Taking Courage from Silence

Beauford struggled mightily to maintain his mental health. Painting helped greatly, as did listening to music.

From an entry dated July 23 in one of the sketchbooks that is now part of the UTKnoxville Beauford Delaney archive (year not indicated, but we know from the comments that he was living in Paris), we also learn that Beauford was fortified by silence:

"Walked over to rue Constantinople. Read Lao Tzu for comfort this morning. Took courage from silence."

After reading this, I tried to visualize one or more Beauford Delaney works that I felt might represent or at least evoke a scenario that unfolds in silence. His work is so vibrant that I could not conjure up an image in my mind's eye, so I turned to the folders on my computer to search for one.

Here is what I found.

Jean-Claude Killy
(1962) Gouache on paper
© Estate of Beauford Delaney,
by permission of Derek L. Spratley, Esquire,
Court Appointed Administrator

Untitled (Composition in Blue)
(1961) Gouache on wove paper
© Estate of Beauford Delaney,
by permission of Derek L. Spratley, Esquire,
Court Appointed Administrator

Untitled (Abstraction in Pink, Yellow, and Green)
(1964) Oil on paper
© Estate of Beauford Delaney,
by permission of Derek L. Spratley, Esquire,
Court Appointed Administrator
Photo from Bill Hodges Gallery Web site

Untitled (Green)
(1961) Oil on canvas
© Estate of Beauford Delaney,
by permission of Derek L. Spratley, Esquire,
Court Appointed Administrator

Jean-Claude Killy is starkly white with blue splotches and sweeping black tracks that are meant to evoke skiing. It is easy to imagine swooshing down a track with nothing but the sound of skis moving over snow in your ears.

The blue that Beauford used for Untitled (Composition in Blue) is pale, and the broad swirls of pigment give the impression of softness. Imagine lying in bed wrapped in downy pale blue fabric on an utterly still cold winter morning, with only your head and face exposed ... no traffic, no birds calling, no wind rustling in the trees ... only silence.

Beauford used more colors in the oils shown above, but they remain quite muted overall. The center of both works exude a lightness that is almost white; focusing here encourages a sense of stillness that quiets the chatter of the mind.

What do you feel when you look at these works?

If other Beauford Delaney works make you think of silence, let me know what they are!

July is BIPOC Mental Health Month (formerly known as Minority Mental Health Month).

Beauford and Bessie

Beauford loved the blues, and he particularly loved the blues as sung by Bessie Smith.

Bessie Smith (1936) by Carl Van Vechten

Biographer David Leeming writes that Beauford "copied blues songs of love, ... which he would sing when he was alone at night, sometimes with Bessie Smith on the phonograph."

In perusing one of the sketchbooks that is part of the Beauford Delaney archive at UTKnoxville, I found the lyrics to which Leeming refers.

I've embedded YouTube videos of these songs below.

Gimme a Pigfoot

Do Your Duty

Down in the Dumps

Empty Bed Blues

Young Woman's Blues

A Look at Two Beauford Delaney 1960 Abstracts

Another French auction house sold a Beauford Delaney abstract last week.

Thierry de Maigret offered Beauford's Sans titre ocre et jaune gouache on paper at its PHOTOGRAPHIES - TABLEAUX MODERNES - ART NOUVEAU - ART DÉCO - DESIGN sale on Friday, July 7, 2023.

Sans titre ocre et jaune
(1960) Gouache, signed and dated 60 at bottom right
63 x 47,5 cm; 24.8 x 18.7 in
© Estate of Beauford Delaney
by permission of Derek L. Spratley, Esquire,
Court Appointed Administrator

The estimated sale price was 6,000€ - 10,000€.

The work sold for 41,213€ (including 24% buyer's premium and 20% VAT; total of 28.8% in fees).

The swirling pattern in this work on paper reminded me of an oil painting that Beauford created in 1960, which also sold by a French auction house for a price that far exceeded the estimated value.

It was shown at Beauford's monographic exhibition at the Facchetti gallery in June-July 1960.

Untitled
(circa 1960) Oil on canvas
Signed at lower right and on back of canvas
84 x 75 cm
© Estate of Beauford Delaney,
by permission of Derek L. Spratley, Esquire,
Court Appointed Administrator 

Biographer David Leeming indicates that most of the works shown at this exhibition were large oils on canvas and that all were abstracts.  

