In Search of Purple

Yesterday morning, I awakened to the thought that I couldn't remember ever seeing a Beauford Delaney work in which the dominant color was purple.

Of course, there are numerous shades of purple, and of course, Beauford used purple as an accentuating color in scores of paintings.

But I was hard pressed to come up with a mental image of a painting or work on paper that "screamed purple."

So I set about looking at my digital catalog to see if I could find at least one.

I never did.

But here are some images of several works that came close - either Beauford painted a single large area with purple or he used this color as the dominant accent for the work.

 

Dante Pavone as Christ
(1948) Pastel on paper
23 ¼ x 19 ¾ inches
© Estate of Beauford Delaney
by permission of Derek L. Spratley, Esquire,
Court Appointed Administrator
Knoxville Museum of Art, purchase with funds provided by the KMA Collectors Circle with additional gifts from Barbara Apking, June and Rob Heller, Donna Kerr, Alexandra Rosen and Donald Cooney, Ted Smith and David Butler, Mimi and Milton Turner, John Cotham, Jan and Pete Crawford, Cathy and Mark Hill, Florence and Russell Johnston, John Z. C. Thomas, Donna and Terry Wertz, Jayne and Myron Ely, Sarah Stowers, Robin and Joe Ben Turner, and Jacqueline Wilson 

Mme du Closel
G. R. N’Namdi Gallery
(1964) Pastel on paper
© Estate of Beauford Delaney
by permission of Derek L. Spratley, Esquire,
Court Appointed Administrator 

Untitled
(1960) Pastel on paper
© Estate of Beauford Delaney,
by permission of Derek L. Spratley, Esquire,
Court Appointed Administrator

Central Park
(1950) Oil on canvas
Image from Pomegranate Note Card
© Estate of Beauford Delaney,
by permission of Derek L. Spratley, Esquire,
Court Appointed Administrator 

Portrait of Robert Tricoire
1969, Oil on canvas
65 x 54 cm; 25.6" x 21.2"
Private collection
© Estate of Beauford Delaney
by permission of Derek L. Spratley, Esquire,
Court Appointed Administrator