Beauford Delaney (1901-1979)

Beauford-Delaney
Not many artists can make an abstract as beautifully and expressively as Beauford Delaney does. We have a few of his pieces in our gallery right now, and they really light up the room. Delaney was an African American painter and print maker who was a friend of Georgia O’Keefe, James Baldwin and Henry Miller. Most of his large abstract oil paintings have yellow as the dominant color; Delaney had a spiritual connection with the color yellow. He struggled with the stereotype of being a “Negro Artist” from the art critics of his time, but has established himself as one of the major American artists of the 20th century. Like most artists, Delaney became extremely well known after he had passed away. Every time I marvel at a Delaney piece, I find an unnoticed element, and get more and more engrossed in the size and depth of his works. My personal favorite is Abstraction No. 4. This large and expressive green, yellow and purple toned piece has an unexpected delicateness to it that I greatly admire.

~Sarah Leuchtner