 

Though there is no evidence that the gouache was shown at the Facchetti gallery, perhaps Beauford created it while he was working on the pieces for the exhibition.

Yet another June 2023 sale

On June 28, 2023, the Delon-Hoebanx auction house offered a Beauford Delaney abstract during its TABLEAUX - MOBILIER & OBJETS D'ART - MÉDAILLES - ARTS D'ASIE - ORFÈVRERIE - ARTS DU XXE SIÈCLE sale.

Abstraction bleue et orange
Gouache on paper
Signed and dated at lower right
© Estate of Beauford Delaney
by permission of Derek L. Spratley, Esquire,
Court Appointed Administrator

They went so far as to use an image of the work as the cover for their catalog.

The signature on this work is almost illegible. But it appears that the date is "61" and that "San" is the first word in the notation that Beauford wrote beneath his name.

Abstraction bleue et orange - signature
Gouache on paper
Signed and dated at lower right
© Estate of Beauford Delaney
by permission of Derek L. Spratley, Esquire,
Court Appointed Administrator

As mentioned in last week's blog post, Beauford created several watercolors when he visited San Telmo, Mallorca with friends in 1961. The work offered by Delon-Hoebanx may well be one of them.

The visit to the seaside town of San Telmo was meant to provide Beauford with healing time after his suicide attempt earlier in the summer. For me, this blue and orange abstraction evokes the sand (orange), the sea (blue and green), and the suspension of the haze of mental confusion and stress (purple).

The estimated sale price of Abstraction bleue et orange was 20,000€ - 30,000€. It sold for 22,000€ (hammer price).

Sotheby's Sells Three Beauford Delaney Works

Beauford traveled to San Telmo in Mallorca, Spain with Charley and Gita Boggs and Joe and Bernice O'Reilly after his suicide attempt during the summer of 1961.

Biographer David A. Leeming wrote that:

"In San Telmo he did eat well and rest, and, with the help of soothing talks with Bernice and Gita especially, managed a surface calm and even began to do some watercolors."

On Wednesday, June 28, during its Modern and Contemporary Day Auction, Sotheby's London offered three gouaches on paper by Beauford for sale.  The inscriptions of two them mention Mallorca and San Telmo.

Composite image of three Beauford Delaney works auctioned by Sotheby's London
© Estate of Beauford Delaney
by permission of Derek L. Spratley, Esquire,
Court Appointed Administrator
Image courtesy of Sotheby's

 

Untitled
66 by 50.2 cm. 26 by 19¾ in.
Signed and dated 61 San Telmo Mallorca
© Estate of Beauford Delaney
by permission of Derek L. Spratley, Esquire,
Court Appointed Administrator
Image courtesy of Sotheby's

Untitled
65.8 by 50.2 cm. 25⅞ by 19¾ in.
Signed and dated 61 Mallorca San Telmo
© Estate of Beauford Delaney
by permission of Derek L. Spratley, Esquire,
Court Appointed Administrator
Image courtesy of Sotheby's

The third work (the one that appears at the left of the composite image) is dated 1963 and only bears the initials "B.D" as a signature.

Untitled
64.7 by 50 cm. 25½ by 19¾ in.
Signed with the artist's initials and dated 63
© Estate of Beauford Delaney
by permission of Derek L. Spratley, Esquire,
Court Appointed Administrator
Image courtesy of Sotheby's

Untitled - signature detail
64.7 by 50 cm. 25½ by 19¾ in.
Signed with the artist's initials and dated 63
© Estate of Beauford Delaney
by permission of Derek L. Spratley, Esquire,
Court Appointed Administrator

Leeming devotes two pages to Beauford's activities and state of mind during 1963. While he does not refer to abstract watercolors in these pages, he indicates that the spring "brought a new burst of painting" and mentions Beauford's musing about Kandinsky's working with "mood values" of color.

Perhaps the monochrome green gouache is a reflection of this musing.

Sotheby's auctioned these three works in a single lot (Lot 240) and estimated the sale price at 50,000 - 70,000 GBP. 

The works sold for 63,500 GBP, including 26% buyers premium and additional fees.