Beauford's Portrait of Charlie Parker

Many thanks to the Michael Rosenfeld Gallery LLC, New York, NY for furnishing the images and information presented in this post.

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Several of Beauford's paintings are being shown in the Blues for Smoke exposition at the Whitney Museum of American Art in New York. One of them is an untitled work that is also known as Charlie "Bird" Parker:

Untitled (aka Charlie "Bird" Parker), 1968
Oil on canvas
28 3/4" x 23 1/2", signed and dated
© Estate of Beauford Delaney, Courtesy of
Michael Rosenfeld Gallery LLC, New York , NY
This painting is signed and dated in the lower right corner: 1968 Beauf Delaney. It is also signed, inscribed and dated in the upper right corner on the back: Beauford Delaney Paris 1968 France. Billy Dee Williams (Los Angeles, CA) acquired it directly from Beauford in 1968 in the accompaniment of James Baldwin. It is currently held by the Michael Rosenfeld Gallery LLC, New York, NY, which loaned it to the Museum of Contemporary Art in Los Angeles (MOCA) for the current exposition. It appears on page 51 of the exhibition catalog.

In an article about Blues for Smoke, published by the New York Times on February 8, 2013, Holland Cotter discusses the few pieces in the show that come from Europe. Beauford's paintings are a part of this group. About the portrait shown above, Holland states:

Europe — Paris — was the adopted home of the painter Beauford Delaney, who has a wonderful little 1968 portrait here of Charlie Parker, dressed like an African chief in a citrus-yellow robe.

Untitled (aka Charlie "Bird" Parker) - detail, 1968
Oil on canvas
28 3/4" x 23 1/2", signed and dated
© Estate of Beauford Delaney, Courtesy of
Michael Rosenfeld Gallery LLC, New York , NY
Blues for Smoke was shown at The Geffen Contemporary at MOCA from October 21, 2012 - January 7, 2013; the show opened at the Whitney Museum of American Art on February 17 and will hang until April 28, 2013.

Click on the links below to read other Les Amis blog posts about Beauford and the Whitney Museum of American Art:

Where to Find Beauford's Art: Whitney Museum of American Art

Beauford at the Whitney Museum Studio Galleries - 1930