Colin Gravois' Portrait

I have written about Beauford's portrait of Colin Gravois many times over the course of the life of the Les Amis blog. Until two weeks ago, I illustrated the posts with an image that appears in the 1978 catalog of Beauford's retrospective at the Studio Museum in Harlem.

Portrait of a Man in Green
Oil (undated)
80 x 64.5 cm
Photo of page from Beauford Delaney: A Retrospective catalog
Studio Museum in Harlem
© Estate of Beauford Delaney
by permission of Derek L. Spratley, Esquire,
Court Appointed Administrator

In my most recent article, I posted an image which appears on the Michael Rosenfeld Gallery (MRG) Website as part of its promotion of the Be Your Wonderful Self exhibition of a selection of Beauford's portraits.

Colin Gravois (aka Portrait of a Man in Green)
31 7/8" x 25 1/2" / 81.0 x 64.8 cm
Image courtesy of Michael Rosenfeld Gallery
© Estate of Beauford Delaney
by permission of Derek L. Spratley, Esquire,
Court Appointed Administrator

The difference in color is so striking that I began to wonder whether there might be two versions of this work. So, I contacted the gallery to ask some questions about this as well as additional differences in the information published in the Studio Museum catalog (name and dimensions of work) compared to the information published in the MRG fact sheet.

MRG commented on these difference as follows:

There is a Studio Museum exhibition label affixed to a stretcher bar on the verso of the painting, which lists the title Portrait of a Man in Green.

The images reproduced in the 1978 Studio Museum catalogue are generally quite inaccurate in color and quality compared to the appearance of the works in-person or with modern digital photography .... With the major advancements made in digital photography and printing over the past forty years, many of the works in our current show that were published by the Studio Museum look quite different in-person than as printed in the 1978 catalogue. Once acquired by Michael Rosenfeld Gallery, the painting was cleaned by a painting conservator.

There are often small discrepancies between published dimensions for an artwork and the dimensions we measure here at the gallery. The difference between these dimensions is minute.

The coloring of the MRG image closely corresponds to that of a photo I took of the portrait when I visited Knoxville in 2016.

Portrait of a Man in Green in storage
Photo © Wells International Foundation
© Estate of Beauford Delaney
by permission of Derek L. Spratley, Esquire,
Court Appointed Administrator

Derek Spratley, Court Appointed Adminstrator of Beauford's estate, informed me that the portrait was not restored before it was sold. He indicated that MRG confirmed the identity of the subject of the portrait, notified the Estate, and made the name change, while acknowledging the prior name.

MRG also commented on the current name of the painting, as follows:

The title we have for the painting, Colin Gravois (aka Portrait of a Man in Green), names the sitter (Colin Gravois) followed by the title given to the painting for the Studio Museum retrospective in 1978. We include this previous title in our current title in order to make clear that this work is the same one that was exhibited in that show, as we have done with other works that have similar title differences. The artist did not title this painting.

Michael Rosenfeld Gallery LLC is Special Advisor and Representative of the Estate of Beauford Delaney.

Watercolors by Beauford

In the March 14, 2015 article entitled "More on Knoxville Museum of Art Acquisition of Beauford Delaney Paintings," Barbara W. and Bernard E. Bernstein Curator Stephen Wicks talked about the large number of watercolors that were part of Beauford's estate. 

I recently re-read this article and was inspired to have a look at images of the watercolors that I've published on the blog over the years. Here are a few of my favorites.

