Beauford at the 2018 Carnegie International

Beauford's Portrait of Tillie S. Speyer is currently on display at the Carnegie Museum of Art in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.

Portrait of Tillie S. Speyer
(1968) Oil on canvas
Carnegie Museum of Art
© Estate of Beauford Delaney
by permission of Derek L. Spratley, Esquire,
Court Appointed Administrator
It was selected by Cameroon-born, Senegal-based independent exhibition-maker Koyo Kouoh to be a part of "Dig Where You Stand," a show-within-a-show organized for the 2018 Carnegie International exhibition. Kouoh perused the collections of the Carnegie Museum and the neighboring Natural History Museum for her exhibition, which journalist Andrew Russeth calls "a Wunderkammer of art and artifacts focused on labor, colonialism, and depictions of power." She has placed Beauford's portrait of Speyer between a photograph of a young Queen Elizabeth II and one of Puerto Rican lacemakers.

Pittsburgh native Tillie Speyer was a painter and a sculptor. She was the mother of Darthea Speyer, Beauford's friend and patron in Paris. Beauford captured the likeness of Tillie as well as those of her daughter Darthea and son James on canvas during the 1960s. The museum acquired the painting of Tillie Speyer from Darthea Speyer.

Organized by Andrew Carnegie in 1896, the Carnegie International is the oldest recurring exhibition of contemporary art in the United States. After the Venice Biennale, it is the oldest international survey exhibition in the world. The 2018 edition of the exhibition runs through March 25, 2019.

Classes Duo Paris / Knoxville - Knoxville students' excursion to Paris a HUGE success! - Part 2

In last week's post, I shared information about the first half of the Paris excursion for the Knoxville students who are participating in the Classes Duo cultural exchange program.

Here's what happened next!

On the morning of Wednesday, October 10, I led the majority of the Nature's Way parents and children on a tour of Beauford's Montparnasse.

Gathering for the walking tour
© Wells International Foundation
As we walked in Beauford's footsteps, I talked about his life in the neighborhood, his burial at the cemetery in Thiais, and how I learned about his story and eventually founded Les Amis de Beauford Delaney to raise the money to place a tombstone at his grave.

That afternoon, Jean Zay and Nature's Way students visited the Centre Pompidou, France's national museum of modern and contemporary art.

Nature's Way families arrive at Centre Pompidou
© Wells International Foundation

Jean Zay students arrive at Centre Pompidou
© Wells International Foundation
Each group had a guide who spoke to the children in their native language. The guide for the Nature's Way kids began her presentation with a discussion about how modern and contemporary art are defined.

Nature's Way students with their guide
© Wells International Foundation
I tagged along with the French group and observed how their guide engaged the children with questions about paintings and sculptures by Fernand Leger, Pablo Picasso, and Constantin Brancusi.

Jean Zay students ponder a painting by Fernand Leger
© Wells International Foundation
The Knoxville students' parents enjoyed an unguided visit to the museum at the same time.

From the Pompidou Center, I led everyone over to the Galerie Intemporel, where owner Laurence Choko showed them six Beauford Delaney paintings and works on paper.

Arriving at Galerie Intemporel
© Wells International Foundation

Left to right: Laurence Choko and Monique Y. Wells
© Wells International Foundation

Laurence Choko shows Beauford Delaney works
© Wells International Foundation

Jean Zay students with Beauford Delaney portrait
© Wells International Foundation
Portrait of Vasilli Pikoula
© Estate of Beauford Delaney
by permission of Derek L. Spratley, Esquire,
Court Appointed Administrator
That evening, several Nature's Way students slept over at the homes of French families.

On the morning of Thursday, October 11, all the Nature's Way families converged on Jean Zay Elementary School to be welcomed by the school's director, teachers, and entire student body.

Welcome assembly at Jean Zay Elementary School
© Wells International Foundation
The school provided a continental breakfast for the visitors and everyone got a tour of the facilities. Several French parents attended the breakfast to make the acquaintance of the American parents.

