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Saturday, October 31, 2015

Where to Find Beauford's Art: Minneapolis Institute of Arts

During a recent trip to Minneapolis, I had the pleasure of visiting the Minneapolis Institute of Arts. This extraordinary museum holds several Beauford Delaney works.

Currently on display is the "famous" raincoat painting, a vibrant abstract that Beauford created using a raincoat fragment for canvas.

Untitled (raincoat painting)
(1954) Oil on raincoat fragment
Gift of Jacques and Solange du Closel
© Estate of Beauford Delaney
by permission of Derek L. Spratley, Esquire,
Court Appointed Administrator

It sits on a pedestal that allows visitors to view the rear of the painting, which reveals the seam (center) and pocket (upper right) that bear witness to the origin of the canvas.

Rear of Untitled (raincoat painting)
(1954) Oil on raincoat fragment
© Estate of Beauford Delaney
by permission of Derek L. Spratley, Esquire,
Court Appointed Administrator

Also on display is one of many paintings in which Beauford depicts Greenwich Village's Washington Square Park. It is being shown as part of a special exhibition entitled American Modernism: Selections from the Kunin Collection.

Untitled (Washington Square Park)
(1952) Oil on canvas
© Estate of Beauford Delaney
by permission of Derek L. Spratley, Esquire,
Court Appointed Administrator

The Myron Kunin Collection of American Art is widely considered to be one of the most important privately held collections of American art in the world. Untitled (Washington Square Park) was selected as one of 80 works that the Kunin family has placed on long-term loan to the museum from the ~550 pieces of art in its collection.

MIA holds four additional Beauford Delaney works, all of which are currently on reserve. All were shown in the MIA exhibition From New York to Paris.

Jazz Quartet
(1946) Oil on canvas
On loan from a private collection
© Estate of Beauford Delaney
by permission of Derek L. Spratley, Esquire,
Court Appointed Administrator

Clamart Red
(1958) Oil on canvas
On loan from a private collection
© Estate of Beauford Delaney
by permission of Derek L. Spratley, Esquire,
Court Appointed Administrator

Abstract Composition
(1955) Gouache and watercolor
Gift of the Harriet Hanley Estate
© Estate of Beauford Delaney
by permission of Derek L. Spratley, Esquire,
Court Appointed Administrator

Ciel (Sky)
(1960) Color screenprint
Gift of the Harriet Hanley Estate
© Estate of Beauford Delaney
by permission of Derek L. Spratley, Esquire,
Court Appointed Administrator

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Les Amis de Beauford Delaney, Reid Hall, and the Wells International Foundation are partnering to bring an exhibition of original Beauford Delaney works to Reid Hall in Paris in February 2016! To sign-up to receive information about this show, click HERE.

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