Untitled (Abstract Composition)
(1965) Watercolor on wove paper
Signed, dated and inscribed "avec amour" in ink.
Image courtesy of Swann Auction Galleries
© Estate of Beauford Delaney
by permission of Derek L. Spratley, Esquire,
Court Appointed Administrator

Untitled
(1961) Watercolor on paper
Signed and dated "Beauford Delaney 61. San Telmo Mallorca" in the bottom right corner.
© Christie's Images
© Estate of Beauford Delaney
by permission of Derek L. Spratley, Esquire,
Court Appointed Administrator

Composition, 1962
(1962) Watercolor
Signed and dated at bottom left
Photo courtesy of ADER © Estate of Beauford Delaney,
by permission of Derek L. Spratley, Esquire,
Court Appointed Administrator

Untitled (Abstraction in Green and Blue)
(1963) Watercolor on thick wove paper
Signed, dated and inscribed "Clermont Seine" in blue ink at the lower left.
Image courtesy of Swann Auction Galleries
© Estate of Beauford Delaney
by permission of Derek L. Spratley, Esquire,
Court Appointed Administrator

Untitled
(1961) Watercolor on paper
© Christie's Images
© Estate of Beauford Delaney
by permission of Derek L. Spratley, Esquire,
Court Appointed Administrator

Embrun
(1963) Watercolor on wove paper
Signed and dated "July 19, 1963" in ink, lower right
Image courtesy of Swann Auction Galleries
© Estate of Beauford Delaney
by permission of Derek L. Spratley, Esquire,
Court Appointed Administrator

Be Your Wonderful Self: The Portraits of Beauford Delaney

On Wednesday, September 8, the Michael Rosenfeld Gallery (MRG) launched its third solo exhibition of Beauford Delaney paintings. Be Your Wonderful Self: The Portraits of Beauford Delaney features 25 portraits and 7 abstract works with the intent to explore the passion with which Beauford undertook - and masterfully mingled - both forms of artistic expression.

Self Portrait
(1962) Oil on canvas
© Estate of Beauford Delaney
by permission of Derek L. Spratley, Esquire,
Court Appointed Administrator

 According to MRG, the exhibition will present paintings that span thirty-one years of Beauford's career, "beginning with his masterful early portrait of a young James Baldwin, Dark Rapture (1941), and terminating with his penetrating 1972 depiction of Jean Genet."

Dark Rapture
(1941) Oil on masonite
© Estate of Beauford Delaney
by permission of Derek L. Spratley, Esquire,
Court Appointed Administrator

Jean Genet
(1972) Oil on canvas
© Estate of Beauford Delaney
by permission of Derek L. Spratley, Esquire,
Court Appointed Administrator

Many of the works in this show were displayed at the Studio Museum in Harlem retrospective organized by Richard Long in 1978.  I'm particularly partial to the portrait of my friend, Colin Gravois.

Colin Gravois (aka Portrait of a Man in Green)

(c. 1968) Oil on canvas

© Estate of Beauford Delaney

by permission of Derek L. Spratley, Esquire,

Court Appointed Administrator

The exhibition catalog will include new scholarship by Mary Campbell, Associate Professor of Art History at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville, whose current book project examines the religious impulses at play in Beauford's paintings and drawings.  It will also feature numerous images of previously unpublished archival materials and a section dedicated to "statements from such historical and contemporary voices as James Baldwin, Richard Long, Julie Mehretu, Georgia O’Keeffe and Amy Sherald, who describe the indelible impact Delaney’s work had on their practices and the broader evolution of 20th century modernism."

Be Your Wonderful Self will be on display through Saturday, November 13. To see installation views of the exhibition, click HERE.

If you're in New York and wish to visit the exhibition in person, MRG encourages you to reserve a time slot by clicking HERE. Note that you must show proof of vaccination along with a valid photo ID upon entry.

Michael Rosenfeld Gallery
100 Eleventh Avenue @ 19th
New York, NY 10011
T: 212.247.0082
F: 212.247.0402

Michael Rosenfeld Gallery LLC is Special Advisor and Representative of the Estate of Beauford Delaney.

Groundbreaking for the Delaney Museum at Beck

On Monday, August 30, 2021, the Beck Cultural Exchange Center hosted a groundbreaking ceremony to announce the start of construction on the Delaney Museum at Beck, an international museum that will celebrate the history of the Delaney family.

Housed in the only remaining ancestral home of the Delaneys, Delaney Museum at Beck will
encompass galleries consisting of artifacts, historic photographs, and art that celebrates the legacy of the family that produced world-renown artists Beauford and Joseph Delaney.