Breakfast
© Wells International Foundation

Nature's Way students in Jean Zay library
(the Zoom videoconference room)
© Wells International Foundation
The Nature's Way kids attended class with the French students for the duration of the morning, followed by lunch in the school canteen. They were fortunate to visit the school during La Semaine du Goût (Taste Week), a time when French children learn about the wide variety of French and international culinary traditions and learn how to appreciate cuisine. On the menu that day: Petit Salé aux Lentilles - a meat and lentil dish from the Auvergne region of France.

Once the students set off for class, I led a second walking tour of Beauford's Montparnasse for the parents who did not attend the walk on Wednesday morning. We returned to the school in time for the parents to pick their children up after lunch. Their afternoon was free.

On Friday, October 12, the morning was reserved for sightseeing in Montmartre. During the afternoon, everyone returned to Jean Zay Elementary School for the farewell pot, or reception. Juliette Blache, who has organized the video conferences for Jean Zay since the inception of the program, created an exhibition of the portraits the students created on Tuesday afternoon. She presented a slide show of photos of the week's activities that she accompanied with audio from Beauford's playlist. Everyone enjoyed this trip down what was quickly becoming "memory lane."

Watching the slide show
© Wells International Foundation
The entire group then moved to a large activity room for a French goûter (after-school snack) consisting of a variety of cookies, cakes, and juices.

Enjoying refreshments at the farewell reception
© Wells International Foundation
The students played hand games and collected snail mail addresses. Jean Zay children signed a soccer ball for one of the Nature's Way kids. Children hugged. Parents and teachers marveled at the harmony and energy the kids displayed and provided written testimonials about what this excursion has meant to their children and to them.

Farewell reception collage
© Wells International Foundation
After saying their goodbyes, the Nature's Way families enjoyed an evening consisting of dinner at an Alsatian restaurant, a visit to the Arc de Triomphe, and a stroll down the Champs Elysées. They returned to Knoxville on Saturday, October 13.

Overall, the trip was a RESOUNDING SUCCESS! Discussion about organizing a trip for the Jean Zay children to Knoxville is now underway.

Classes Duo Paris / Knoxville - Knoxville students' excursion to Paris a HUGE success! - Part 1

The Classes Duo Paris / Knoxville program that has steadily gained momentum since January 2018 has reached a critical milestone. The students from Nature's Way Montessori School in Knoxville realized a dream when they came to Paris to spend eight days discovering the city and meeting their French counterparts at the Jean Zay Elementary School.

The Knoxville kids and their families arrived on Friday, October 5th and kicked off their trip with an outdoor reception at the Jardin Atlantique in the 14th arrondissement. This man-made garden lies atop the Montparnasse train station. It is only a few blocks from Jean Zay Elementary School.

Nature's Way children at Jardin Atlantique
© Wells International Foundation

Enjoying the garden
© Wells International Foundation

Parents, grandparents, kids, and organizers having a good time
© Wells International Foundation
Saturday and Sunday were reserved for sightseeing and whatever rest the families could muster, given their anticipation of what was planned for the coming week.

On Monday, October 8th, five days of activity with the Jean Zay students began. That evening, the town hall of the 14th arrondissement welcomed the families from Jean Zay and Nature's Way with a reception to open the art exhibition of the students' work. This was held in the Salle de Mariage, the room where civil wedding ceremonies are performed.

Families seated in the Salle de Mariage
© Wells International Foundation
Featured were mixed media works by the Nature's Way children about traveling from Knoxville to Paris,

Nature's Way mixed-media works about travel to Paris
© Wells International Foundation
figurative portraits of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and copies of Beauford's portrait of Charlie Parker by the Nature's Way children,

Nature's Way portraits of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
© Wells International Foundation

Nature's Way works inspired by Charlie Parker (1968)
© Wells International Foundation
abstract works inspired by Beauford's Greece by the Nature's Way children,

Nature's Way works inspired inspired by Greece (1967)
© Wells International Foundation
abstract works inspired by Beauford's Les Embruns and an untitled abstract by Beauford by the Jean Zay children,

Jean Zay works inspired by Les Embruns (1963)
© Wells International Foundation

Jean Zay works inspired by untitled abstract
© Wells International Foundation
abstract works copied from Beauford's Untitled (Trees) by students at both schools,

Jean Zay (left) and Nature's Way (right) students' copies of Untitled (Trees)
© Wells International Foundation
and red clay busts of Josephine Baker by the Jean Zay children.

