Beauford and Langston Hughes

I recently received notification that the Nevada Museum of Art would include work by Beauford in its exhibition entitled When Langston Hughes Came to Town.

I immediately went to the museum's Website to see what information I could find about the premise of the show and why Beauford is being included in it.

The copy on the Web page indicates that the exhibition will be divided into three parts that explore:

1) Hughes' relationship with the State of Nevada
2) Work created by leading artists of the Harlem Renaissance who had close ties to Hughes
3) Contemporary artists who were inspired by Hughes and made work about his life

A slider near the bottom of the page shows Beauford's portrait of Ella Fitzgerald as one of the works to be displayed in the show.

Portrait of Ella Fitzgerald
(1968) Oil on canvas
Permanent collection of the SCAD Museum of Art, Savannah
Gift of Dr. Walter O. and Mrs. Linda J. Evans
© Estate of Beauford Delaney
by permission of Derek L. Spratley, Esquire,
Court Appointed Administrator

Beauford's name is mentioned in reference to the artists of the Harlem Renaissance with whom Hughes had close ties.

Not being familiar with any close relationship between the two men, I set out to investigate what this might have entailed.

I did not find any mention of Beauford in either of the two volumes of The Life of Langston Hughes, a biography by Arnold Rampersad.

I only found a few mentions of Hughes in Amazing Grace: A Life of Beauford Delaney by David Leeming, the only Beauford Delaney biography that currently exists.

Leeming says that Beauford encountered Hughes at "the old stable at 306 West 141st Street" in Harlem, which was known simply as "306" by the Black intellectuals who gathered there.

He says that Beauford read "whatever was published in journals by Langston Hughes."

And he mentions that Hughes attended the party celebrating the production of James Baldwin's The Amen Corner in Paris in 1965, which Beauford attended as well.

In 1948, Hughes authored the radio transcripts for an NBC summer replacement series called Swing Time at the Savoy, which was recorded at the Savoy Ballroom in Harlem. Ella Fitzgerald and her then husband, Ray Brown performed there on July 28, 1948.

I reached out to the museum to request information to supplement my findings. 

Director of Communications Valerie Primeau responded, informing me that Beauford's portrait of Fitzgerald will be the only work of his in the exhibition. 

She also said:

"Although Langston Hughes and Beauford Delaney were prominent figures during the Harlem Renaissance and had shared mutual respect for their art practices, documented interactions are limited.

"This portrait of Ella Fitzgerald was selected because she is one of the greatest jazz vocalists who often performed in the Savoy Room during the period before receiving her major break in the 1930s at the Apollo Theater. Her iconic voice, visually presented with the bold application of color, shows how she illuminated concert halls and jazz venues. 

"Merging the histories of these three artists envelops Hughes’s appreciation of jazz and blues and core expressions of Black Life."

When Langston Hughes Came to Town opens today - May 3, 2025.

It will be on display through February 15, 2026.

Thoughts of Spring

When I saw the image of the work on paper depicted below, I immediately thought of spring – the season of new beginnings, of rebirth. 

For me, spring is the season of hope.

Untitled (Yellow and Green Composition)
(1961) Watercolor on wove paper
© Estate of Beauford Delaney,
by permission of Derek L. Spratley, Esquire,
Court Appointed Administrator

The brownish vertical lines in this work remind me of tree bark and the green blotches and sweeping curvilinear strokes remind me of leaves and branches covered with the foliage of the season.  

The yellow core evokes a mighty rush of sun-derived energy filling the core of this hollow tree.

But the choice of the pale greens for the background somehow mutes the power of that energy. 

This leaves me with a slight feeling of melancholy.

Beauford created this work in 1961.  In Amazing Grace, Beauford's biographer, David Leeming, talks about three letters that Beauford wrote during the first ten days of March that year.

In a letter to Lynn Stone, he wrote about not having found a "solution" to living in "a jungle of the world."

In a letter to his brother, Joseph, he spoke of sadness and having come through great trials and tribulations.  He then indicated his belief that "God understands us all and has love for us and mercy."

In a letter to his dear friend, Larry Calcagno, he wrote:

"... movement for me is inside rather than without." 

I wonder if Untitled (Yellow and Green Composition) could be an artistic representation of the solace Beauford was seeking during this difficult emotional period – a way of painting into existence what he wanted to feel inside.

Beauford Delaney’s Street Scene (1968): An Expanded View

Shortly after having published the post entitled “Two Street Scenes,” I received a message from Stephen Wicks, Barbara W. and Bernard E. Bernstein Curator at the Knoxville Museum of Art (KMA)—owner of the largest and most comprehensive public collection of Beauford Delaney’s work.

