Beauford's Still Life with Idol Offered by Sotheby's

Sotheby's auctioned Beauford's Still Life with Idol during its Contemporary Day Auction featuring works from the collection of Jean and Terry De Gunzburg.

Lot 336
Still Life with Idol
signed (lower center)
oil on Masonite in artist's chosen frame
36 by 21 in.
91.4 by 53.3 cm.
Executed in 1945.
© Estate of Beauford Delaney
by permission of Derek L. Spratley, Esquire,
Court Appointed Administrator
Courtesy of Michael Rosenfeld Gallery, LLC, New York, NY

According to Sotheby’s, the present owner acquired the work from Philippe Briet Gallery, New York, in 1994. The painting appears to be the work shown second from the left in an installation photograph from the gallery’s Beauford Delaney: The New York Years [1929-1953] exhibition, which was held from April through May 1994.

Beauford Delaney: The New York Years (1994)
© Sylvain Briet

Several years ago, Sylvain Briet shared with Les Amis an invitation card and graphic image produced for the 1994 exhibition. Although the title of the work was not identified on the material provided, Les Amis later located what appears to be the same composition reproduced in the first edition of David Leeming’s biography entitled Amazing Grace: A Life of Beauford Delaney (1998; Oxford University Press).

In the biography, the work is identified as Earth Mother.

Les Amis subsequently included the image in a 2017 post entitled "Beauford's Reflections on Leaving New York".

Earth Mother
(1950) Oil on canvas
© Estate of Beauford Delaney
by permission of Derek L. Spratley, Esquire,
Court Appointed Administrator
Courtesy of Michael Rosenfeld Gallery, LLC, New York, NY

The caption accompanying the black-and-white reproduction of Earth Mother in the second edition of Amazing Grace (2024; Karma Books) lists dimensions that correspond to those given for Still Life with Idol on Sotheby’s Website.

Earth Mother as presented in
Amazing Grace: A Life of Beauford Delaney (2024; Karma Books)
© Les Amis de Beauford Delaney

The Sotheby’s image differs noticeably in coloration from the earlier reproduced image.

David Leeming’s Amazing Grace: A Life of Beauford Delaney identifies the work as Earth Mother (1950, oil on canvas); Sotheby’s identifies it as Still Life with Idol (1945, oil on Masonite).

The estimated sale price of Still Life with Idol was $60,000 - $80,000.

It sold for $76,800, including a buyer's premium of 28%.

For information about the auction, click HERE.

More Beauford-Inspired Music

I am always intrigued when I learn about musical compositions inspired by Beauford's art.

A few days ago, I learned that a piece called "Brilliant Brushstrokes” (2025) by Dr. Ryan Lindveit was commissioned by the University of Tennessee, Knoxville Wind Ensemble (John Zastoupil, conductor) and debuted at the College Band Directors National Association (CBDNA) National Conference at Texas Christian University in Fort Worth, TX on March 27, 2025.

It was inspired by Beauford's untitled raincoat painting, which is part of the permanent collection at the Minneapolis Institute of Art.

Untitled (raincoat painting)
(1954) Oil on raincoat fragment
Gift of Jacques and Solange du Closel
© Estate of Beauford Delaney
by permission of Derek L. Spratley, Esquire,
Court Appointed Administrator
Courtesy of Michael Rosenfeld Gallery, LLC, New York, NY

The University of Washington Wind Ensemble and Symphonic Band performed this composition as the closing for its April 30, 2026 Scenes and Portraits concert at the school's Katharyn Alvord Gerlich Theater in Meany Hall.

"Brilliant Brushstrokes" was selected as the best composition for Category B (Wind Ensemble) of the 2026 RED NOTE New Music Festival Composition Competition. It is the first movement of Lindveit's new multimovement work titled Color Theory, which was inspired by the myriad ways artists, animals, and filmmakers use color.

Dr. Lindveit is the Teaching Assistant Professor of Music Theory & Composition in the College of Music at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville.

Listen to "Brilliant Brushstrokes" here:

Beauford and James Weldon Johnson

Growing up in Knoxville, Beauford learned about James Weldon Johnson and grew to greatly admire him.

James Weldon Johnson by Carl Van Vechten
Library of Congress, Prints & Photographs Division,
Carl Van Vechten Collection
Public domain

He heard many stories about Johnson, who used to visit the home of Beauford's high school principal, Charles Cansler.

Cansler was well connected in Boston and provided Beauford with letters of introduction to influential people in the city when he learned that Beauford planned to move there in 1923.

Three years later, Beauford had the chance to meet Johnson in that city.

The encounter took place at Boston's Old City Hall, where a performance of Johnson's poem "Creation" was staged on the evening of November 27, 1926.

Old Boston City Hall
Library of Congress, Prints & Photographs Division, MA-860
Public domain

Biographer David Leeming describes the event as follows:

"... Johnson's African-American dramatic musical version of the Creation was presented by Serge Koussevitsky and the Boston Symphony Orchestra to enthusiastic audiences in New York and Boston. Beauford was at a Boston performance and he introduced himself to Johnson afterward."

The New York Times published an extensive account of the performance. It reported that

"An old-time negro "folk-sermon," as embodied in James Weldon Johnson's poem "The Creation," with music by Louis Gruenberg, will be performed by the League of Composers on the evening of Nov. 27 in Town Hall, with Serge Koussevitzky of the Boston Symphony Orchestra as conductor.

Read the full-length NYT article HERE.

Of the numerous contemporary renditions of "The Creation" available for viewing/listening online, I have selected three that I particularly enjoyed.

Find them below.