Beauford in Red

The commemorative plaques that will honor Beauford at two locations in Montparnasse will be lettered in red.

As Les Amis prepares for the installation, I thought it appropriate to post images of several works in which Beauford favored the color red.

Abstract in Orange and Red
(1963) Gouache on wove paper
Image courtesy of Levis Fine Art
© Estate of Beauford Delaney
by permission of Derek L. Spratley, Esquire,
Court Appointed Administrator

The Sage Black
(1967) Oil on canvas
Private collection
Image from Artsmia Web site
© Estate of Beauford Delaney
by permission of Derek L. Spratley, Esquire,
Court Appointed Administrator

Abstraction #12
(1963) Oil on canvas
Image courtesy of Levis Fine Art
© Estate of Beauford Delaney
by permission of Derek L. Spratley, Esquire,
Court Appointed Administrator

Self-portrait (detail)
(1944) Oil on Canvas
Art Institute of Chicago - Gallery 262
Image courtesy of Tim Paulson
© Estate of Beauford Delaney
by permission of Derek L. Spratley, Esquire,
Court Appointed Administrator

Untitled
(1963) Aquarelle on paper
© Estate of Beauford Delaney,
by permission of Derek L. Spratley, Esquire,
Court Appointed Administrator
Image © Discover Paris!
More news about the installation is coming soon. Stay tuned!

Beauford's Paris: Saint Germain des Prés

The Saint Germain des Prés district in Paris was important to Beauford for personal and professional reasons.

He serendipitously encountered James Baldwin at the famous Café de Flore on his first full day in Paris in 1953. According to biographer David A. Leeming, Beauford

... had made his way down to St. Germain des Prés and was crossing the street between the Café Flore and the Brasserie Lipp when he heard a voice urgently shouting his name. In an instant, with horns honking all around him, he was wrapped in the arms of James Baldwin...

Café de Flore today
© Discover Paris!
Baldwin was having a drink with his friend Mary Painter at the time, and she and Beauford became great friends. Painter had an apartment at an unknown number on rue Bonaparte, where Beauford, Baldwin, and other friends visited her often.

Beauford and Baldwin were patrons of the night spot Le(s) Nuage(s), owned by Johnny Romero and located on rue Bernard Palissy. The March 1966 edition of Negro Digest reported the club to be

the place where the new generation of Negro American expatriates congregate in Paris...just around the corner from the famed Cafe de Flore and Aux Deux Magots.

[It] is directed by Juan Romero, out of Puerto Rico via Spanish Harlem and Greenwich Village.

Photo of Beauford, Baldwin, Romero, and Baldwin's brother, Wilmer
at Les Nuages; found in Beauford's paintbox
© Discover Paris!
Beauford exhibited paintings in group shows at the Galerie Breteau, 70, rue Bonaparte, in 1959, 1961, and 1962. The gallery was less than three minute's walk from the monolithic church, Saint-Sulpice.

Saint Sulpice
© Discover Paris!
His works were featured many times at the American Cultural Center, 3 rue de Dragon, and he was honored with a one-man show there in 1969.

We Love Beauford
(Beauford is front and center)
Photo courtesy of Robert Tricoire

New Beauford Delaney Watercolors at Knoxville Museum of Art

On March 14, 2015, I published an article that describes three Beauford Delaney watercolors that are currently on display at the Knoxville Museum of Art.

See them presented by the museum's curator, Stephen C. Wicks, in this 2:38-minute video:

Two Beauford Delaney Paintings Sold at Ascension: A Century of African-American Art at Swann Auction Galleries

Swann Auction Galleries' "Ascension: A Century of African-American Art" sale is now history.

Two of the three Beauford Delaney paintings that were put up for auction were sold.

Untitled (Abstraction in Green), described as "a radiant example of Delaney's mid-career abstraction in a warm, yellowish green," was estimated at $30,000 to $40,000. It sold for $35,000 (buyer's premium included*).

Untitled (Abstraction in Green)
(1961) Oil on linen canvas
410x275 mm; 16x10 inches
Signed in oil, lower right recto. Dated in oil, lower left recto.
Signed, dated and inscribed "Clamart, Seine" in oil, verso.
Image courtesy of Swann Auction Galleries
© Estate of Beauford Delaney
by permission of Derek L. Spratley, Esquire,
Court Appointed Administrator
Provenance: gift from from the artist; Don Fink, Paris, thence by descent to his estate; private collection, Paris.

Spanish Youth's estimated value was $5,000 to $7,000. It sold for $8,125 (including buyer's premium*).

Spanish Youth
(1967-68) Oil on linen canvas
610x457 mm; 24x18 inches.
Signed and dated in oil, lower right.
Image courtesy of Swann Auction Galleries
© Estate of Beauford Delaney
by permission of Derek L. Spratley, Esquire,
Court Appointed Administrator
Provenance: acquired directly from the artist; Richard A. Long, Atlanta; thence by descent to his estate.

Untitled (Portrait of a Young Man), valued at $6,000 to $9,000, remains unsold.

Untitled (Portrait of a Young Man)
(circa 1930-35) Color pastels and charcoal on gray, textured wove paper
597x445 mm; 23x17½ inches
Signed in charcoal, lower left
Image courtesy of Swann Auction Galleries
© Estate of Beauford Delaney
by permission of Derek L. Spratley, Esquire,
Court Appointed Administrator
Provenance: acquired directly from the artist's brother Joseph Delaney; private collection.

*The buyer's premium at Swann Auction Galleries is 25% of the "hammer price" for works sold at up to $100,000.