Beauford's Jean-Claude Killy-Inspired Works

As the 2026 Winter Olympics come to a close in Italy and France prepares to host the 2030 Winter Games, my thoughts turn to Beauford's paintings of Jean-Claude Killy.

In 2014, Les Amis posted about an abstract work entitled Jean-Claude Killy that Beauford painted in 1962.

Jean-Claude Killy
(1962) Gouache on paper
© Estate of Beauford Delaney,
by permission of Derek L. Spratley, Esquire,
Court Appointed Administrator
Courtesy of the Michael Rosenfeld Gallery, LLC, New York, NY

Killy was featured in Paris Match magazine in January of that year. He subsequently broke his leg and was unable to compete in the 1962 World Cup competition.

Six years later, he made Olympic history when he won the "Triple Crown" of alpine skiing by taking the gold in the downhill, giant slalom, and slalom competitions.

Beauford's 1968 portrait of Killy was inspired this success.

Jean-Claude Killy
(1968) Oil on canvas
© Estate of Beauford Delaney,
by permission of Derek L. Spratley, Esquire,
Court Appointed Administrator
Courtesy of the Michael Rosenfeld Gallery, LLC, New York, NY

He referenced two press images of the athlete to create this work—one from the cover of Historia Magazine and the other from a photo of Killy in mid-air during a ski run at the Grenoble games.

There is no mention of Killy in the biography entitled Amazing Grace: A Life of Beauford Delaney by David Leeming.

Abstracts Sold, To Be Sold, and on Display

SOLD

On February 12, 2026, Sotheby's sold Beauford's untitled 1960 abstract for the sum of 20,320€, including a 27% buyer's premium.

Lot 299
Untitled
(1961) Gouache on paper
signed and dated (lower right)
63,9 x 50 cm; 25 x 19 ½ in.
© 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 8,000€ to 12,000€.

See last week's blog post for information about this work.

TO BE SOLD

Nadeau's Auction Gallery is offering Abstract Composition in Red for sale on February 21, 2026 during its 2026 Custom Furnishings, Antiques, Fine Art, & Decor auction.

Abstract Composition in Red
(undated) Oil on paper
Marked lower right Beauford Delaney
24″ x 17 1/2″ sheet
© Estate of Beauford Delaney
by permission of Derek L. Spratley, Esquire,
Court Appointed Administrator
Courtesy of Michael Rosenfeld Gallery, LLC, New York, NY
Seeing the intensity of the red in this work immediately brought three paintings to mind—a red all-over abstract that was shown during the Internal Light exhibition mounted by Levis Fine Art in 2013, Beauford's Portrait of Michael Freilich, and the iconic Sage Black, which recently sold at auction for $1,524,000, including a 27% buyer's premium.

Abstraction #12
(1963) Oil on canvas
Knoxville Museum of Art
Image courtesy of Levis Fine Art
© Estate of Beauford Delaney
by permission of Derek L. Spratley, Esquire,
Court Appointed Administrator
Courtesy of Michael Rosenfeld Gallery, LLC, New York, NY

Portrait of a man in red / Michael Freilich
(1965) Oil on canvas
Signed on reverse
© Estate of Beauford Delaney
by permission of Derek L. Spratley, Esquire,
Court Appointed Administrator
Courtesy of Michael Rosenfeld Gallery, LLC, New York, NY

The Sage Black
(1967) Oil on canvas
signed, inscribed, titled and dated
'The Sage Black Beauford Delaney Paris 1967'
(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

The estimated sale price for Abstract Composition in Red is $800 to $1200.

For more information about this auction, click HERE.

ON DISPLAY

Dozens of Beauford's most vibrant works are now on display at the Michael Rosenfeld Gallery.

The Light Contained in Everything is the gallery’s fourth solo presentation of Beauford's work. Featuring paintings and works on paper that date from 1954 and 1968, the exhibition's title is inspired by James Baldwin's introduction to Beauford’s 1964 solo exhibition at Galerie Lambert in Paris.

Many of the works in The Light Contained in Everything were loaned to The Drawing Center for its phenomenal In the Medium of Life: The Drawings of Beauford Delaney solo exhibition last year.

