Beauford at the Narratives of African American Art and Identity Exposition

This brilliantly colorful abstract by Beauford was displayed in the University of Maryland Art Gallery's exposition entitled Narratives of African American Art and Identity: The David C. Driskell Collection. The exhibit was mounted in conjunction with the announcement of the establishment of the David C. Driskell Center for the Study of the African Diaspora in 1998.

Untitled
(c. 1964) Oil on canvas
25.5 X 21.25 inches
© Estate of Beauford Delaney, by permission of Derek L. Spratley, Esquire, Court Appointed Administrator
Beauford's painting was included in the section of the exposition entitled "Diaspora Identities - Global Arts" in the context of "transnational explorations" of diaspora identity.

Dr. Adrienne Childs, who is currently an associate of the W.E.B. Du Bois Institute at Harvard University, was the assistant curator for the exposition and managed the production of the catalog (published by Pomegranate Communications) for the show. The following is an excerpt of what she wrote about this work:

Beauford Delaney's untitled 1965 abstraction demonstrates the bold use of color and expressive brush work that is the hallmark of his oeuvre. ... Delaney's relationship with abstraction predated the notorious Abstract Expressionist movement, positioning him as a forerunner of one of the most important ideological and stylistic developments in twentieth-century American art. Although he chose not to identify himself with the movement, as the Abstract Expressionists began to gain notoriety in the late 1940s, Delaney's abstract work increasingly gained attention.

The David C. Driskell Collection includes drawings, paintings, prints, mixed media, and sculptures. It is housed at at the University of Maryland, College Park, MD.