Jean Zay students' busts of Josephine Baker and
works inspired by Les Embruns (1963)
© Wells International Foundation
The kids met each other for the first time and got along smashingly well!

Nature's Way and Jean Zay students at town hall
© Wells International Foundation
On Tuesday, October 9th, the children met at Jean Zay for a portrait session. One child from each school sat opposite the other at a desk and sketched, then painted, the other student's portrait. The educators who supervised this activity were stunned by the silence and intense concentration that the students exhibited during this exercise!

Portrait session - Chaïness and Sarah
© Wells International Foundation

Portrait session - Andrew and Timothée
© Wells International Foundation

Portrait session - Mia and Aurlane
© Wells International Foundation

MaKenna by Iris
© Wells International Foundation
Read about the rest of the week's activities by clicking HERE.

Beauford at Swann Auction Galleries: October 2018 Sale

On Thursday, October 4, Swann Auction Galleries offered three Beauford Delaney works at its African-American Fine Art sale.

Untitled (African Figure) is a stunning yellow abstraction from Beauford's Paris years. Part of the description posted by Swann reads as follows:

"Delaney had an interest in African sculpture going back to his reading of Alain Locke's New Negro, and visiting artist Cloyd Boykin's Primitive African Arts Center in the 1930s. Having seen the influence of African art on Picasso and other modernist painters in both New York and Paris, Delaney often incorporated African motifs and figures, including Earth Mother, 1950 and Makonde Figure, 1952. There is also an oil on paper work that is the mirror image of this figure in the collection of the Knoxville Museum of Art."

Untitled (African Figure)
(1968) Oil on cotton canvas
610x502 mm; 24x19 3/4 inches
Signed and dated in oil, lower left
Image courtesy of Swann Auction Galleries
© Estate of Beauford Delaney
by permission of Derek L. Spratley, Esquire,
Court Appointed Administrator
The estimated sale price for this painting was $40,000 - $60,000. It sold for $173,000, including buyer's premium*.

Untitled (Abstracted Landscape) was a gift from Beauford to James and Gloria Jones, friends of his who lived in Paris and supported him considerably.

Untitled (Abstracted Landscape)
(1969) Watercolor on wove paper
559x762 mm; 22x30 inches
Signed, dated and inscribed "Avec amour. Pour Gamie"
in ink, lower right
Image courtesy of Swann Auction Galleries
© Estate of Beauford Delaney
by permission of Derek L. Spratley, Esquire,
Court Appointed Administrator

The estimated sale price for this painting was $6,000 - $9,000. It sold for $6,000, including buyer's premium.

The final painting offered was a figurative painting from Beauford's New York years.

The Swann Auction Galleries catalog describes Untitled (The Artist and Woman Seated) as

"... a remarkable and important work - a large 1940 oil painting with a self-portrait of the artist. This interior scene is a revealing and intimate view has been captured in only a few photographs - its location is not known."

Untitled (The Artist and Woman Seated)
(1940) Oil on linen canvas
762x914 mm; 30x36 inches
Signed and dated in oil, lower left
Image courtesy of Swann Auction Galleries
© Estate of Beauford Delaney
by permission of Derek L. Spratley, Esquire,
Court Appointed Administrator

In Amazing Grace: A Life of Beauford Delaney, a photograph of Beauford in his Greene Street studio shows him surrounded by paintings, including Untitled (The Artist and Woman Seated). The auction catalog speculates that the woman seated next to Beauford may be Jessie, a dancer and girlfriend of James Baldwin's friend, Emile Capouya.

The estimated sale price for this painting was $200,000 - $300,000. It went unsold.

*At auction, there are two prices--the hammer price, or the price at which the item sells during the auction, and the price with the buyer's premium. All auction houses have a buyer's premium that the buyer pays to the auction house in addition to the hammer price. The buyer’s premium for items purchased directly through Swann is 25% of the hammer price, up to and including $100,000; 20% of the hammer price above $100,000 up to and including $1,000,000; 12% of the hammer price after $1,000,000. Swann Auction Galleries now reports the "hammer price" and the price that include the buyer's premium in its online catalog.