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,

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Saturday, February 18, 2017

Beauford's Untitled (Green) at Quinn's Auction Galleries

Untitled (Green) is up for auction at Quinn's Auction Galleries. The sale is entitled "African American Artists: Featuring the Inventory and Collection of Merton D. Simpson."

Untitled or Green
(1963) Watercolor on paper
26" x 19 1/2"
© Estate of Beauford Delaney
by permission of Derek L. Spratley, Esquire,
Court Appointed Administrator

This watercolor on paper is signed and dated 1963. To the left of his signature, Beauford dedicated the work to Dr. Ferdière and his family in a note dated 1965.

Untitled or Green - signature
(1963) Watercolor on paper
26" x 19 1/2"
© Estate of Beauford Delaney
by permission of Derek L. Spratley, Esquire,
Court Appointed Administrator

Beauford's message to the doctor reads:

Pour Dr. Ferdière a sa famille avec boucoup amour pour 1965. [sic]
(Translation: For Dr. Ferdière and his family with much love for 1965.)

Dr. Gaston Ferdière was the physician who treated Beauford at La Maison du Santé de Nogent sur Marne, a psychiatric clinic located in a southeast Paris suburb, beginning in 1961. In Amazing Grace: A Life of Beauford Delaney, biographer David A. Leeming says:

Ferdière spoke English and had a good knowledge of painting and the arts . . .

Eventually, in the course of regular appointments during the years immediately after Beauford's hospitalization, Ferdière and his family also became Beauford's social friends.

The year 1963 was a relatively good one for Beauford in terms of his mental health. With Dr. Ferdière's help, he was able to begin exploring his sexuality more deeply and he was able to open up and discuss it with close friends such as James Baldwin and Howard Swanson.

In 1965, Beauford found it increasingly difficult to follow Dr. Ferdière's orders and began missing scheduled doctor's appointments. Yet he enjoyed visits with several friends that year and made works available for a group show at the American Cultural Center in Paris.

The "African American Artists" auction will take place on February 18, 2017 at 11 AM EST.

For more information, click HERE.


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