Untitled
(1961) Watercolor 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

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

The Light Contained in Everything will be on display through April 4, 2026.

Visit the exhibition Web page HERE.

Beauford Delaney Abstract at Sotheby's Contemporary Discoveries Sale

On February 12, 2026, Sotheby's Paris will auction a Beauford Delaney abstract work on paper.

Lot 299
Untitled
(1961) Gouache on paper
signed and dated (lower right)
63,9 x 50 cm; 25 x 19 ½ in.
© Estate of Beauford Delaney
by permission of Derek L. Spratley, Esquire,
Court Appointed Administrator
Courtesy of Michael Rosenfeld Gallery, LLC, New York, NY

This work is created in the same style as two works on paper shown in the 2016 Resonance of Form and Vibration of Color exhibition mounted by Les Amis and the Wells International Foundation in Paris

Sans titre
(1961) Technique mixte/papier
signed and dated (lower right)
65 x 49,5 cm
© Estate of Beauford Delaney
by permission of Derek L. Spratley, Esquire,
Court Appointed Administrator
Courtesy of Michael Rosenfeld Gallery, LLC, New York, NY

Sans titre
(1961) Technique mixte/papier
signed and dated (lower right)
64 x 49,5 cm
© Estate of Beauford Delaney
by permission of Derek L. Spratley, Esquire,
Court Appointed Administrator
Courtesy of Michael Rosenfeld Gallery, LLC, New York, NY

as well as a work shown in the 2020 Through the Unusual Door exhibition mounted by the Knoxville Museum of Art.

Untitled
(1960) Watercolor on paper
signed and dated (lower right)
26 x 19 ¾ in.
Knoxville Museum of Art
2014 purchase with funds provided by Brenda and Larry Thompson
© Estate of Beauford Delaney
by permission of Derek L. Spratley, Esquire,
Court Appointed Administrator
Courtesy of Michael Rosenfeld Gallery, LLC, New York, NY

Because the earliest of these works is dated 1960, one can speculate that the 1961 works may have been produced prior to Beauford's life-altering voyage to Greece that July.

The estimated sale price of the work offered by Sotheby's is 8,000€ - 12,000€.

For information about the auction, click HERE.

Fun Facts about Beauford: The Boston Years

Compared to other periods of Beauford Delaney’s life, his years in Boston (1923 - 1929) are the least well documented in the historical record.

Today, in the first of a series of articles that present "fun facts" about him, I am taking a look at this critical period of his adult life.

• Almost immediately upon moving to Boston, Beauford entered into a circle of "high society folks"—White and Black—who would "direct his sociopolitical education." He met and socialized with people such as Mr. and Mrs. William Shakespeare Sparrow (Black), Mr. and Mrs. Bryant (relatives of poet William Cullen Bryant - White), and George and Josephine St-Pierre Ruffin (Black).

• Beauford met writer Countee Cullen in Boston, long before he or Cullen would meet and deeply influence a young James Baldwin. It was Cullen who first introduced to Beauford the idea of going to Paris.

Countee Cullen
1927 R. W. Bullock
Image in the public domain
Source: Wikimedia Commons

• Roland Hayes and James Weldon Johnson were two singers that Beauford greatly admired. He had the temerity to introduce himself to both of them after concerts in Boston - Hayes in 1923 and Johnson in 1926.

Roland Hayes
1929 J. Willis Sayre Collection of Theatrical Photographs
Image in the public domain
Source: Wikimedia Commons

James Weldon Johnson
1932 Carl Van Vechten
Image in the public domain
Source: Wikimedia Commons

• Biographer David Leeming reports that Beauford saw Josephine Baker perform in Boston "early in his Boston stay," admired her, and followed her career from that point forward.

Josephine Baker
1927 Photographer unknown
Image in the public domain
Source: Wikimedia Commons

Baker performed in Sissle and Blake's In Bamville (eventually renamed The Chocolate Dandies) in 1924, and the show was staged at Boston's Tremont Theater in June of that year.

• Because of his profound modesty, Beauford turned down several opportunities to serve as a live model for artists in exchange for an opportunity to paint.

Read about Beauford's Boston haunts here:

Beauford in Boston: Copley Square and Black Beacon Hill

Beauford in Boston: Public Garden and Boston Commons