Wicks wrote to inform me about several Beauford Delaney works on paper in the museum’s collection that provide insight into the geographical location depicted in the magnificent yellow painting of a street scene that is currently being displayed at the Paris Noir exhibition in Paris. 

He graciously shared his observations and supporting images from the KMA’s Beauford Delaney collection and the University of Tennessee Library’s Beauford Delaney Papers in the article below.

Beauford Delaney’s Street Scene (1968): An Expanded View
By Stephen Wicks

Monique Wells’ post, “Two Street Scenes,” provided a welcome opportunity to share some images and information concerning a group of related urban landscapes that Beauford Delaney created on two continents over a period of three decades.

Monique reconsidered her initial assessment that the Paris-era Street Scene (1968), sold by Phillips in December 2020, represents the City of Light after she saw the strikingly similar mid-1940s canvas called Untitled (Greenwich Village Street), which was sold at Swann Auction Galleries on October 3, 2024 from the collection of Delaney’s friend, Kenneth Lash.

Street Scene
(1968) Oil on canvas
Courtesy of Michael Rosenfeld Gallery LLC, New York, N. Y.
Signed and dated "BEAUFORD DELANEY 1968" lower right
© Estate of Beauford Delaney,
by permission of Derek L. Spratley, Esquire,
Court Appointed Administrator Michael Rosenfeld Gallery

 

Untitled (Greenwich Village Street, New York)
(circa 1945-46) Oil on linen canvas
457x546 mm; 18x21½ inches.
Signed and dated (indistinctly) in oil, lower right recto.
Signed (three times) and inscribed "181 Greene St" (twice)"
and "NY" in oil on the stretcher bars, verso.
© Estate of Beauford Delaney
by permission of Derek L. Spratley, Esquire,
Court Appointed Administrator

While Delaney’s inventive studio approach often leaves the interpretation of subject and location open to multiple possibilities, considerable evidence supports the notion that these and other related scenes by the artist indeed depict elevated train tracks in New York City. They may represent a location not far from Delaney’s 181 Greene Street studio in Greenwich Village, which he occupied from 1936 to 1952.

First, Swann’s description of the painting indicates that inscribed on the back are "NY” and “181 Greene St.”

Second, related studies in a variety of media can be found in the artist’s New York-era sketchbooks; the time span they cover (mid 1940s-1967) and their number attest to the fact that this was a New York City scene of enduring interest to the painter.

Some studies take the form of pencil contour drawings. 

Untitled (El study), circa 1940
Graphite on spiral sketchbook paper, approximately 4 x 6 inches
Beauford Delaney Papers, MS.3967,
Betsey B. Creekmore Special Collections and University Archives,
University of Tennessee, Knoxville
© The Estate of Beauford Delaney
by permission of Derek L. Spratley, Esquire,
Court Appointed Administrator

Others are pastels or gouaches on spiral notebook paper that feature luminous environments punctuated by loose marks suggesting a fire hydrant or pedestrian. 

Untitled (Study for Street Scene), circa 1945-50
Pastel on spiral notebook paper, approximately 4 x 6 inches
Knoxville Museum of Art, 2018 Beauford Delaney Acquisition
© The Estate of Beauford Delaney
by permission of Derek L. Spratley, Esquire,
Court Appointed Administrator

Untitled (Study for Street Scene), circa 1945-50
Pastel on spiral notebook paper, approximately 4 x 6 inches
Knoxville Museum of Art, 2018 Beauford Delaney Acquisition
© The Estate of Beauford Delaney
by permission of Derek L. Spratley, Esquire,
Court Appointed Administrator 

Untitled (Study for Street Scene), 1967
Watercolor and gouache on spiral notebook paper, 4 1/8 x 7 inches
Knoxville Museum of Art, 2014 purchase with funds provided by
the Rachael Patterson Young Art Acquisition Reserve
© The Estate of Beauford Delaney
by permission of Derek L. Spratley, Esquire,
Court Appointed Administrator

Third, I discovered in one of Delaney’s albums a black and white photograph from the artist’s New York era depicting the canvas sold in 2024 by Swann. It is accompanied by an inscription identifying the title of the painting as “Third Avenue” and “owned by Mr. Kenneth Lash, University of New Mexico.”

Photograph of Delaney painting Third Avenue
identical to Untitled (Greenwich Village Street)
Beauford Delaney Papers, MS.3967,
Betsey B. Creekmore Special Collections and University Archives,
University of Tennessee, Knoxville
© The Estate of Beauford Delaney
by permission of Derek L. Spratley, Esquire,
Court Appointed Administrator

 

Detail: inscription for photograph of Third Avenue:
“Third Avenue, owned by Mr. Kenneth Lash, University of New Mexico”

With this information in hand, I consulted period photographs of elevated passenger train tracks along Third Avenue. I found that the Third Avenue El (demolished in 1954) ran roughly two blocks east of Delaney’s Greene Street studio, and that both canvases in question are likely based on views of the Third Avenue El from a nearby intersection. Perhaps the artist was aware that the city’s elevated tracks were being phased out in the 1940s-50s and was inspired to pay tribute.

