Beauford Delaney (American/Tennessee, 1901-1979) large-scale vertically oriented oil on canvas painting presenting an abstraction comprised of horizontally lined brushstrokes in varying widths and set against a variegated and tactile background. The artist anchors the image with a rectangular shape in the lower half of the image, which includes two mirrored color centric arcs, one slightly larger than the other. The artist creates a viewer's scrim through an applied overall splatter pattern in off-white and raw umber. Unsigned. 63 3/4 x 51 1/4 inches. Circa 1972. Provenance: The Estate of Lois Imogene Delaney, Knoxville, Tennessee. Note: Beauford Delaney's studio practice has been characterized as a linear path from modernist urban scenes in New York City to atmospheric abstractions when he moved to Paris in 1953. Numerous late paintings by Delaney, such as this circa 1972 canvas, suggest that the artist used an inventive and experimental approach during the last 5-10 years of his career. During this period, he expanded his studio practice to include monoprints, screenprints, and lithographs. Additionally, he worked in a realist style, as in his series of portraits of Civil Rights-era leader Rosa Parks, while simultaneously producing non-objective compositions made up of swirling bands of color applied with a variety of tools. These and other stylistic and technical experiments attest to Delaney's remarkable energy and wide-ranging aesthetic interests during the latter part of his career. The painting being offered with a composition in muted, intuitive color choices possibly points to the American Modernist influence of Marsden Hartley. A Beauford Delaney oil of similar size dated 1974 with centric arches and horizontal stripes can be viewed in the San Francisco MOMA collection: https://www.artsy.net/artwork/beauford-delaney-untitled-81. Additional note: A photographic image depicting the oil on canvas being offered is pictured in the Knoxville, Tennessee art storage facility with the artist's niece, Ogust Delaney Stewart, in the foreground. Courtesy credits: Case expresses appreciation to Stephen Wicks (Barbara W. and Bernard E. Bernstein Curator of the Knoxville Museum of Art), Derek Spratley (Administrator, Estate of Beauford Delaney), and Jane Jacob (President, Jacob Fine Art, Inc.) for their assistance on this Beauford Delaney oil painting. PRE-APPROVAL IS REQUIRED TO BID ON THIS LOT. PLEASE CONTACT CASE ANTIQUES, INC. AT THE KNOXVILLE GALLERY FOR DETAILS. 865-558-3033 or BID@CASEANTIQUES.COM.
Condition: Unframed. Some scattered minor losses to paint to perimeter, mainly the lower edge, one area upper right edge. Canvas missing some applied nails to upper edges.