Two Beauford Delaney Portraits to Be Auctioned

Two Beauford Delaney portraits are being offered at auction this month.

Portrait of a Bearded Young Man is part of Swann Auction Galleries' LGBTQ+ Art, Material Culture & History auction, which will take place on August 21, 2025.

Lot 189
Portrait of a Bearded Young Man Reading
(1971-72) Oil on linen canvas
64.8 x 54 cm.; 25 1/2x21 1/4 inches.
Signed and dated in pencil, lower edge (twice)
Image courtesy of Swann Auction Galleries
© Estate of Beauford Delaney
by permission of Derek L. Spratley, Esquire,
Court Appointed Administrator

To my knowledge, this is the first time Swann is offering a Beauford Delaney work in a sale whose theme is not African-American artists.

The estimated sale price is $20,000 - $30,000.

For more information about this auction, click HERE.

Black Art Auction is offering Beauford's Portrait of a Woman, c. 1970 at its Timed Summer Auction.

The work being proposed is quite similar to the one pictured below.

Untitled (Woman in an Abstract Field)
(1966) Oil monotype, with hand-painted additions in oil,
on cream wove paper
Image courtesy of Swann Auction Galleries
© Estate of Beauford Delaney
by permission of Derek L. Spratley, Esquire,
Court Appointed Administrator

The Wells International Foundation's 2016 intern, Sojourner Ahébée, wrote a poem inspired by this work.

Les Amis published the poem on August 27, 2016.

The estimated sale price for Portrait of a Woman is $15,000 - $20,000.

For more information about this sale, click HERE.

Resonance of Form Works on Paper

Because a couple of the works being displayed in Beauford's solo exhibition at The Drawing Center were first shown in public during the 2016 Resonance of Form and Vibration of Color exhibition that the Wells International Foundation and Les Amis organized in Paris, I was inspired to look at all the works on paper from this earlier show and post images of a few of them here today.

The first four works represented in the images below are my favorites from Resonance of Form.

Untitled
(1956) Inks on paper
Private collection
© Estate of Beauford Delaney,
by permission of Derek L. Spratley, Esquire,
Court Appointed Administrator

Untitled
(1956) Aquarelle on paper
Private collection
© Estate of Beauford Delaney,
by permission of Derek L. Spratley, Esquire,
Court Appointed Administrator

Les Embruns
(1963) Mixed media on paper
Private collection
© Estate of Beauford Delaney,
by permission of Derek L. Spratley, Esquire,
Court Appointed Administrator

Untitled
(1970) Mixed media on cardboard
Private collection
© Estate of Beauford Delaney
by permission of Derek L. Spratley, Esquire,
Court Appointed Administrator

The two works pictured below are similar to works represented in The Drawing Center's In the Medium of Life catalog.

Untitled
(1960) Mixed media on paper
Similar to Plate 37 in In the Medium of Life
Private collection
© Estate of Beauford Delaney,
by permission of Derek L. Spratley, Esquire,
Court Appointed Administrator

Man in African Dress
(1972) Watercolor on paper
Similar to Plate 89 in In the Medium of Life
Private collection
© Estate of Beauford Delaney,
by permission of Derek L. Spratley, Esquire,
Court Appointed Administrator

Aurora & Athena Sells Another Beauford Delaney Abstract

As reported last week, Barcelona's Aurora & Athena offered a vibrant Beauford Delaney abstract painting for sale during its July Fine Art Auction: Modern & Contemporary Masterpieces.

Lot 15
Abstract Composition
(1961) Oil on canvas
Signed front lower right "61 Beauford Delaney"
© Estate of Beauford Delaney,
by permission of Derek L. Spratley, Esquire,
Court Appointed Administrator
Courtesy of Michael Rosenfeld Gallery, LLC, New York, NY

The estimated sale price of this work was 20,000€ to 30,000€.

It sold for 42,500€ (54,400€ with buyer's premium).

Presumably, Beauford painted Abstract Composition, 1961 during the first half of 1961, when he participated in group shows at the American Cultural Center (14 January through 11 February) and the Galerie Breteau (1 June through 8 July) in Paris.

Aurora & Athena sold a 1968 abstract work on paper by Beauford during its inaugural auction—A Curated Collection of Fine Art—on December 7, 2024.

Lot 08
Untitled
(1968) Gouache on paper
Signed lower right "Beauford Delaney 68"
© Estate of Beauford Delaney,
by permission of Derek L. Spratley, Esquire,
Court Appointed Administrator
Courtesy of Michael Rosenfeld Gallery, LLC, New York, NY

Its estimated sale price was 2,000€ to 3,000€, and it sold for 3,500€ (4,375€ with buyer’s premium).