Beauford's Drip Abstractions

In scanning the Black Art Auction Website to prepare for the post that I published last week on their sale of one of Beauford's portraits of Mme du Closel, I came across the image below. 

Untitled
(1959) Gouache and watercolor on paper
25 x 18 inches / 63.5 x 45.7 cm
Pour mon cher amis / Harloff et [illegible] / Clamart 1959
© Estate of Beauford Delaney
by permission of Derek L. Spratley, Esquire,
Court Appointed Administrator

 

I was immediately captivated by the dominance of pink/rose in this work (currently held by the Michael Rosenfeld Gallery). It reminded me of the article I published in 2018 about Beauford's use of this color: "Beauford - 'La Vie en Rose'." 

 

I was also captivated by Beauford's use of the drip technique in this work. I've only seen images of a few additional paintings and works on paper for which he uses this technique.

 

Find images of them below.

 

Untitled (Green Drip Abstraction)
(1958) Gouache on wove paper
603x483 mm; 23.75x19 inches
Signed, dated, and inscribed "To Lucien, on his birthday
with affection from Beauford Delaney Paris 1958."
Image courtesy of Swann Auction Galleries
© Estate of Beauford Delaney
by permission of Derek L. Spratley, Esquire,
Court Appointed Administrator 
 

Untitled
(1970) Oil on canvas
© Estate of Beauford Delaney
by permission of Derek L. Spratley, Esquire,
Court Appointed Administrator
 

I find it curious that Beauford created the oil painting over ten years after he did the two drip works on paper that are shown above.  It makes me wonder whether there are additional similar works that bridge the time gap between these works.

 

I wonder if the 1961 oil on paper shown below might be one of them.    

 Untitled (Abstract Composition)
(1961) Oil monotype on heavy wove paper
Photo courtesy of Swann Auction Galleries
© Estate of Beauford Delaney
by permission of Derek L. Spratley, Esquire,
Court Appointed Administrator 

I'll definitely be on the lookout for more!

Black Art Auction Sells a Beauford Delaney Portrait

Black Art Auction's May Signature Auction was held on May 20, 2023.

Portrait of Mme du Closel (Lot 182) sold for $4,687.50, including 25% buyer's premium (estimated sale price was $6,000-$8,000).

Portrait of Mme du Closel
(1964) Pastel on paper
12.5 x 16 inches
© Estate of Beauford Delaney
by permission of Derek L. Spratley, Esquire

No 6 Portrait, JFK (Lot 145 - estimated sale price was $15,000-$25,000) went unsold.

(We obtained this information directly from the auction house on May 26, 2023; it contrasts the information displayed on its Website at the time of this writing).

No 6 Portrait, JFK
(1966) Pastel
16 x 12.75 inches
© Estate of Beauford Delaney
by permission of Derek L. Spratley, Esquire,
Court Appointed Administrator

The majority of works sold during this auction did not fetch the estimated sale price. In addition to Beauford's portrait of JFK, several items went unsold.

In the past, Black Art Auction's sales of Beauford's work have produced more positive results.

His Untitled 1961 gouache on paper sold for $100,000 during the May Fine Art Auction on May 22, 2021 (estimated sale price was $30,000-$50,000).

Untitled
(1961) Gouache on paper
23 x 18 inches
signed and dated; estate stamp (1979) verso
© Estate of Beauford Delaney
by permission of Derek L. Spratley, Esquire,
Court Appointed Administrator

His Untitled (1962-1964) gouache on paper sold for $53,125 during the Fall Fine Art Sale on November 19, 2022 (estimated sale price was $50,000-$70,000).

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

And his Composition, 1963 watercolor on paper sold for $27,000 during the Works on Paper, Prints + 3-D Sale on February 6, 2021.

Composition, 1963
(1963) Watercolor
Signed at bottom right, dated, and
annotated "Souvenir" at bottom left
50 x 33.5 cm
© Estate of Beauford Delaney,
by permission of Derek L. Spratley, Esquire,
Court Appointed Administrator

Sale, Sale, Sale

The results of the Christie's and Phillips' auctions are in!

Phillips sold Beauford's Untitled, 1958 at its "20th Century & Contemporary Art Day Sale" on May 16, 2023.

