Beauford's Portrait of a Nude Woman

According to biographer David Leeming, Beauford "revealed himself publicly as a modernist" via a monographic exhibition at the Vendome art gallery in midtown Manhattan in January-February 1941. He presented "new cityscapes" and "trademark" portraits, including a pastel of his mother, Delia. 

 But one portrait in the show was distinctly not "trademark." It was a nude painting of a young white dancer named Jessie. 

Leeming goes on to say that Beauford rarely painted nudes and that when he took classes at the Art Students' League, he was "relieved to discover the unwritten rule that black painters not attend life classes when the female models were white." He identifies Jessie as the girlfriend of James Baldwin's friend, Emile Capouya, and he says Jessie insisted that Beauford paint her. 

Though I have never seen an image of this painting, I believe it is represented in the photograph below.

Beauford in his Greene Street studio, New York City, 1944
© Estate of Beauford Delaney
by permission of Derek L. Spratley, Esquire,
Court Appointed Administrator 

Two paintings are seen, side by side, "behind" the ceiling light in this photo. 

The one on the right is Untitled (The Artist and Woman Seated), dated 1940. It was offered for auction by Swann Auction Galleries in October 2018, but was not sold. The auction catalog speculated that the young woman seated next to Beauford could be Jessie.

Untitled (The Artist and Woman Seated) 1940)
Oil on linen canvas
Image courtesy of Swann Auction Galleries
© Estate of Beauford Delaney
by permission of Derek L. Spratley, Esquire,
Court Appointed Administrator

The painting on the left appears to be a reclining nude. It may well be the portrait of Jessie.

Beauford in his Greene Street studio, New York City, 1944 - detail
© Estate of Beauford Delaney
by permission of Derek L. Spratley, Esquire,
Court Appointed Administrator

 

Beauford's portrait of James Baldwin, Dark Rapture, is seen on the wall above Beauford's head in the photo. 

 

 

Beauford in his Greene Street studio, New York City, 1944 - detail (Dark Rapture)
© Estate of Beauford Delaney
by permission of Derek L. Spratley, Esquire,
Court Appointed Administrator

 

It was also shown at the Vendome exhibition.

 

Dark Rapture
(1941) Oil on masonite
Collection of halley k harrisburg and Michael Rosenfeld
© Estate of Beauford Delaney
by permission of Derek L. Spratley, Esquire,
Court Appointed Administrator

The whereabouts of the nude portrait of Jessie are unknown to me.