Beauford Delaney (American/Tennessee, 1901-1979) gouache on paper abstract painting in various shades of yellow. Rhythmic linear patterns of scrolling and interlacing forms merge with one another and fill the composition, with areas of exposed paper visible throughout. Signed and dated "Beauford Delaney 61" in black pen, lower right. With Beauford Delaney estate stamp en verso and Levis Fine Art, New York, label affixed to backing. Floated in a modern wood frame with ivory mat. Sheet: 10 1/2" H x 8" W. Frame: 17 13/16" x" 15 1/4" W.

Biographical note: Modernist artist Beauford Delaney was born in Knoxville, Tennessee. An apprentice to artist Lloyd Branson, Delaney was encouraged by his mentor to study art in Boston. In 1929 he traveled to New York and established himself as a prominent artist of the Harlem Renaissance. There he gained the attention and admiration of well-known writers and artists such as James Baldwin, Georgia O'Keefe, Alfred Stieglitz, and many others. Delaney experimented throughout his career with a wide variety of styles, including his personal brands of realism, fauvism, post-impressionism, and abstract expressionism. His departure from New York to Paris in 1953 also marked his transition from figurative compositions to abstractions with a focus on color and light. In 1978, the year before he died, the Studio Museum in Harlem initiated its Black Master series with a retrospective of his work. His paintings can be found in the Museum of Modern Art, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Art Institute of Chicago; the National Portrait Gallery, the Smithsonian Institution, and other major museums.

PROVENANCE: The Estate of Beauford Delaney (Derek Spratley-Court Appointed Administrator); Private Collection, Maine

CONDITION: Excellent condition. Frame with 3/4" abrasion to upper right edge.