Les Amis de Beauford Delaney is supporting the completion of

BEAUFORD DELANEY: SO SPLENDID A JOURNEY,

the first full-length documentary about Beauford.


Join us in making this video tribute to Beauford a reality!

TO MAKE A TAX DEDUCTIBLE DONATION,

CLICK HERE.



Saturday, March 16, 2024

Beauford's Red, Yellow, Orange Sold by Christie's

Christie's Paris sold Beauford's Red, Yellow, Orange during its Post-War to Present auction on March 13, 2024.

Red, Yellow, Orange
(1963) Gouache on paper
signed, inscribed and dated 'Beauford Delaney Paris 1963' (lower right)
signed again and stamped with the Estate of Beauford Delaney stamp 'Beauford Delaney' (on the reverse)
25 ½ x 19 ½ in. (64.8 x 49.5 cm.)
© Estate of Beauford Delaney
by permission of Derek L. Spratley, Esquire,
Court Appointed Administrator

The estimated sale price was $40,000 - $60,000.

The piece sold for $47,880, including a 26% buyer's premium.

To see other Beauford Delaney works that feature the color "orange," click on the link below:

Beauford and the Color "Orange"

Saturday, March 9, 2024

Christie's to Auction Beauford Delaney Work on Paper

On March 13, 2024, Christie's Paris will host its Post-War to Present auction.

Beauford's Red, Yellow, Orange will be among the works available for purchase.

Red, Yellow, Orange
(1963) Gouache on paper
signed, inscribed and dated 'Beauford Delaney Paris 1963' (lower right)
signed again and stamped with the Estate of Beauford Delaney stamp 'Beauford Delaney' (on the reverse)
25 ½ x 19 ½ in. (64.8 x 49.5 cm.)
© Estate of Beauford Delaney
by permission of Derek L. Spratley, Esquire,
Court Appointed Administrator

This work was shown at the Beauford Delaney: Internal Light exhibition mounted by Levis Fine Art in May-June 2013.

In 1963, Beauford was under the care of the renowned psychiatrist Dr. Gaston Ferdière.

Biographer David Leeming writes that "With Dr. Ferdière's help Beauford was exploring himself more profoundly than he had been willing to do in the past."

He also writes that Spring 1963 "brought a new burst of painting and a concentrated attempt to translate the 'long interims of probity into our thoughts' into paintings 'which are never what our inner vision expected.'"

I wonder whether the fiery nature of Red, Yellow, Orange is a representation of this effort.

The estimated sale price of Red, Yellow, Orange is $40,000 – $60,000.

For information about the auction, click HERE.

Saturday, March 2, 2024

KMA Loans Beauford Delaney Works to National and International Venues

From the desk of Stephen Wicks, Barbara A. and Bernard E. Bernstein Curator at the Knoxville Museum of Art: 

The Knoxville Museum of Art is pleased to be able to support loan requests from several museums wishing to borrow works from the KMA’s extensive holdings by Knoxville-born modernist master Beauford Delaney.  

Hunter Museum of American Art, Chattanooga, TN, March 2024-March 2025

Exhibition summary: Two works on paper by Beauford Delaney for display in the museum’s collection galleries. The Hunter owns no works by the artist and its curatorial team is hopeful this year-long loan will help them generate additional support for a Delaney acquisition. 

Art work:

Untitled, circa 1961
Watercolor and gouache on paper, 25 ½ x 19 ½ inches
Knoxville Museum of Art, 2015 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
 


Untitled (Yellow, Red, and Black Circles for James Baldwin, Istanbul)
, 1966
Watercolor and gouache on paper, 25 5/8 x 19 inches
Knoxville Museum of Art, 2018 Beauford Delaney Acquisition
© The Estate of Beauford Delaney
by Permission of Derek L. Spratley, Esquire,
Court Appointed Administrator
   
Grey Art Museum, New York University, Manhattan, NY,
Americans in Paris exhibition/tour, March 2024-June 2025:
 
 
Exhibition Summary: This exhibition represents the first substantial, scholarly overview of the work of American visual artists who pursued artistic training or worked for extended periods in postwar Paris, featuring never-before-published interviews with American and French artists, critics, and dealers. 
 
Exhibition venues:
  • Grey Art Museum/NYU, March 2-mid-July 2024
  • Addison Gallery of American Art, Andover, MA, September 2024-January 2025
  • NYU Abu Dhabi Art Gallery, February-June 2025 
 
Art work:
 

Blue-Light Abstraction
, circa 1962
Oil on canvas, 25 3/4 x 21 1/2 inches
Knoxville Museum of Art, 2018 Beauford Delaney Acquisition
© The Estate of Beauford Delaney
by permission of Derek L. Spratley, Esquire,
Court Appointed Administrator
 
Centre Pompidou, Paris, FRANCE
Paris Noir exhibition, March 19-June 30, 2025

 
Exhibition summary: A groundbreaking exhibition devoted to the trajectory of 50 black artists based in France from the 1950s-1990s, and the importance artistic, social, and political factors that informed their course of their work. 
 
Art work: 
 
 

Untitled (African Figure)
, circa 1968
Oil and watercolor monoprint on paper, 25 1/2 x 19 1/2 inches
Knoxville Museum of Art, 2018 Beauford Delaney Acquisition
© The Estate of Beauford Delaney
by permission of Derek L. Spratley, Esquire,
Court Appointed Administrator

 

Scattered Light
, 1964
Oil on canvas, 39 x 24 inches
Knoxville Museum of Art,
2015 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

While promoting the KMA’s Delaney collection, these loans are an important means of supporting important museum exhibitions organized by distinguished colleagues, and bringing Beauford Delaney’s extraordinary life and work to the attention of museum audiences around the world.

Saturday, February 24, 2024

The Delaney Museum at Beck Needs You

Several days ago, Beck Cultural Exchange Center president Reneé Kesler gave a poignant interview to the Knoxville News Sentinel.

She explained that progress on the renovation of the Delaney family home, which is adjacent to the Beck Cultural Exchange Center and destined to become the Delaney Museum at Beck, has been much delayed due to skyrocketing expenses ...

... and has kicked off a new round of fundraising to bring in the additional $2.3 million required to complete the project.

Les Amis has written about the Delaney Museum at Beck a few times:

Groundbreaking for the Delaney Museum at Beck

The Delaney Museum at Beck: Groundbreaking Ceremony Scheduled for August 30

The Art of Delaney: Redeeming, Reconciling, and Healing

The Wells International Foundation, the U.S. nonprofit organization that mounted the Resonance of Form and Vibration of Color exhibition in Paris in collaboration with Les Amis in 2016, looks forward to hosting events that focus on Beauford's artistic practice as a tool for combatting his mental instability in Knoxville soon after the museum's opening.

The new projected opening date is May 15, 2025.

To support the fundraising campaign for the Delaney Museum at Beck, click HERE.