3rd Avenue El (demolished in 1954) shown near Cooper Union,
which passed roughly two blocks east of Delaney’s
181 Greene Street studio.
Photograph by Sid Kaplan.

This array of evidence confirms Street Scene (1968) as a New York cityscape Delaney created some fifteen years after moving to Paris that evolved compositionally and chromatically over the course of several sketchbook studies. Perhaps the painter created Street Scene from memory, or perhaps he consulted the black and white photograph of his canvas Third Avenue as a visual reference.

In any case, Delaney’s decision to depict this Manhattan setting decades after moving to Paris attests to his enduring fascination with New York City’s urban landscape, and with this particular location.

Photograph of unidentified Beauford Delaney street scene, 1940
Beauford Delaney Papers, MS.3967,
Betsey B. Creekmore Special Collections and University Archives,
University of Tennessee, Knoxville
© The Estate of Beauford Delaney
by permission of Derek L. Spratley, Esquire,
Court Appointed Administrator

Coincidentally or not, Beauford Delaney’s interest in this particular urban setting represents a fascinating point of intersection with the studio practice of his New York-based younger brother Joseph Delaney (1904-1991), who specialized in bold figurative paintings and drawings that capture the ebb and flow of urban life along New York City's bridges and boulevards.

But that’s another story for another day.

Two Street Scenes

In an article entitled "Beauford's Street Scenes," published on August 17, 2024, I expressed my belief that the painting shown in the image below represented the elevated train (metro) that serves the south and southwest parts of the city of Paris.

My reasoning was based on the date of the painting, which is 1968. (Beauford never returned to New York City after he moved to Paris in 1953.)

Street Scene*
(1968) Oil on canvas
Signed and dated "BEAUFORD DELANEY 1968" lower right
© Estate of Beauford Delaney,
by permission of Derek L. Spratley, Esquire,
Court Appointed Administrator 

When I recently compared it to the painting sold by Swann Auction Galleries in October 2024, I was prompted to rethink my original supposition.

Untitled (Greenwich Village Street, New York)
(circa 1945-46) Oil on linen canvas
457x546 mm; 18x21½ inches.
Signed and dated (indistinctly) in oil, lower right recto.
Signed (three times) and inscribed "181 Greene St" (twice)"
and "NY" in oil on the stretcher bars, verso.
© Estate of Beauford Delaney
by permission of Derek L. Spratley, Esquire,
Court Appointed Administrator

Though the color palettes used for these works is strikingly dissimilar, the composition of the scenes depicted is virtually identical.

In both works, a viaduct dominates the center of the scene. Three of its pillars are clearly visible, and a street lamp with a round lantern is visible beneath it.

In both works, buildings are depicted behind the viaduct. The angles at which they are portrayed are somewhat different, but there is similarity in the roof lines (note the step-like structure of the roof of the second of the four buildings at the right of both paintings).

Street Scene, 1968 - detail of roof line

Untitled (Greenwich Village Street, New York) - detail of roof line

The placement of the buildings in relation to the viaduct's pillars on the right side of the painting is identical. On the left side of the 1968 painting, a building appears to be "missing."

The horizontal center of both paintings is filled with ground-level building façades.  Beauford favored round windows for these structures in his circa 1945-46 work, whereas only the building at the far left has (indistinctly) round "windows" in the 1968 work.

In the 1940s painting, Beauford has clearly indicated a short, round street sign in the foreground.

Untitled (Greenwich Village Street, New York) - detail - street sign

In the 1968 painting, he has included a similar but indistinct object of the same size and approximate placement.

Street Scene, 1968 - detail - street sign

Finally, Beauford has placed two figures - one stationary and one walking - in each painting. Their locations are different, and the stationary figures are not clearly identifiable as human.

Given the similarity of these works, created almost 25 years apart, one has to wonder whether Beauford worked from a photo of this location when he painted each of these street scenes.

Another possibility is that he had a photo of his 1940s work that inspired the one he painted in 1968.

A future visit to the University of Tennessee Libraries to peruse the photos in the Beauford Delaney Papers might yield some answers!

* Street Scene, 1968 is the first work of art people see when they visit the Paris Noir exhibition at the Centre Pompidou in Paris. Read about Beauford's prominence in the exhibition HERE.