Two Beauford Delaney Works for Sale Today

Case Antiques is holding its Fine Arts, Antiques, and Jewelry auction today and tomorrow (January 27 and 28, 2024).

Among the works for sale are two pieces by Beauford:

Lot 128: Untitled (Ibiza)
(1956) gouache and watercolor
18" H x 11 7/8" W
© Estate of Beauford Delaney
by permission of Derek L. Spratley, Esquire,
Court Appointed Administrator

Untitled (Ibiza) signature
© Estate of Beauford Delaney
by permission of Derek L. Spratley, Esquire,
Court Appointed Administrator

Lot 129: Yellow Abstraction
(1961) gouache on paper
10 1/2" H x 8" W
© Estate of Beauford Delaney
by permission of Derek L. Spratley, Esquire,
Court Appointed Administrator

Both are in excellent condition.

We featured Untitled (Ibiza) in a recent blog post entitled "Ibiza Watercolors."

It was shown in the Beauford Delaney: From New York to Paris exhibition organized by the Minneapolis Institute of Arts (November 20, 2004 - February 20, 2005).

Yellow Abstraction was shown in the exhibition entitled Beauford Delaney: Internal Light that was organized by Levis Fine Art in 2013. Les Amis has published multiple articles about this show:

BEAUFORD DELANEY: INTERNAL LIGHT

Jim Levis on Beauford Delaney: Internal Light

Ba'lls to the Wa'll, Y'all - Part 1 and Part 2

Conversations with Beauford - Part 1 and Part 2

Beauford: His Art and His Light

The estimated sale price for Untitled (Ibiza) is $12,000 - $14,000, while the estimate for Yellow Abstraction is $10,000 - $12,000.

For information about the auction, click HERE.

Beauford at the Montréal Contemporary Art Museum

The Musée d'Art Contemporain de Montréal (MACM), Montreal's contemporary art museum, owns two works by Beauford.

 Sans titre, 1963
Huile sur toile
 Collection Musée d'art contemporain de Montréal
Photo : MACM
© Estate of Beauford Delaney
by permission of Derek L. Spratley, Esquire,
Court Appointed Administrator

Madame Biocci, 1967
Charcoal and gouache on paper mounted on cardboard
Collection Musée d'art contemporain de Montréal
Photo : MACM
© Estate of Beauford Delaney
by permission of Derek L. Spratley, Esquire,
Court Appointed Administrator

Both were given to the museum by Guy Joussemet, a prominent art collector who knew Beauford and received the works directly from him. MACM's records indicate that Beauford gave Joussement the abstract oil painting at his rue Vercingétorix studio.

I have not yet been able to determine how the two men met.

Madame Biocci (1967) was painted on newsprint, the text of which appears to be in Italian.

In 1966, Beauford traveled to Venice with his two dear friends, Larry Calcagno and Charley Boggs, to visit the Venice Biennale.  Perhaps he obtained the newspaper on which he painted this portrait during that trip.

I do not know if he met Madame Biocci on this trip or at another time, or even if she is an actual person.

Neither work is currently on display at MACM.

Rachel Cohen on Beauford

I'm away from the office for the next few weeks and not able to fully concentrate on the stories I'm developing for the blog.

Because I don't want to "press pause" on the publishing schedule, for this week's post I'm taking the liberty of sharing content that Rachel Cohen wrote about Beauford. 

She has penned some of the most thoughtful commentary on Beauford's work that I've ever read!

I'm sure you'll enjoy this June 2020 piece, which is entitled 

"Beauford Delaney and James Baldwin, Notes of Native Sons." 

 

Untitled (Village Street Scene)
(1948) Oil on canvas
Signed and dated in oil, lower left.
Image from Swann Auction Galleries Web site
© Estate of Beauford Delaney
by permission of Derek L. Spratley, Esquire,
Court Appointed Administrator

Ibiza Watercolors

A work on paper from Beauford's Clamart years will be auctioned on January 27, 2024. 

It is a watercolor and gouache that bears the name of the island of Ibiza above his signature.

Untitled (Ibiza) (1956) gouache and watercolor
© Estate of Beauford Delaney
by permission of Derek L. Spratley, Esquire,
Court Appointed Administrator 

Untitled (Ibiza) - detail
 (1956) gouache and watercolor
© Estate of Beauford Delaney
by permission of Derek L. Spratley, Esquire,
Court Appointed Administrator 

The announcement of the sale reminded me that Beauford created several watercolors when he traveled to Ibiza with his dear friend, Larry Calcagno, in 1956.  

While on the island, Beauford wrote to Henry Miller of the beauty and power of the Mediterranean and its surrounding, of the watercolors he was doing, and how he was "trying to say with my life the unsayable."

Here are images of other works he created during that trip.

Untitled (Ibiza) (1956) gouache and watercolor
© Estate of Beauford Delaney
by permission of Derek L. Spratley, Esquire,
Court Appointed Administrator

Untitled: Abstract in Black, Calligraphic Lines with Red, Diptych
(ca. 1956) Gouache on wove paper
Signed lower left and lower right
© Estate of Beauford Delaney,
by permission of Derek L. Spratley, Esquire,
Court Appointed Administrator
Image supplied by Levis Fine Art 

In Amazing Grace: A Life of Beauford Delaney, biographer David Leeming indicated that Beauford and Calcagno were joined by James Baldwin, Leslie Schenk, and Baldwin's friend Arnold, and said that Baldwin wrote to a friend how important Beauford's relationship with Calcagno was.  

Beauford and his friends spent the month of August together, visiting Majorca as well as Ibiza. Leeming noted that the trip was the "real bright spot of the summer...".