Established in 1975, Beck is the only state-designated repository for African-American history and culture in East Tennessee. The cultural center acquired the the historic Delaney family home located at 1935 Dandridge Avenue in 2015 and announced plans to explore its restoration and possible adaptive reuse the following year. 

Following the passing of patriarch Rev. John Samuel Delaney in 1919, elder brother Samuel Emery returned home to provide for his family, including his mother Delia and his younger brothers Beauford and Joseph. Sam supported his brothers’ pursuit of art through a barbershop out of the family home at 815 East Vine Avenue in Knoxville. He purchased the house on Dandridge Avenue in 1948 for the growing Delaney family.

The home on 815 East Vine is no longer standing. It was destroyed by Knoxville’s Urban Renewal Projects, which were implemented lasted from 1959 to 1974. These projects disproportionately affected the Black community, resulting in the displacement of more than 2,500 families, 15 Black churches, and 107 Black businesses, including the Delaney barbershop. As a result, the 1935 Dandridge Avenue location is the only surviving home of the Delaney family.

Delaney home on Dandridge Avenue
© Wells International Foundation 

Rear of Delaney homestead (left) viewed from Beck Center
© Wells International Foundation

Though the groundbreaking event announced the formal start of construction on the ancestral property, Delaney Museum at Beck is a project that is several years in the making. The vision for the new museum includes a permanent exhibit that celebrates the history of the Delaney family, an artist in residency program to nurture the talents of upcoming artists, and a rotating exhibit of African-American artwork.

The groundbreaking event took place on a significant date: August 30th, 2021 marks 102 years since the Knoxville Race Riot of 1919, an event that shaped the lives and world views of brothers Beauford and Joseph. Two days of racial violence shook the city as a mob of 5,000 white men descended upon downtown Knoxville in hopes of lynching a Black man. When they could not find him, the mob instead turned their ire toward the Black community located at the intersection of Vine Avenue and Central Street. 

Beauford personally witnessed this violence, and memories of it haunted him for the rest of his life.

Reverend Reneé Kesler, president of the Beck Center, presided over the ceremony, which took place outdoors under a tent at the property. Attendees wore masks and respected social distancing to maintain the health and safety of the community during the Covid-19 pandemic.

 

Rev. Reneé Kesler addresses the crowd
Image courtesy of Beck Cultural Exchange Center

Attendees at Delaney Museum at Beck Groundbreaking Ceremony
Image courtesy of Beck Cultural Exchange Center

Rev. Kesler had the following to say about this historic event:

“So why are we having the groundbreaking on this day? Because on August 30, 102 years ago, we were fighting for our lives. On that day, armed white men plotted to attack the Black community, and Black men prepared to defend themselves. This would be a defining moment in Knoxville’s history, and it was particularly horrifying for Beauford. Today, 102 years later, we sit under a tent to celebrate the groundbreaking of an international museum with a Black, white and brown community together,
commemorating a Black family of talented artists. I’m sorry if it’s a little warm, but it’s not as hot as it was 102 years ago.

“Beck is serious about preserving and conserving this rich and amazing history, and we are being intentional about bringing everybody along.”

Rev. Kesler expressed her belief that “Beauford Delaney is by far the most important artist Knoxville produced in the twentieth century, at least in terms of national and international reputation.” She believes that the Delaney Museum at Beck will build on the legacy of Beauford and the Delaney family and notes that while the construction of this museum doesn’t mean that racial inequality isn’t still an issue affecting the world today, it’s a step in the right direction.

See press articles about the ceremony below:

New museum at Beauford Delaney's ancestral home designed to inspire artistic expression

Beck Cultural Exchange Center breaks ground on Beauford Delaney Museum

Ceremonial Groundbreaking
Image courtesy of Beck Cultural Exchange Center

Zachary James Miller, the Paris-based producer/director/writer of the full-length documentary entitled Beauford Delaney: So Splendid a Journey, attended the ceremony and shot footage of the event to include in the documentary.

The Delaney Museum at Beck hopes to be open to the public by Fall 2022.