Untitled
signed, dedicated and dated "Bon Noel Pour Monsieur Ballois avec amitié Dec 1961 Beauford Delaney 58" lower right
Oil on paper
24 1/4 x 19 3/4 in. (61.6 x 50.2 cm)
Painted in 1958.
© Estate of Beauford Delaney,
by permission of Derek L. Spratley, Esquire,
Court Appointed Administrator

The estimated sale price of this work was $30,000-$50,000.

The actual sale price was $45,000 ($57,150 including a 27% buyer's premium).

Christie's sold Composition Bleu at its "A Century of Art: The Gerald Fineberg Collection" sale on May 17, 2023.

Composition Bleu
signed, inscribed and dated ‘Beauford Delaney 68 Rue Paul Couturier Clamart Siene 60’
(on the reverse);
titled and dated again ‘Composition Bleu 1960’
(on a panel affixed to the stretcher)
Oil on canvas
51 x 38 1/4 in. (129.5 x 97.1 cm.)
Painted in 1960.
© Estate of Beauford Delaney,
by permission of Derek L. Spratley, Esquire,
Court Appointed Administrator

The estimated sale price of this work was $300,000-$500,000.

The actual sale price was $620,000 ($781,200 with 26% buyer's premium).

Today, Black Art Auction is offering two portraits by Beauford during its May Signature Auction.

Portrait of Mme du Closel
(1964) Pastel on paper
12.5 x 16 inches
© Estate of Beauford Delaney
by permission of Derek L. Spratley, Esquire,

The estimated sale price of this work is $6,000-$8,000.

The Les Amis de Beauford Delaney blog post entitled "A Boundless Love: Beauford Delaney’s Letters to Larry Calcagno" is quoted extensively in the description for No 6, Portrait, JFK.

No 6 Portrait, JFK
(1966) Pastel
16 x 12.75 inches
© Estate of Beauford Delaney
by permission of Derek L. Spratley, Esquire,
Court Appointed Administrator

The estimated sale price of this work is $15,000-$25,000.

The May Signature Auction includes paintings, sculpture, works on paper and prints spanning more than 100 years of American art history. For more information, click HERE.

May Is Mental Health Awareness Month

In contemplating the observance of May as Mental Health Awareness Month, my thoughts turned to Beauford's stays at the Maison de Santé de Nogent sur Marne in the wake of his suicide attempt in Greece in August 1961.

On May 5, 1962, Beauford was re-admitted to the clinic only months after having undergone psychiatric treatment there in December 1961.

According to biographer David A. Leeming, he remained at the clinic until May 25, 1962.

Self-portrait
(1962) Oil on canvas
© Estate of Beauford Delaney
by permission of Derek L. Spratley, Esquire,
Court Appointed Administrator

Leeming devotes two pages to Beauford's stay at the Maison de Santé and Beauford's fulfillment of his doctor's assignment to write about "his early life and his own sense of where his art came from and what it meant to him."

In reading these pages, we learn that Beauford contemplated suicide during his first few days at the clinic and that he was not allowed almost no visitors. And we learn that his friends rallied to raise the money required to pay for his stay at the clinic and his daily expenses once he returned home.

Leeming quotes extensively from Beauford's "homework" in these pages. One particularly powerful passage reads as follows:

The artist may perhaps ... never have any other satisfaction than being a willing worker hoping for revelation and time enough to release what life and experience has brought through his apprenticeship.

This quote brought to mind an event held at the Hunter Museum of Art in Chattanooga, Tennessee in March 2023.

Art+ Issues: Art Health & Social Justice with CHI Memorial was a free program inspired by themes found in the Metamorphosis into Freedom exhibition of Beauford's art organized by the Knoxville Museum of Art and shown at the Hunter Museum from January 27 - May 1, 2023. Focused on [LGBTQ] teen mental health, identity and reproductive health, it provided an opportunity for local Black and Latinx creatives to work with youth in schools to offer them a space for creation and truth-sharing through the creation of performances in dance, music, and poetry.

These performances were staged in the viewing space of the museum, with art by Beauford and his brother Joseph providing the ambiance.

Screenshot from Art+ Issues: Art Health & Social Justice
with CHI Memorial

Chyela Rowe, CHI Memorial Hospital's Manager of Arts Therapies & Well-Being, facilitated this event. Information from local agencies offering support for youth in these areas was made available for attendees.

The young people who performed at these event were likely unaware of Beauford's reflection. But their words and movements embodied it completely.

Click HERE to see the Metamorphosis into Freedom exhibition - including video frames featuring six of Beauford's works - and watch the performances (47:18 minutes).