It leaves more room to follow what’s actually happening on the paper.
Installation view, “In the Medium of Life: The Drawings of Beauford Delaney.” Circa 1970 and 1965, these two self-portraits in ink demonstrate how powerful his line can be. Credit… via The Drawing Center, Estate of Beauford Delaney, and Derek L. Spratley; Photo by Daniel Terna. [New York Times caption and illustration]
… Though he drew them with confidence and care, you can see him yearning to ornament and exalt his subjects rather than just transcribe them.
“Self-Portrait” by Beauford Delaney [1964]… Watercolor, gouache. Credit…Estate of Beauford Delaney and Derek L. Spratley; Michael Rosenfeld Gallery LLC. [New York Times caption and illustration]
… The pulsing heart of Delaney’s work was the intimate, tantalizing, constantly deferred flirtation of color and line — something on clearest display in his drawings. There’s plenty of background information in the wall labels and catalog essays, but the emphasis here isn’t on biography or even on art historical argument, which is all to the good. It leaves more room to follow what’s actually happening on the paper.
… 1962 self-portrait,.. Credit… Estate of Beauford Delaney and Derek L. Spratley; Michael Rosenfeld Gallery LLC. [New York Times caption and illustration]
In other ink drawings Delaney’s lines curl and multiply without containing recognizable shapes at all. A group of five from the mid-1950s are abstract calligraphy, or a very conceptual rainstorm. [I wish the article had illustrated these ink drawings! — JMN]
Delaney’s “James Baldwin,” 1945 pastel, at the Drawing Center in SoHo… Credit… Estate of Beauford Delaney and Derek L. Spratley; Michael Rosenfeld Gallery LLC. [New York Times caption and illustration]
What interests me in the pastel of James Baldwin is Delaney’s iridescent rendering of skin tone.
“Untitled (Traffic Signals),” 1945, oil on canvas. You can already see Delaney’s vibrant colors straining to overflow their borders in this surreal New York streetscape. Credit… Estate of Beauford Delaney and Derek L. Spratley; Michael Rosenfeld Gallery LLC. [New York Times caption and illustration]
I’ve no doubt that excellent photographs involve more than just a camera click by their creators. But it’s easier to see how a painter can pack additive vavoom into a subject.
(Will Heinrich, “In Beauford Delaney’s Luminous Watercolors, Color Flirts With Line,” New York Times, 7-10-25)
(c) 2025 JMN — EthicalDative. All rights reserved
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My education continues – thanks Jim.
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