Les Amis Celebrates Women's History Month - Part 4

For the last installment of the Les Amis Celebrates Women's History Month series, I'm featuring images of three sketches that Beauford created for Unsung Americans Sung, the book edited by Beauford's friend, W. C. Handy.

Phillis Wheatley

Phyllis Wheatley
Pencil sketch
© Estate of Beauford Delaney
by permission of Derek L. Spratley, Esquire,
Court Appointed Administrator

Beauford's sketch was undoubtedly inspired by the 1773 engraving that graced the cover of Phillis (Phyllis) Wheatley's Poems on Various Subjects, Religious and Moral.

 

Portrait of Phillis Wheatley
Attributed to Scipio Moorhead
Image in Public Domain

Wheatley was the first black woman to publish a book of poetry in the U.S.  Read about her here.

Sissieretta Jones

Sissieretta Jones
Pencil sketch
© Estate of Beauford Delaney
by permission of Derek L. Spratley, Esquire,
Court Appointed Administrator

 

I believe Beauford's sketch was inspired by the photograph of Jones by African-American photographer Addison N. Scurlock.

 

Sissieretta Jones
c. 1911 Addison N. Scurlock
H. Lawrence Freeman Collection
Rare Book & Manuscript Library
Columbia University
Fair Use Claim

 

Sissieretta Jones was a formally trained opera singer who became known as "the Black Patti."  She was the first African American to headline at Carnegie Hall in NYC.  Read about her here.

Florence Mills

Florence Mills
Pencil sketch
© Estate of Beauford Delaney
by permission of Derek L. Spratley, Esquire,
Court Appointed Administrator

James Van Der Zee's 1927 portrait of Florence Mills was the model for Beauford's sketch of this consummate performer.

 

 Florence Mills
1927 James Van Der Zee
Vintage gelatin silver print
Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts
Fair Use Claim

Read about her here.

Les Amis Celebrates Women's History Month - Part 3

During this first celebration of Women's History Month on the Les Amis blog, I've brought you images of Beauford's mom, Delia, and images of two renowned singers whose images Beauford captured on canvas. 

Today, I am sharing images of two little known works in which Beauford portrayed an icon of African-American and women's history: Harriet Tubman. 

The first work is a pencil sketch that appears in a book called Unsung Americans Sung, which was edited by W. C. Handy and published in 1944.

Harriet Tubman
Pencil sketch
© Estate of Beauford Delaney
by permission of Derek L. Spratley, Esquire,
Court Appointed Administrator

It was likely inspired by the photograph shown below:

 Harriet Tubman (1911), full-length portrait,
seated in chair, facing front,
probably at her home in Auburn, New York
Source: Library of Congress
Public Domain

The second is a work on paper, most recently shown at the Transcending Race and Time exhibition at the University of Tennessee (UT) Downtown Gallery in Knoxville.

Portrait of Harriet Tubman at the UT Downtown Gallery
(1953) Mixed Media on Paper
© Estate of Beauford Delaney
by permission of Derek L. Spratley, Esquire,
Court Appointed Administrator

A black and white image of this work appears in David Leeming's biography entitled Amazing Grace: A Life of Beauford Delaney. 

In Amazing Grace, the portrait is (mis)labeled as Delia Delaney, as shown in the image above. 

The reasoning behind the assertion that the label in the book is incorrect is as follows: 

1) The Beauford Delaney estate has recorded the name of the work as Harriet Tubman. 

2) The person in the work looks very much like Harriet Tubman and not very much like Delia Delaney. 

Harriet Tubman (1895)
Horatio Seymour Squyer
National Portrait Gallery
Public Domain

Harriet Tubman's birth year has never definitively been established (c. 1820), but we know that she died on March 10, 1913.

To learn more about this famous abolitionist and women's suffragist, click HERE.

Les Amis Celebrates Women's History Month - Part 2

Beauford portrayed two legendary female singers on canvas: Marian Anderson and Ella Fitzgerald.

Marian Anderson
(1965) Oil on canvas
Virginia Museum of Fine Arts
J. Harwood and Louise B. Cochrane Fund for American Art
© Estate of Beauford Delaney
by permission of Derek L. Spratley, Esquire,
Court Appointed Administrator

Portrait of Ella Fitzgerald
(1968) Oil on canvas
Permanent collection of the SCAD Museum of Art, Savannah
Gift of Dr. Walter O. and Mrs. Linda J. Evans
© Estate of Beauford Delaney
by permission of Derek L. Spratley, Esquire,
Court Appointed Administrator

The Anderson portrait inspired British opera singer Peter Brathwaite to create his own version of it as part of the 2020 Getty Museum Challenge to use everyday items at home to recreate a work of art. He launched his own project called "Rediscovering Black Portraiture" and recreated 93 works with amazing results.

Brathwaite poses in all his renditions of classic portraits of black people, from Mansa Musa to Barack Obama. Women were not off limits - he recreated portraits of the Queen of Sheba, the Virgin of Guadelupe, and other women in addition to Marian Anderson.

Brathwaite painted a raincoat to reproduce Anderson's jacket and painted his face to resemble the hue of Anderson's skin in Beauford's portrait. (No mention is made of whether he was aware of Beauford's raincoat painting, which is held by the Minneapolis Institute of Art.)

He created an 8-part tweet from the information posted about the reproduction on his Website.

To see the diptych of the photo of Brathwaite as Marian Anderson and the image of Beauford's portrait of her, click HERE.

Les Amis Celebrates Women's History Month - Part 1

March is Women's History Month and International Women's Day will be celebrated in just two days.

This year, Les Amis is celebrating Women's History Month by spotlighting Beauford's paintings of various women.

Beauford's mother, Delia, was by far the most important woman in Beauford's life. I featured her in two Les Amis blog posts:

Delia Delaney - Beauford's Beloved Mother

Happy Birthday, Delia Delaney!

and have published images of Beauford's portraits of her many times.

My favorite is the 1933 pastel that is held by the Knoxville Museum of Art.

Portrait of Delia Delaney
(1933) Pastel on paper
Knoxville Museum of Art
© Estate of Beauford Delaney
by permission of Derek L. Spratley, Esquire,
Court Appointed Administrator

In Paris, several women supported Beauford with their friendship and financial resources.

Solange du Closel was a staunch patron and supporter, going so far as to provide Beauford with his living space / studio from 1962 to 1975.

Mme du Closel No. 4
(1972) Pastel on paper
G. R. N'Namdi Gallery
© Estate of Beauford Delaney
by permission of Derek L. Spratley, Esquire,
Court Appointed Administrator

Darthea Speyer became a primary conduit for the sale of Beauford's work after the two met in 1956.

Darthea
(1965) Oil on canvas
© Estate of Beauford Delaney
by permission of Derek L. Spratley, Esquire,
Court Appointed Administrator
Image courtesy of Galerie Darthea Speyer

Geneviève Brouard was a friend and patron who frequently invited Beauford to her home to dine.

Portrait of Geneviève Brouard
(1964) Oil on canvas
© Estate of Beauford Delaney
by permission of Derek L. Spratley, Esquire,
Court Appointed Administrator
Image by Discover Paris!