Jimmy and Beauford: The Bond of the Unusual Door

In last week's post, I mentioned that I recently learned of an upcoming livestreamed interview with Beauford's (and James Baldwin's) biographer, David A. Leeming, during which Leeming will discuss the relationship between Beauford and James Baldwin.

Today, I'm sharing details about this interview.

Leeming met Beauford when Baldwin asked him to collect Beauford in Paris and bring him to Istanbul in July 1966. He got to know Beauford quite well during the voyage and the time they spent together once they arrived in Turkey. I wrote briefly about this in the blog post entitled "Beauford in Istanbul".

Portrait of David Leeming
(1966) Oil on canvas
Image from Amazing Grace: A Life of Beauford Delaney book jacket
Courtesy of Ernie Bynum and Denis Costin (Ernden)
© Estate of Beauford Delaney
by permission of Derek L. Spratley, Esquire,
Court Appointed Administrator

Leeming is a resident of Stonington, Connecticut. The interview will be hosted by the Stonington Free Library on May 12, 2024 from 5 PM to 6 PM Eastern Time. Online event pages are touting it as Leeming "marking" the 100th anniversary of Baldwin's birth (August 2, 1924).

This 1-hour hybrid event is free and open to the public. No registration is required. Those wanting to join the live stream can do so HERE.

For additional information, send email to Karla Umland at karla[at]stoningtonfreelibrary[dot]org.

Video Explorations of Beauford's Life and Art

I recently learned that Beauford's biographer, David A. Leeming, will soon be featured in a livestreamed interview during which he will talk about the relationship between Beauford and James Baldwin.

The news inspired me to look for videos that explore this relationship and other aspects of Beauford's life, and I found more than I expected.

Below are a few short (less than 5-minute) recordings that present various perspectives on his life and art.

"Remembering Knoxville-born Artist Beauford Delaney" gives a brief overview of Beauford's life, focusing on his Knoxville origin. 

 

"MIA Highlight: Beauford Delaney, Untitled, 1954" presents Beauford's famous "raincoat painting," focusing on the abstract nature of this work.

"#FallenThroughTheCracks: Black Artists in History - Beauford Delaney" beautifully and succinctly summarizes Beauford's development as an artist.

"Portrait of James Baldwin by Beauford Delaney" presents the 1945 oil portrait of Baldwin held by the Philadelphia Museum of Art.

Finally, the Knoxville Museum of Art obtained permission from INA France to present this ~1-minute video of rare footage of Beauford being interviewed in his Clamart studio on the KMA Facebook page.

Click on the image below to view it.

Beauford's Paris: Rue des Anglais

I don't know if Beauford ever visited the rue des Anglais in Paris.

What I do know is that his several of his paintings "lived" there for a period of time after he was committed to Sainte-Anne's Hospital.

Rue des Anglais - corner of rue Lagrange
© Entrée to Black Paris

David Leeming wrote about this in his biography called Amazing Grace: A Life of Beauford Delaney:

...Baldwin went to Paris hoping to find a way of arranging for Beauford's permanent care. His first act was to find—at his expense—a new apartment for the storage of Beauford's paintings and for the painter's use should he recover. The apartment was in the rue d'Anglais, near an apartment Baldwin hoped to rent or buy for himself.

I was inspired to write this post after a lengthy Facebook communication with author David Yeats. I posted this image of a painting by Khalif Tahir Thompson, and Yeats commented that he recognized Beauford's portrait of James Baldwin on the wall behind Thompson's brilliant portrayal of Baldwin.

Baldwin
Khalif Tahir Thompson
2020 mixed media
Image from FB - Fair use claim

Portrait of James Baldwin
(1971) Oil on canvas
Bequest of James Baldwin
Image courtesy of Clark Atlanta University Art Galleries
© Estate of Beauford Delaney
by permission of Derek L. Spratley, Esquire,
Court Appointed Administrator

Yeats told me that he mentions Beauford in his novel, The Opal Causeway, in a scene where two young boys are talking about art in a library and one of them says he thinks he recognizes a Beauford Delaney painting.

Yeats lived at 12, rue des Anglais in April 1975, which was about the time Beauford went to Sainte-Anne's. He knew Baldwin and Baldwin's dear friend, Bernard Hassell. He mentioned that Hassell lived on rue des Anglais and that Beauford's paintings were stored in a flat in the same building. He said the door of that flat had a huge seal on it.

While he couldn't remember the exact address of the building, Yeats described it as being "on the left coming from the direction of bd. Saint Germain." He thought the building might have been at Number 8.

I decided to go to the rue des Anglais to photograph the buildings as they look today.

10-12, rue des Anglais
© Entrée to Black Paris

8, rue des Anglais - view from near rue Lagrange
© Entrée to Black Paris

8, rue des Anglais
© Entrée to Black Paris

8, rue des Anglais - restaurant
© Entrée to Black Paris

8, rue des Anglais - entrance
© Entrée to Black Paris

6, rue des Anglais
© Entrée to Black Paris

4, rue des Anglais
© Entrée to Black Paris

2 bis, rue des Anglais
© Entrée to Black Paris

2, rue des Anglais
© Entrée to Black Paris

I have asked the Beauford Delaney estate whether it knows the exact address of the storage flat, and they have initiated a search of the Beauford Delaney Papers at UTKnoxville to find this information.

I will update this post once the search is completed.

Swann Auction Galleries Sells Beauford Delaney Abstract

On April 4, 2024, Swann Auction Galleries auctioned a Beauford Delaney abstract that was shown at the itinerant Minneapolis Institute of Arts exhibition entitled Beauford Delaney: From New York to Paris.

Untitled
(circa 1956) Gouache, watercolor and charcoal on wove paper
© Estate of Beauford Delaney
by permission of Derek L. Spratley, Esquire,
Court Appointed Administrator

It was most likely created during Beauford's first year at his Clamart studio. 

The composition of this work reminds me of a much later abstract, which was done in different colors and which Swann successfully auctioned in October 2017. 

Untitled (Abstract Composition)
(1965) Watercolor on wove paper
Signed, dated and inscribed "avec amour" in ink
Image courtesy of Swann Auction Galleries
© Estate of Beauford Delaney
by permission of Derek L. Spratley, Esquire,
Court Appointed Administrator

For me, both works evoke James Baldwin's quote about a window at the studio:

There was a window in Beauford's house in Clamart before which we often sat—late at night, early in the morning, at noon. This window looked out on a garden; or rather, it would have looked out on a garden if it had not been for the leaves and branches of a large tree which pressed directly against the window.

Everything one saw from this window, then, was filtered through these leaves...

The estimated sale price of the c. 1956 gouache was $30,000 - $40,000. 

 

It sold for $32,500, including a 25% buyer's premium.