's Old City Hall, where a performance of Johnson's poem "Creation" was staged on the evening of November 27, 1926.
Old Boston City Hall
Library of Congress, Prints & Photographs Division, MA-860
Public domain
Biographer David Leeming describes the event as follows:
"... Johnson's African-American dramatic musical version of the Creation was presented by Serge Koussevitsky and the Boston Symphony Orchestra to enthusiastic audiences in New York and Boston. Beauford was at a Boston performance and he introduced himself to Johnson afterward."
The New York Times published an extensive account of the performance. It reported that
"An old-time negro "folk-sermon," as embodied in James Weldon Johnson's poem "The Creation," with music by Louis Gruenberg, will be performed by the League of Composers on the evening of Nov. 27 in Town Hall, with Serge Koussevitzky of the Boston Symphony Orchestra as conductor.
Read the full-length NYT article HERE.
Of the numerous contemporary renditions of "The Creation" available for viewing/listening online, I have selected three that I particularly enjoyed.
Find them below.